NMCC ends drought with decisive win over Sikeston

SIKESTON — Brady Swims was a two-way force for New Madrid County Central, earning the win on the mound and helping spark the offense in an 11-3 win over Sikeston at VFW Stadium on Monday, April 1.

Swims tossed 6.2 strong innings, striking out 11 while allowing just two earned runs on four hits, and added a home run to propel the Eagles (1-5) to their first victory of the season, while the Bulldogs (0-7) winless.

“I feel great,” said NMCC coach Jordan Kimball. “This is how we have practiced all year and I’m happy we were finally able to put it all together in a game. [Swims] is our guy. We have to have him on the mound if we want to compete, and he went out there and did that today. Today he worked ahead and stayed ahead. He didn’t get behind in the count and that allowed him to have an excellent game. That’s what we needed.”

A New Madrid County Central player slides safely into third base during an 11-3 win over Sikeston at VFW Stadium on Monday, April 3.Dennis Marshall ~ Standard-Democrat

NMCC wasted no time seizing control of the game. Ty Williams led off the top of the first inning with a double, stole third, and scored on a hard ground ball by BJ Waters.

Moments later, Waters tagged up on a fly out to score for a quick 2-0 advantage. Ayden McCanless capped off the explosive opening inning with a blast over the left-field wall, pushing the lead to 4-0.

“We had some guys step up from one to nine,” Kimball said. “I was proud of how we put the ball in play and battled at the plate. We had an entire practice dedicated to hitting earlier this week. It paid off.”

New Madrid County Central's Ayden McCanless (14) takes a swing during an 11-3 win over Sikeston at VFW Stadium on Monday, April 3.Dennis Marshall ~ Standard-Democrat

Sikeston narrowed the gap to 4-1 in the bottom of the first inning as Keane Atkins crossed the plate on Peyton Mitchell’s single.

However, the Eagles answered in the top of the second inning, with Waters scoring on a McCanless single for a 5-1 lead.

The Bulldogs inched a little bit closer in the bottom of the third inning when Mitchell scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-2, but a crushing blow came in the top of the fifth inning.

Sikeston's Peyton Mitchell (5) slides into home during an 11-3 loss to New Madrid County Central at VFW Stadium on Monday, April 1, 2024.Dennis Marshall ~ Standard-Democrat

Drew Allen scored on an error, Julian Courtois scored tagged up on a fly out, McCanless stole home and Jack Pipkin reached on an error, ballooning the lead to 9-2.

“We moved the baseball,” Kimball said. “When we strike out, we don’t give ourselves a chance to win ballgames. Today we competed, moved the ball and capitalized on some of their mistakes.”

Swims put an exclamation point on his night with a homer in the top of the seventh inning, making it 11-2.

Sikeston's James Lepior crossed the plate on Atkins' single in the bottom half of the seventh inning, but it was a mere consolation run with the deficit far too large to overcome.

NMCC will host Malden (0-3) on Tuesday, April 2 and Kelly (4-3) on Thursday, April 4.

“We have to use this momentum,” Kimball said. “A lot of these kids don’t watch baseball, so it’s almost like starting from the ground up. We have to build off this and we have a chance to win another one tomorrow. We hope to get this thing moving in a positive direction.”

Mitchell took the loss for Sikeston, throwing three innings and surrendering five earned runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and four walked batters.

The Bulldogs' top players at the plate were Mitchell (2-for-2 with an RBI), Atkins (1-for-4) and Conner Michael (1-for-4).

“We are still learning and we’re young,” said Sikeston coach Wyat Pratt. “The strikeouts have really hurt us the past few games and we’re focused on cutting those down. We want to have more competitive at-bats, which I think we did today. We just have to find a way to put the ball in play. But we had some guys at different positions who played pretty well today. They haven’t had a lot of practice out there and defensively they were pretty solid.”

Sikeston travels to Poplar Bluff (8-2) on Tuesday, April 2 and hosts Ste. Genevieve (5-4) on Friday, April 5.

__NMCC 11, SIKESTON 3__

NMCC 410 400 2 — 11 13 3

Sikeston 101 000 1 — 3 4 4

W—Brady Swims. L—Colt Parker. 2B—NMCC: Ty Williams. HR—NMCC: Ayden McCanless, Swims.