Scott City sweeps baseball-softball home opener

Scott City celebrated the first day of the spring season with both the baseball team and softball team simultaneously winning their home opener by a wide margin on Friday, March 15, in Scott City.

The baseball team dominated Clearwater 15-0 in a four-inning rout. Kobe Watson went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs including a single in the fourth inning that triggered the run rule.

Watson got the scoring started for the Rams in the first inning with a single to left field to score Mark Panagos. Watson later scored on a double by Lane Miller.

Panagos drove Lane Holder home on a sacrifice fly to extend the Rams’ lead to 3-0 in the second inning. Panagos went 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

The game turned into a route in the third inning, as the Rams scored seven runs putting the run rule on alert. Holder went 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Levi Senn and Miller also drove in runs for the Rams.

“I thought our approach was good all day,” Scott City head coach Skylar Cobb said. “Basically we just capitalize on some mistakes there in the third and fourth inning and we got some timely two-out hits and that's kind of how we broke it up.”

Braden Mashek was on the mound for the home opener and threw four no-hit innings with one walk and five strikeouts.

“Mashek threw well,” Cobb said. “He did exactly what we wanted him to do. It’s hard to get a perfect game and he was right there. He almost had a no-hitter last year. He was one out away from a no-hitter last year and he didn’t get it. So we’re thrilled for him to be able to knock that off his bucket list.”

Scott City�s Mackenzie Lawless winds up to throw a pitch against Greenville on Friday, March 15, in Scott City, Mo. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

As the baseball game was taking place, the Lady Rams were on the adjacent field beating Greenville 11-1 in five innings to give Morgahn Petersen her first win as head coach. The Rams scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth to trigger the run rule.

Mackenzie Lawless pitched all five innings, allowing one run on one hit with five walks and eight strikeouts. The seniors also went 2-for-4 at the plate with a triple and three RBIs.

Graycie Conklin went 3-for-4 with a triple and 3 RBI for the Lady Rams. Halle Comer also drove in three runs while Gracie Karrenbrock and Alyssa Dirden each plated a pair of hits.

“We hold ourselves on defense wins ballgames,” Peterson said. “We've really been working on a lot of defensive stuff, but today Mackenzie came in and did the job and we didn't really have to do that a lot today. So we've got a good pitching staff too, but the offense came alive today.”

The Lady Rams travel to Illinois on Wednesday to take on Anna-Jonesboro, while the Rams will take on Crystal City in Chaffee at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

__Baseball Roundup__

The Chaffee Red Devils opened the 2024 season with a 9-0 win at home over Shawnee on Friday, March 15 in Chaffee, Mo.

Connor Berry went 2-for-3 with three RBIs to lead the Red Devils. Kolbey Estes went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Levi McKinnie's only hit was an RBI double in the second inning.

Carson Spies went 2-for-3 with three runs scored. The senior also earned the win on the mound with four strikeouts in three shutout innings.

The Red Devils host Crystal City on Saturday.