SEMO Pirates fall short of treasure

~ THE LOCAL team saw its season end at the Babe Ruth state tournament

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- The SEMO Pirates had no problem getting runners on base in their loser's bracket final of the Missouri Senior Babe Ruth state tournament against Boonville on Tuesday night.

In each of the seven innings they had at least a runner on, but the Pirates, who are based out of Leopold, Missouri, couldn't come through with a hit when they needed it most and saw their season come to an end with a 4-1 loss at Hillhouse Park.

"We just couldn't get that big hit that we've been getting all year," Pirates coach Jeremy McCain said. "I mean, we lived and died by it. We'd be down by three and come back. I don't think anybody in that dugout didn't think they could come back right there. For once [we] just couldn't get that big hit."

The Pirates led 1-0 after the first inning. Catcher Logan Carter reached on a fielder's choice and scored when Boonville right fielder Sean Lorenz dropped a fly ball off the bat of designated hitter Tyson Campbell.

"When we got up 1-0, I felt like, 'Hey, we can push and get more across,' because one ain't, in most summer games, going to win you a ballgame, and it didn't today," first baseman Landon Johnson, who went 3 for 3, said. "We knew we had to push for more."

The Pirates stranded nine runners over the final six innings.

"We've had a knack here lately for kind of getting up early and then resting a little bit," McCain said. "Scoring early and then not be able to score late. But their pitcher threw well, threw a lot of strikes, kept us off balance and made us put the ball in play. When we did put the ball in play, they made all the plays."

Boonville evened the score in the second inning. With runners on the corners and one out, Lorenz laid down a squeeze bunt to pitcher Blake White. White threw home, but the ball was dropped by Carter to allow Alec Viertel to score.

The Pirates attempted a squeeze play of their own in the top of the fourth. Second baseman Casey Graham's bunt rolled to the pitcher, who threw right fielder Brad Freed out at home.

"We were just trying to get a run across there and Casey's one of the best bunters out there," McCain said. "That's just what Casey does and he does it well. The ball came in on him a little bit -- he's trying to hit it down the first-base [line] and the ball came in a little bit and he hit it right to the pitcher. Anytime you're squeezing, that's just what happens. Unfortunately, we had a safety squeeze on there and not the full squeeze, so he was out by four feet instead of safe by four feet."

Boonville went ahead for good in the bottom of the inning. Left fielder Travis Rion singled with two outs, stole second and scored on a double by Lorenz.

"I knew that their whole lineup was stacked with great hitters," White said. "Coming into the ballgame we wanted to win, but unfortunately we didn't. I don't know what else to say. It sucks to have it end."

White took the loss on the mound for the Pirates. He pitched six innings, allowing four runs on six hits. He had four strikeouts.

The Pirates committed two errors in the fifth inning. Austin Hulbert reached to lead off when third baseman Jacob Trammel's throw pulled Johnson off the bag at first. Hulbert later scored on a sacrifice fly.

Boonville's final run scored on a fielding error by shortstop Kyle Moore.

"We didn't make a couple plays for him there in the middle of the game, but other than that he threw the best game he's thrown all year," McCain said about White. "You can't ask for anything more."

Boonville starter Trever Huth secured the win. He pitched seven innings and allowed one run on seven hits. He struck out a pair, walked one and hit one.

The Pirates' season ended with a record of 42-7.

"It just came to an end too quickly," White said.

Leopold 100 000 0 -- 1 7 2

Boonville 010 120 x -- 4 6 1

WP -- Trever Huth. LP -- Blake White. 2B -- Zach Nixon (B), Sean Lorenz (B). Multiple hits -- Leopold: Audie Hay 2-4, Landon Johnson 3-3. Boonville -- Jalen Poindexter 2-3.