SEMO Pirates get desired shutout to open Senior Babe Ruth baseball state tournament

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- SEMO Pirates coach Tyler Trover didn't hesitate to go with his top pitchers in pool play after reviewing the new format of the Senior Babe Ruth state baseball tournament.

Pirates right-handed starting pitcher Brock Beacham kept his team in prime contention for the No. 1 seed at the five-day, nine-team tournament with a stellar performance Tuesday afternoon. Beacham threw five innings of no-hit ball to help propel the Pirates to a 10-0 victory against the Charleston AA Squirrels in the opening game of the state tournament at Hillhouse Park in Charleston.

"When you get in this tournament format you have to really think about who you are going to throw," Trover said. "We've decided we are going to put our top two pitchers out there the first two games and try to put up two zeroes. Hopefully, that will give us a good opportunity to secure the No. 1 seed in bracket play.

"It was big for us Brock could hold them scoreless and keep his pitch count down because now, if we can get to Saturday, he can come back."

The AA Squirrels gave the Pirates all they wanted early.

Charleston AA starting pitcher Ajay Sager allowed only two runs in the first three innings of play.

"We knew we were going to have our hands full because the SEMO Pirates are a really good team," Charleston AA coach Ron Riddle said. "We are young, but we knew we could compete and try to keep it competitive. We are just happy to get out here and take some swings against a quality baseball team."

The Pirates finally gave themselves some breathing room when they tallied seven runs on five hits in the bottom of the fourth inning to pad its lead to 9-0.

"These guys know what is at stake and there are always going to be some jitter bugs and nerves in a tournament like this," Trover said. "It took us a little while to get going, but we did a lot of good things the first two innings to get a run here and there. I thought we did a good job hitting the ball to the right side and had a sacrifice fly. It's always good to see those things.

"We like to think we hit the ball better against pitchers that throw the ball harder, and we had to face a couple soft-tossers today.We've struggled against those types of pitchers at times this summer, and it's an adjustment we are going to have to make moving forward in this tournament."

The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning after Dee Triplett collected a leadoff double, advanced to third base when Beacham grounded out and later scored when Nate Finney hit a sacrifice fly to right field.

The Pirates added a second run in the bottom of the third inning when Tyler Essner drew a leadoff walk, stole second, advanced to third base on a wild pitch and scored when Garret Reynolds grounded out.

Five Pirates added RBI hits in the bottom of the fourth frame. Peyton Faulkner collected a two-RBI triple, Reynolds connected for an RBI double, Finney tallied a run-scoring single, Landon Vaughan plated a runner with a walk and Sean Merk recorded a pinch-hit double to drive in two more.

"Everybody saw the pitcher a little bit better in the later innings," Triplett said. "We didn't really get a good feel of it the first time through the lineup, but hit it well late."

The game ended when Ryan Harvey, who finished 2-for-2 with a walk, collected a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Beacham, who is a 2016 Bernie graduate slated to pitch at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla in the upcoming season, struck out five and walked one in five innings pitched.

The number of runs each team allows in pool play is significant because teams will be seeded based on pool play results and compete in a nine-team single elimination bracket Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The first tiebreaker for teams with the same pool play record is runs allowed and the second tiebreaker for teams with the same pool play record is run differential.

Charleston AA 000 0x -- 0 0 1

SEMO Pirates 011 71 -- 10 9 3

WP -- Brock Beacham. LP -- Ajay Sager. 2B -- Dee Triplett (P), Ryan Harvey (P), Sean Merk (P). Garret Reynolds (P). 3B -- Peyton Faulkner (P). Multiple hits -- Pirates: Triplett 2-2, Harvey 2-2.

Charleston Squirrels 13, Chaffee 0

After watching the tournament opener, Charleston Fighting Squirrels coach Michael Minner knew exactly what his team needed to preserve its chances of gaining the No. 1 seed.

The tournament hosts kept pace for that top spot with a 13-0, five-inning victory over the Chaffee Honey Badgers in the nightcap.

"If we gave up a run today and they throw a shutout tomorrow we couldn't be a No. 1 seed," Minner said. "Ultimately, you have to beat them all anyways and you never know how things are going to shake up. But if there is a tournament and there is going to be a one seed we are playing to be the one seed."

Charleston scored 13 runs on 16 hits and right-handed starting pitcher Brady Bibbs threw a complete game shutout on the hill as the Fighting Squirrels cruised.

Charleston did most of its damage against in the top of the second inning when it scored nine runs to pad its lead to 10-0. The hosts blew things open when Blake Wolferding recorded a three-RBI double and Dylan Baugh drove home a run with a sacrifice fly.

Bryan McNeely started the game for Chaffee. He allowed nine runs in one-plus inning of work.

The Fighting Squirrels can secure a first place finish in their pool by winning their final pool play game against the Arcadia Valley Cyclones today at 7:30 p.m.

Charleston 193 00 -- 13 16 1

Chaffee 000 00 -- 0 4 1

WP -- Brady Bibbs. LP -- Bryan McNeely. 2B -- Garrison Keene (CHAR), Drew Pikey 2 (CHAR), Blake Wolferding (CHAR), Alec Bogenpohl (CHAF). 3B -- Jon Kellams (CHAR). Multiple hits -- Charleston: Ty Householder 2-3, Kellams 2-3, Pikey 3-3, Bibbs 2-3.