SEMO Pirates snare win, stay unbeaten

~ Leopold-based Senior Babe Ruth team outlasts Charleston 9-8 in eight innings

LEOPOLD, Mo. -- Thursday evening's U19 Senior Babe Ruth baseball game between the Charleston Fighting Squirrels and the host SEMO Pirates featured a little bit of everything.

Pitching, defense, a lot of hitting, late-inning rallies by each team -- and even a rundown between third and home that would make the Marx brothers proud.

In the end, Landon Johnson's bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth inning forced home Casey Graham with the winning run as the Pirates remained undefeated on the season with a 9-8 victory in the first game of a doubleheader at the Knights of Columbus baseball field in Leopold, Missouri.

The Pirates (11-0) scored four runs in each the third and fourth innings in building an 8-2 lead, then had to sweat out a Charleston rally that saw the Fighting Squirrels score once in the top of the sixth and five times in the top of the seventh to forge a tie and send the game to extra innings.

"It did feel like [the lead] wasn't enough," Pirates coach Jeremy McCain said. "[Starting pitcher] Joe [Elfrink] was at 82 pitches there and wanting to finish the game, and I kind of went with my heart a little there, and we probably should have made a move there."

Elfrink battled throughout the game without his best stuff, never finding control of his curve to complement his fastball. He allowed eight runs -- all earned -- on 16 hits over 6 2/3 innings.

"His breaking ball wasn't working at all today," McCain said. "He got through throwing all fastballs. ... We were making plays behind him."

Elfrink was quick to credit his defense with getting him out of jams.

"Our defense is really good, and they made plays when they needed to, for sure," he said. "Unfortunately, I couldn't pick them up there at the end, but our offense came through like I know they can."

Charleston stranded 12 runners on base throughout the game.

"We left a ton, probably eight or nine runs out there," Charleston coach Michael Minner said. "We weren't fundamentally very good today early in the game. We lost the ballgame in the first couple innings."

Jason Mattison started for Charleston and allowed eight runs -- just two earned -- on seven hits over five innings, walking four and striking out three.

"We don't make some plays, we miss some cutoff men, we didn't play fundamental baseball and put ourselves in a position to be unsuccessful," Minner said. "At the same time, we're going to fight, we're going to battle. At the drop of a hat, we can score five, six, seven runs."

Layton Tenkhoff and Matt Ulrich each hit tape-measure home runs for the Squirrels (9-2). Ulrich's blast led off the top of the sixth and pulled Charleston within 8-3, and when Doug Still -- who finished 4 for 4 with two RBIs -- and Adam Kennard followed with singles, the Squirrels looked to be in business.

But Cody Payne grounded into a fielder's choice and, after Mattison was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Elfrink got Tenkhoff to ground into a double play to end the threat.

Then in the seventh, after the Squirrels tied the game 8-8 and had runners on first and third with two out, Tenkhoff grounded again to second, where Graham made a nice diving stop and threw out Tenkhoff at first to preserve the tie.

Graham had entered the game after Pirates starting second baseman, D.K. Wallace, jammed his finger sliding into second in the bottom of the first inning.

"Casey comes in cold at second base and probably won that game for us," McCain said. "He made two or three diving plays, a double play up the middle where he tags the [runner]. He played a great game."

Graham, who starred at shortstop for Leopold in the just completed high school season, was ready.

"I've always worked on my defense; that's been one of my strengths," Graham said. "My dad's taught me since I was young that defense is going to win games."

So does timely hitting. Garrett Potts' two-run double highlighted the Pirates' four-run third inning, and Brad Freed stroked a two-run single in the fourth to give the Pirates an 8-2 lead. Both hits came with two out.

It helps to be lucky, too. The Pirates' Blake White, serving as a courtesy runner for catcher Logan Carter, provided one of the game's highlights when he stumbled coming around third trying to score from second on Tyson Campbell's single. He tripped and fell halfway to home plate as the throw came in to Charleston catcher Cody Payne. Caught in a rundown, White tried scurrying back to third and stumbled again, but was able to crawl back to third base as Payne's throw was dropped by Charleston's third baseman.

"My feet got caught up there when I was rounding third," White said about the rundown. "My helmet started to get over my eyes and I couldn't see, and I tripped over my own feet. Luckily I dodged the third baseman and got back to third."

White was eventually tagged out on an ensuing fielder's choice, but the speedster from South Pemiscot High School, who had just finished his first year at Mineral Area College, made up for that the following inning. Running again for Carter, who had walked, White blazed around the bases on Campbell's double to deep center, scoring all the way from first well ahead of the throw home.

"I almost fell again," White said with a laugh. "Coach tells me to go, I'll go. That was a fun game."

Charleston 002 001 50 -- 8 18 3

SEMO Pirates 004 400 01 -- 9 8 0

WP -- Tyson Campbell. LP -- Chandler Young. 2B -- Ryan Fortner (C), Adam Kennard (C), Logan Carter (SEMO), Campbell (SEMO), Garrett Potts (SEMO). HR -- Layton Tenkhoff (C), Matt Ulrich (C). Multiple hits -- Charleston: Brad Potts 2-5, Fortner 3-4, Blake Wolferding 2-5, Doug Still 4-4, Kennard 2-4. SEMO: Campbell 3-4, Brad Freed 2-3. Records: Charleston 9-2, SEMO 11-0.