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MONETT, Mo. —
For the McDonald County AAA American Legion baseball team, that’s a wrap.
McDonald County went 1-2 in the double-elimination tournament and outlasted Monett and Joplin.
In its opener on Thursday, McDonald County jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning on the strength of a Tanner Grab two-run single. Dusty Stites took the ball for McDonald County and pitched six solid innings.
Unfortunately for McDonald County, the games go from being seven innings to nine innings once tournament play starts and their lack of pitching depth caught up to them after Stites sat down. They ended up losing 11-4.
Facing a win or go home scenario, McDonald County took the field on Friday night against Joplin. Mason York started the game on the mound and threw five strong innings. In the first inning, Grab continued his solid hitting with a three-run homer to give McDonald County the lead. Later in the game, Brandon Stites duplicated Grab’s feat with a three-run shot of his own and the McDonald County offense led them to a 16-11 win over the Joplin Miners, sending them home for the season. Grab also pitched three innings of scoreless relief in the win.
“The first two games we hit the ball really well,” McDonald County coach Nick Martin said. “Game two was really good for us. I was proud of how they came out.”
In game three, McDonald County took on a Carthage team that has given them fits since the spring. A tight game was broken open in the top of the sixth when Carthage scored seven runs to go up 13-3. They would go on to win by a final score of 18-6 in seven innings.
Dusty Stites took the ball on short rest for McDonald County however he only lasted three innings. After Henson threw the fourth inning, Dakota Stites came in and threw the rest of the game. He didn’t allow a baserunner until the seventh inning when Carthage scored five runs.
“Dusty Stites throwing on one day of rest after throwing six innings in the first game showed some character and guts on his part,” Martin said.
Andrew Nicoletti gave McDonald County hope with a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh. Kolby Henson and Dusty Stites both reached base behind him and moved into scoring position. But, Carthage center fielder Dalton Cossey made a lunging catch in center and doubled up Dusty Stites at second base to kill the rally and end the summer season for Mac County.
For the McDonald County AAA American Legion baseball team, that’s a wrap.
McDonald County went 1-2 in the double-elimination tournament and outlasted Monett and Joplin.
In its opener on Thursday, McDonald County jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning on the strength of a Tanner Grab two-run single. Dusty Stites took the ball for McDonald County and pitched six solid innings.
Unfortunately for McDonald County, the games go from being seven innings to nine innings once tournament play starts and their lack of pitching depth caught up to them after Stites sat down. They ended up losing 11-4.
Facing a win or go home scenario, McDonald County took the field on Friday night against Joplin. Mason York started the game on the mound and threw five strong innings. In the first inning, Grab continued his solid hitting with a three-run homer to give McDonald County the lead. Later in the game, Brandon Stites duplicated Grab’s feat with a three-run shot of his own and the McDonald County offense led them to a 16-11 win over the Joplin Miners, sending them home for the season. Grab also pitched three innings of scoreless relief in the win.
“The first two games we hit the ball really well,” McDonald County coach Nick Martin said. “Game two was really good for us. I was proud of how they came out.”
In game three, McDonald County took on a Carthage team that has given them fits since the spring. A tight game was broken open in the top of the sixth when Carthage scored seven runs to go up 13-3. They would go on to win by a final score of 18-6 in seven innings.
Dusty Stites took the ball on short rest for McDonald County however he only lasted three innings. After Henson threw the fourth inning, Dakota Stites came in and threw the rest of the game. He didn’t allow a baserunner until the seventh inning when Carthage scored five runs.
“Dusty Stites throwing on one day of rest after throwing six innings in the first game showed some character and guts on his part,” Martin said.
Andrew Nicoletti gave McDonald County hope with a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh. Kolby Henson and Dusty Stites both reached base behind him and moved into scoring position. But, Carthage center fielder Dalton Cossey made a lunging catch in center and doubled up Dusty Stites at second base to kill the rally and end the summer season for Mac County.
“We competed. We had to use too much pitching early and that will come back and bite you if you have to battle back through the losers’ bracket, so that showed today,” Martin said.
Over the course of the summer, Martin, the new baseball coach at McDonald County High School, got a good chance to look at the talent he has coming back for his first official season next spring. While he was pleased with the progress made by the whole team, there was one player that stood out this summer.
“Cooper Underwood is a kid that was a AA kid at the beginning of the summer and then ended up starting for the AAA club,” Martin said of the sophomore-to-be left fielder. “He really improved through the year. I thought that everybody had a good summer all around.”
While the Legion season is over, there is still work to be done. The McDonald County baseball team will be going at it all year long until the spring season starts in March.
“We’ll have voluntary fall workouts. We need to find some positions,” Martin said. “A lot of the positions we need to fill have some players contending, but we need to work on our arm strength, that’s where we’re lacking the most right now. We’ll throw a lot and hit a lot.”
