For the second time in less than a week, the Joplin Eagles’ and Neosho Wildcats’ baseball teams will clash.

This time, however, the stakes are much higher.

As expected by many, the Eagles were the No. 4 seed and the Wildcats were the No. 5 seed when the Class 4 District 12 Tournament field was announced this week.

The two teams face off at 4:30 p.m. Monday at Springfield Kickapoo’s Neil Pittman Field.

The second game of the day Monday will feature No. 3 seed Nixa versus No. 6 seed Central at 7 p.m.

The winner of the Neosho/Joplin game will play No. 1 seed Kickapoo and the winner of the Nixa/Central game will play Parkview, the No. 2 seed Tuesday in the semifinals.

The championship is set for Thursday afternoon.

Joplin won the meeting against Neosho, 13-3, last Tuesday at Joplin High School. Neosho held a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning before the proverbial wheels fell off for the team.

The Wildcats, 8-13 overall, will look to extract revenge in the district tourney.

“Joplin has some great pitching and you will have to be able to scratch out runs, put pressure on their defense and don’t strike out,” said Neosho coach Eddie Crupper, a former JHS assistant.

Crupper also knows his team will have to make some quality pitches playing in a hitter-friendly park.

“They have an odd mound and a short field, but we are used to play in a short field,” said Crupper. “We have played a lot of games at Kickapoo, or at least, I have seen us play a lot there. We had the Legion Zone Tournament there and we have two district tournaments there and the JV played there in a tournament this year.

“Joplin has real good No. 3 and No. 4 hitters in (Shayne) Hoke and (Barrett) Noirfalise. Pitch location will be big. Defense will be big too. When we play good defense we are a pretty good team.”

Neosho will go with junior Scooter Lewis on the mound against the Eagles. The right-hander has a 2.20 earned run average on the season.

The Wildcats will go with an infield of Austin Paul (first base), Alex Wise (second base), Carter Marion (shortstop) and Drew Miller (third base). Kyle Dickens will start behind the plate. Koty Dowell, Scott Wilson and Ty Anderson will likely patrol the outfield.
Neosho will be likely be without Joe Hembree, a second baseman/outfielder/pitcher. The senior has missed games lately due to a brown recluse spider bite.