After afternoon showers hit the Granby area, the Carthage Merchants and East Newton Rockets decided to relocate to Carthage for Wednesday’s District 15 baseball game.
With Carthage’s AA legion team taking on Cassville, both teams agreed to play one game, which began shortly after 8 p.m. at Carl Lewton Stadium.
The Merchants, backed by Tadd Wagner’s solid outing and a 12-hit attack, made it three in a row
with an 11-1 win over the Rockets.
“We pitched and played defense,” said Kinder, who used to teach and coach at East Newton. “We did the little things right tonight.”
Caleb Fierro hit his fourth long ball of the season in the top of the fifth inning with one out and the bases loaded against reliever Ty Harris, who replaced starter Taylor Spencer after the fourth.
Fierro’s grand slam was the knockout blow to East Newton’s chances of a comeback.
“Since I’ve been (batting fourth in the lineup), I’ve seen a lot of better pitches,” said Fierro, who has connected for two slams this season. “I think we’re going out and having more fun.”
Wagner, forced to make a lot of pitches early, limited East Newton to only one run, which came in the first inning. Mason Whitmann, who reached on a one-out single, came around to score on Clayton Miller’s RBI single.
Despite throwing 36 pitches in the first two innings, including a 12-pitch at bat by Dwayne McBride, Wagner didn’t allow another runner to reach second base for the rest of the game.
“We played good defense,” said Wagner. “We just didn’t make good plays, we made exceptional plays.”
Wagner, who had an RBI single in the third, struck out three and permitted only one walk in five innings. He also pitched out of trouble in the first and second, while the Merchants built a sizeable lead.
“I can’t say enough about Tadd,” said Kinder. “Tadd, like Levi (Snyder) on Monday, pitched a great game. When you receive solid starting pitching, everything else falls into place.”
Fierro and Wagner came through with RBI singles in the third to help give the Merchants a 4-1 lead. Singles from Dalton Cossey and Snyder put two runners on with nobody out in the fourth. Stephen Poston followed with his sixth triple of the season, scoring Cossey and Snyder.
Stephen Poston easily scored on Brain Poston’s two-out single to right field.
East Newton, which mustered only three hits against Wagner, had two runners reach base after the first inning. And Miller, with a pair of singles, was the only player to finish with two hits.
“We were out of position a few times,” said Seth Johnson, East Newton head coach. “Outside of that, I thought our kids played well against a quality team. We’ve dealt with some adversity over the past two weeks, and the kids have stepped up.”
Fierro’s slam in the fifth gave him six RBIs, while Cossey and Snyder finished with two hits each.
“Caleb is a player,” quipped Kinder. “He’s playing with a lot of confidence right now.”
Mason Siebert takes the mound at 5:30 p.m. today, as the Merchants (16-8 overall) open play in the Pryor (Okla.) Tigers Summer Classic in Vinita, Okla. The Rockets, now 3-6 and 2-5 in District 15 play, face Carl Junction at 6 p.m. today at home.
CARTHAGE, Mo. —
