Knox County Eagles Clinch Second Straight Lewis and Clark Baseball Championship
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By David Sharp
Braxton McCurren scored an eighth inning run and Rylan Roberts held off a determined Hornet rally for a 5-4 win in eight innings at Moberly HS. The Eagles improved to 10-3 on the season. Knox County clinched at least a tie for the 2022 Lewis and Clark Conference baseball championship.
Tenth ranked Knox County can win the conference championship out right with a victory over Marceline on May 9, 2022 baseball at Knox County, weather permitting.
The eventual game changing play in the top of the eighth inning was a throw sailing into the runner, and eventually into center field when Westran attempted a double play on a come backer to the mound with none out.
“I look at that where you have an opportunity to get two in a tough ball game like that,” Westran coach Tyler Tanner said. “We felt like the ball got back to the pitcher pretty quick. He turned his body right.”
“We just felt like we didn’t execute when we needed to,” Tyler Tanner said. “But that’s kind of one of those things that we will continue to work on. Hopefully we will learn from that. When we get the opportunity again, hopefully we will execute.”
Westran came into the contest after losing a prior game to Schuyler County by a 10-3 margin. The Knox County vs. Westran game was moved to the artificial turf Moberly HS infield after rain had rendered both participating school’s baseball fields unplayable.
The Hornets showed intensity. The Eagles had to match in order to keep their shot at a conference title. A one out error and Cooper Harvey’s one out hit gave the Hornets a chance at an early lead.
Blake Parrish fanned the final two batters of the inning with runners on first and second base. Both teams picked up a second inning runner but could not score. Knox County broke the ice with a pair of third inning runs.
Braydon Miller drew a one out walk. Isaac McCurren followed with a walk. Rylan Roberts touched Westran pitcher Cooper Harvey for a two run double. Roberts was thrown out attempting to advance to third base for the second out.
Braxton McCurren singled but was picked off first base for out number three. Knox County led 2-0 after three complete innings. Ashton Dale led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a Hornet hit.
After a base hit and two strikeouts, Conner Haynes lined a two out RBI hit for a 2-1 score. The Eagles answered with a two run fifth inning. Reice Miller walked leading off the top of the fifth inning.
Branson Miller singled. Isaac McCurren and Rylan Roberts delivered one out RBI hits for a 4-1 Knox County lead midway through the fifth inning. Leighton Bain led off the Westran fifth with a base hit.
Two outfield errors contributed to Bain scoring for a 4-2 KCHS lead after five complete innings. Kellen Parrish reached on an error leading off the top of the sixth inning. Westran reliever Logan Bain kept the runner on third base.
Knox County reliever Rylan Roberts held the score at 4-2 Eagles entering the seventh inning. The Eagle went down in order during the top of the seventh. Leighton Bain singled leading off the Westran seventh.
DC Dale followed with a hit. Cooper Harvey grounded out, scoring Bain for a 4-3 KC lead with two out in the seventh inning. Ashton Dale came through with a two out game tying hit.
Derrick Merrick walked, putting the winning run in scoring position. Rylan Roberts struck out two Hornets in succession. The game went to the eighth inning tied at four all.
Braxton led off the KCHS eighth with a hit. Robert Dooley followed with a hit. Kellen Parrish hit the ball back to the mound with nobody out. The Hornet pitcher turned and threw to second.
The throw sailed into the outfield. Braxton McCurren scored on the play for a 5-4 Knox County lead. Conner Haynes fanned two batters then induced a ground out to first base to end the inning.
Conner Haynes singled leading off the bottom of the eighth. Knox County picked the runner off first base for the first out. David Nelson followed with a walk. Branson Miller snagged a fly ball in a persistent light rain for the second out.
DC Dale walked putting the tying run in scoring position and the winning run on base with two out. Robert Dooley sealed the win with a ground out. “They fought all night,” Knox County coach David Cameron said.
“Both teams fought hard and competed all night. That’s a good team. They had several younger kids,” David Cameron said. “They are going to be really good in a couple of years. I felt like we were fortunate to walk away with a win.”
Knox County scored five runs on seven hits. Rylan Roberts drove in three KCHS runs. Braxton McCurren was 2-3 with a run scored. Blake Parrish struck out nine of his 20 batters faced with one walk on five hits in four innings plus.
Rylan Roberts gathered the win in relief. Roberts pitched four innings with six strikeouts in 19 batters faced on three walks and five hits. Each Eagle hurler was charged with two runs each.
Westran (7-8) scored four runs on ten hits. Conner Haynes was 2-4 with an RBI. Ashton Dale was 3-4 with a run batted in and another run scored. Leighton Bain was 2-5 with two Hornet runs scored.
Cooper Harvey pitched five innings with four strikeouts on six hits. Logan Bain tossed two innings with two strikeouts and no hits. Conner Haynes pitched one inning with two strikeouts, no walks and two hits allowed.
The eventual winning run was unearned.
