Semoball

Jackson baseball felled by mistakes as Poplar Bluff wins fourth straight SEMO Conference Tournament championship

Jackson pitcher Cole Welker rubs his head while walking to the dugout during the SEMO Conference Baseball Tournament championship game Monday, April 30, 2018 at Capaha Field in Cape Girardeau.
BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@semissourian.com

When the Jackson baseball team defeated rival Poplar Bluff 12 days ago, there was a crispness to its play that saw the Indians take advantage of their opportunities while shutting down the Mules' chances.

In a rematch Monday night, that crispness wasn't there.

Jackson succumbed to a few too many mistakes, which gave Poplar Bluff the opening it needed to drop the Indians 7-3 in the SEMO Conference Tournament championship at Capaha Field.

It is the fourth consecutive conference tournament title for the Mules (17-2).

The two teams traded punches early in the game, but Jackson's mistakes caught up with it, and a pair of walks and an error set the table for Mason Libla to blast a fourth-inning grand slam giving top-seeded Poplar Bluff control.

Poplar Bluff players celebrate at home plate after a grand slam during the SEMO Conference Baseball Tournament championship game Monday, April 30, 2018 at Capaha Field in Cape Girardeau.
BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@semissourian.com

"That was the game winner, there. ... Our team's all momentum. When we get momentum going, there's no way you can stop us. No way," Libla said. "When I hit that, it was amazing. I knew, in my heart, that was going to seal the game."

The second-seeded Indians (16-8) walked seven batters and committed a pair of errors, and it was too much to overcome against a team that's only suffered two losses all season.

"When you're playing a really good team, they beat you when you make mistakes. We made a couple mistakes, and they did a great job," Jackson coach Bryan Austin said. "They hurt us on the grand slam, and we had a couple of plays before that where we could have got out of it. We didn't, and they made us hurt for it.

"We knew it was going to be a really good baseball game, and we knew it was going to come down to a mistake ... here or there. That's what it came down to."

Cole Welker took the loss on the mound for Jackson, allowing seven runs -- just three of them earned -- on five hits, with five walks and two strikeouts in five innings.

Welker was also 3-for-4 with an RBI at the plate, while Seth Essner went 2-for-3 and Justice Crosnoe reached base three times, stole two bases and scored two runs for Jackson.

The Indians out-hit Poplar Bluff 8-5, but could not string hits together and finished without an extra-base hit. That forced them to take things one base at a time and allowed a sharp Mules defense to limit any damage.

"It was just we couldn't really string multiple hits together in a row," Austin said, "and when we have two teams like we are, when you put the ball in play and hit it right at them, 95 percent of the time they're going to make the play and they did a great job today."

Sam Pierce got the pitching win for Poplar Bluff, scattering eight hits and giving up three runs in a complete-game effort, striking out three batters and walking two.

"After the first inning, I felt in control," Pierce said. "Felt a little bit shaky -- threw a lot of balls -- (but) I settled in, found the strike zone and my defense worked behind me."

The jockeying began early, as Jackson took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Crosnoe reached on a fielder's choice and went station to station before scoring on a wild pitch.

Poplar Bluff responded in the bottom half of the inning, when it used four hits to score two runs -- including RBI singles from Turner Frtiz and Noah Burkey -- and take a 2-1 edge.

The Indians tied things at 2-all in the top of the third when Bo Goddard reached on a two-out single and then scored on a base hit by Welker.

The top seed retook the lead in the bottom of the third without the benefit of a hit, as a pair of walks, a stolen base -- which came when the defense was caught napping immediately following a walk -- and a balk allowed Fritz to score the go-ahead run.

The Mules broke things open in the fourth, taking advantage of a pair of walks and a two-out error to set the table for Libla to send his blast over the left-field fence for a 7-2 lead. All four runs were unearned.

"I said, 'That's gone.' I was thinking all the way down to first base, the whole time, 'That's gone,'" Libla said. "There was no shot it was not going out, and it was just an experience. It sent tingles through my body. I was so pumped ... but I kept my composure, ran around the bases and took it out on Coach (Steve) Edwards' hand."

Poplar Bluff's Alex Ketcherside slides to second base as the ball gets past Jackson's Justice Crosnoe during the SEMO Conference Baseball Tournament championship game Monday, April 30, 2018 at Capaha Field in Cape Girardeau.
BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@semissourian.com

Jackson cut into the gap in the top of the sixth, when Crosnoe walked and went base to base before scoring on a single up the middle by Essner for a 7-3 score.

But the damage was already done, and Poplar Bluff lifted the trophy.

The two teams will have an opportunity to meet for a third time this season in the Class 5 District 1 Tournament. Poplar Bluff defeated Jackson in the district final a year ago to end the Indians' three-year reign as district champions.

"You want to play quality opponents late into the year," Austin said. "That was a really good opponent. We saw a team that played really well defensively; when we kicked a couple balls, they scored on us. That's a district tournament mentality we have to take into the tournament -- we can't make mistakes or someone's going to score runs."

Jackson is back on the field at district foe Hillsboro on Thursday.

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WP -- Sam Pierce. LP -- Cole Welker. HR -- Mason Libla (PB). Multiple hits -- Jackson: Welker 3-4, Seth Essner 2-3.

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