Semoball

Jackson baseball tops Poplar Bluff 5-2 to claim third district title in four years

Jackson players celebrate with the first-place plaque after their 5-2 win over Poplar Bluff in the Class 5 District 1 championship game Monday at Cape Girardeau Central High School.
Fred Lynch

The Jackson baseball team learned a thing or two in its SEMO Conference Tournament title-game loss to rival Poplar Bluff on April 30.

Chief among those lessons: the Indians weren't going to no-hit the Mules every time, and defensive mistakes get you beat.

On Monday, top-seeded Jackson turned the tables on second-seeded Poplar Bluff, taking advantage of the Mules' mistakes and showing the poise to get some revenge and snag its third district title in four years with a 5-2 win in the Class 5 District 1 championship Monday evening at Cape Girardeau Central High School.

The two sides had split a pair of previous meetings this season.

The rubber-match victory didn't come easily for Jackson (21-8), as Poplar Bluff (21-3) threatened to the very last out. But with the bases loaded and Mules three-hitter Turner Fritts representing the go-ahead run at the plate, Indians' pitcher Tyler Martin induced a pop-up to senior second baseman Justice Crosnoe, who camped under it and easily hauled it in to spark a celebration.

Jackson players celebrate with a dogpile on the mound after their 5-2 win over Poplar Bluff in the Class 5 District 1 championship game Monday, May 14, 2018 at Cape Girardeau Central High School.
Fred Lynch

"Turner Fritts, man, he's a great guy and he just hits the ball real hard," Crosnoe said. "Once the ball went up there and I had a chance to get it ... it was like it was written in a script that I was going to get the last ball. It was great.

"It's amazing. I feel like on the way over here I was, like, 'You know what? This could be my last game as a high school player, so might as well go out there and give it your best.' Getting here we were all pumped up; practice we were all pumped up. It was an amazing feeling when I caught that ball."

Crosnoe was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a triple -- a big chunk of the Indians' offensive output.

Jackson managed to score its five runs on just four hits -- also stranding 11 base runners -- but slipped through the door when the Mules left it open.

Poplar Bluff walked 10 batters, threw four wild pitches, committed two errors and twice had a runner thrown out at the plate to end an inning. And it got punished for it.

"I'm not going to point the finger at anybody or any thing," Poplar Bluff coach Steven Edwards said. "It was just uncharacteristic of us. A couple of miscues here and there, two miscues on the base paths. It is what it is. I hate it for these eight seniors going out. I love them boys, I'd do anything for them. A tough loss -- it'll be a tough one to swallow for a while.

"You can't blame high school kids. I take the full blame for any loss we get. High school kids are high school kids. They're aggressive, they're excited, they're going after it. Miscues or whatever, it's my fault, not their fault."

Jaxson Huffman was 2-for-2 with a walk for Poplar Bluff, while Kyler Carr went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Mules starting left-hander Sam Pierce took the loss, allowing three runs -- just one earned -- on two hits with seven strikeouts and five walks over 3 2/3 innings. Michael White and Noah Burkey also pitched for Poplar Bluff.

Martin got the complete-game win for Jackson. He may not have been as sharp as he was when he no-hit the Mules on April 19, but he proved crafty enough to work out of most trouble. He scattered nine hits and gave up two runs, striking out one and walking two.

"Early in the game, Tyler didn't have his best stuff," Jackson coach Bryan Austin said. "He could not locate the breaking ball early. ... You saw a kid out there who did not have his best stuff but he was just competing. When he got to about the fourth or fifth inning, he found all his stuff and it was really, really good."

Jackson got the go-ahead score in the fourth, when Bo Goddard reached on an error and later scored after back-to-back wild pitches, giving Jackson a 3-2 lead.

The No. 1 seed then built some breathing room in the bottom of the sixth, as Cole Welker and Crosnoe drew back-to-back walks to begin the inning before Tyler Harris drew a bases-loaded free pass two batters later -- his fourth walk of the day -- to push a runner in. Seth Essner then made it 5-2 with a sacrifice fly to center field.

The two sides traded runs in the first inning, as Tyson Cox led off with a single and later scored on a sacrifice fly.

Jackson catcher Tyler Harris tags out Poplar Bluff's Jaxson Huffman at the plate during the second inning of the Class 5 District 1 championship game Monday, May 14, 2018 at Cape Girardeau Central High School.
Fred Lynch

Jackson then got a triple from Crosnoe, who scored on a two-out wild pitch to tie the game at 1-all.

Poplar Bluff grabbed back the lead in the second, 2-1, as Carson Webb singled, moved up on a walk and scored on a two-out single by Carr.

Jackson drew back-to-back one-out walks in the bottom of the third, setting the table for a wild pitch and an error to allow Landon Hahn to score without the benefit of a hit, tying things at 2-all.

Trailing 3-2, the Mules had a chance to pull even in the top of the fifth. With runners at the corners, a miscommunication saw the runner at third come home and easily get tagged out by the catcher for the final out.

Moments later, Jackson took the lead for good.

"We really thought our defense got away from us in [the conference championship]," Austin said. "We made some mistakes we typically don't make. But I'll tell you, these guys came in and played with confidence. They've been confident through this entire tournament.

"You really just have to talk about how great our kids are, how hard they competed and how selfless they are."

Entering the season, it was unclear just what the Indians would bring to the table after graduating a strong senior class and nearly all of its innings on the mound. But on Monday they made last year's district title loss to Poplar Bluff look like a hiccup rather than a new trend.

"When you lose six guys and pretty much your pitching staff ... [other teams] are thinking, 'Hey, we're going to be able to get after them a little bit,'" Austin said. "What did it for us was our juniors and seniors meshed very well together, they compete extremely hard and that's the product you get on the field."

For the Mules, it was a disappointing way to end a season in which they did most everything else right. But Edwards remained heartened by the campaign and the state of his program.

"It's amazing. Our program is one of the best programs in the state, I believe," Edwards said. "(We finish) 21-3 now on the year. Anyone who doesn't want 21-3 is [crazy]. Everyone hates to lose this game -- everyone wants to win a district championship. Unfortunately, we didn't. It hurts bad, but we've got to build, and I think this year's team has built on the foundation we brought in and I think next year we'll continue to build and be a strong team as well."

Jackson advances to a Class 5 sectional May 22 against the District 2 winner between Lindbergh (18-11) and Rockwood Summit (17-10-1), to be played today.

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WP -- Tyler Martin. LP -- Sam Pierce. 3B -- Justice Crosnoe (J). 2B -- Mason Libla (PB). Multiple hits -- Poplar Bluff: Jaxson Huffman 2-2, Kyler Carr 2-3; Jackson: Crosnoe 2-3.

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