Doniphan's Ethan King pumps his fist after hitting a walk-off RBI double to lift the Dons over Naylor, 5-4, in 10 innings in the first round of the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament Monday at Raider Field. (Rob Tate/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

By ROB TATE ~ DAR Sports Writer

The Ozark Foothills Conference tournament once again had a classic in the first round. And once again it involved Naylor.

After the Eagles pulled off an upset last season as the sixth seed, they were an out away from moving on to the semifinal Monday. But Doniphan forced extra innings and Ethan King sent his team to the semifinals with a one-out, walk-off hit in the 10th for a 5-4 win.

"He's been out for a little while," Doniphan coach Jason Rose said of King. "He come back and got a big hit right there when we needed it."

The game-winning run was set up by Adam Tejada, who stroked a double. Gavin Wilfong then walked which set up the big hit by King who was 2-for-5 on the day.

"Man, 10 innings, you can't ask for a better game like that," Rose said.

It was all Naylor early as the Eagles mounted a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of third.

The Eagles scored two runs in the first inning. Travis Thomas had an RBI single and two batters later Dalton Woodard added another RBI single.

Cory Kovach hit a two-out RBI single in the second inning and Woordard drove in his second run of the day in third when he knocked in Josh Cullison.

Everything seemed smooth sailing for the Eagles, but Doniphan held them scoreless the rest of the game.

"Over the year we've just gotten a little lackadaisical when we get a lead," Naylor coach Glenn Eubanks said. "You gotta step up and get more intense. We've been having trouble with that."

Doniphan started mounting its comeback in the bottom half of the third. Russ Miller scored his first of three runs on error to pull within three runs.

The Dons then scored two more runs in the fifth inning. Miller scored another run on an error and Daniel Newman scored on a Jordan Casteel groundout.

With the fall season hanging in the balance for Doniphan, Zack Swindle came up with two outs in the seventh and knocked in Miller on a single. Swindle tried turning it into a double but was thrown out, sending the game to extras.

Each starting pitcher for both squads went at least nine innings on the day.

Swindle pitched nine innings and took the no-decision. He struck out six. Newman took the win, pitching one inning of relief in the 10th inning. He struck out two.

Cullison pitched all 10 innings for the Eagles, allowing just one earned run on the 10th-inning game-winner. Cullison struck out eight.

"He pitched good all year long," Eubanks said. "At times we just don't give him the defensive support that he needs. It's been real tough."

Rose, on the other hand, was sorry that Swindle didn't pick up the win despite pitching so well.

"He pitched well enough to win," Rose said. "He's a senior, he stepped up for me and did a good job for me. He sure did."

Doniphan will take on Clearwater at noon Thursday at TRCC.

The Tigers, who were undefeated in the OFC in the regular season, beat the Dons earlier in the year by a slim margin of 3-0.