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Bernie Mules trap Hornets
HOLCOMB, Mo. - Friday was a tough day for Hornets fans.
The Bernie baseball Mules pulled into town and defeated the home team 8-0.
Action really began in the top of the third inning.
The Mules' Leighton Hicks singled and knocked in one run, Cody Massey walked and scored another, and finally Cane Hobgood showed bunt and laid down a beauty of a sacrifice for a safety squeeze and brought runners across the plate from second and third.
Freshman Hobgood said the play appeared seamless because of the team's efforts during practice.
“All season I've kinda been working on bunting a lot,” Hobgood said. “I kinda got the coach's trust to just get it down.
“I saw that pitch coming and thought 'this is the one.'” he added. “Really, any pitch is pretty easy to bunt. It's not the first time this year we've done it. You just kind of get used to it and practice a lot.”
Hobgood led the Mules in RBIs with three, two from the singular squeeze.
Bernie went down in three at the top of the first, followed by Holcomb stranding Christian Lewis on first after Keaton Cunningham grounded out, Bryce McNabb hitting into a fielder's choice and pitcher Sam Jacobs fanning out.
Bernie sent just three men to the plate in the top of the second, as did Holcomb in the bottom of the inning.
Top of the third and Bernie's bats go thermal.
Cade Arnold singled on a grounder to third, Blayne Morgan singled off a shot to center, Jayden Robinett walked, Leighton Hicks singled on a ground ball to short and Massey walked scoring Morgan, all prior to Hobgood's textbook bunt that drove in two.
Bottom of the third, Hornet Keaton Cunningham singled on a line-drive to center, stole second and was left stranded on base.
Top of the fourth, Mules' Blake Nash singled on a fly to center and was stranded on base.
Holcomb crashed and burned in three in the bottom of the inning.
Top of the fifth, Bernie's Hicks singled on a ground ball to third and remained on first base after three batters failed to hit.
Bottom of the fifth, Holcomb's Joiner singled on a nice shot to left and was stranded on first to end the inning.
Bernie's Brayden Vaughn reached on a line drive to center and that was it for the top of the sixth after three Mules' batters went down in succession.
Bottom of the inning, Holcomb's Cunningham hit his second of the day and reached on a fly to first. The Hornets went down one, two, three and left Cunningham gasping.
Top of the seventh and here comes Bernie. Morgan walked, Robinett singled and advanced Morgan to second. Hicks at the plate singled on a pop to second and scored Morgan while Robinett took third. Hicks stole second when Massey was hit by a pitch. With bases loaded, Hobgood grounded out to center and scored Robinett, which brought the game to 6-0 Bernie. Vaughn singled on a grounder to short and scored Hicks, 7-0 Bernie. Massey stole home, brought the score to 8-0 and that was it for all intents and purposes.
Final score 8-0 Bernie.
Mules head coach Marcus Massey, in his eighth season at Bernie said his pitcher, Taylor Stanfield performed well Friday and the team was on its collective toes.
“Today we threw a ton of strikes,” Massey said. “When you throw a ton of strikes, you give yourself a chance.”
Indeed. Mules' junior hurler Stanfield was in for seven innings, allowed zero runs on four hits, committed no errors, walked one and struck out six from the mound.
“The defense worked well behind Stanfield,” Massey said. “We were strong in the field, made a lot of plays and didn't make a lot of errors.
“It took a while, but eventually we got to eight and we won eight to nothing.”
Starter and winning pitcher Stanfield said although he had pitched some in both his freshman and sophomore years, he really picked up this season and developed a couple of pitches that work well for him.
“I have a fastball, a curveball, a change up and a slider,” Stanfield said. “My favorite pitch probably is the fastball.
“Today, the fastball worked a lot, and my slider was working, too,” he continued. “I worked on that one a lot in the off season. Me and Leighton Hicks went out in the field and worked pretty much every day. I think that really paid off for me and the team.”
Holcomb head coach Gary Dubar was proud of his team's showing Friday, despite the loss.
“We just gotta hit the ball better,” he said. “I liked our effort.
“Our contact was okay, and we didn't strike out a ton, he added. “Stanfield threw 95 pitches. It was great to see him feeling good and throwing 95 pitches without any kind of issue. He said he didn't hurt or anything, so that was great, actually.”
And Dubar offered mega-props to his own pitcher.
“Sam Jacobs started on the mound for us and did a really good job,” the coach said. “He hadn't thrown much.
“He threw more than 100 pitches today,” he added. “That's more than he ever threw in a game, probably in his life. So that was a really good day for him.”
Although he took the loss for the Hornets, starter Jacobs reached then surpassed that pitching milestone.
“Felt good at the beginning of the game,” Jacobs said. “I got a little tired there at the end.
“I had to dig really deep in the seventh inning,” Jacobs continued. “I found my spots and all my pitches were working. That felt great. The curve was working today. Fastball felt good, too. I know I'll sleep good tonight. I'm exhausted.”
The Hornets fell to 11-12 this season after losing two more this past weekend, and Bernie's record climbed to 16-8.