Menu
Royals, Bears head to OFC finals
The Greenville Bears and Twin Rivers Royals baseball teams both used big offensive performances Tuesday to punch their tickets to the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament championship game.
The Royals used a nine-run fourth inning to erase an early deficit and take an 11-3 win over Puxico. Meanwhile, the Bears used a hot start at the plate to outslug the Doniphan Dons 17-9 in the second semifinal Tuesday at Roger Pattillo Field on the campus of Three Rivers College.
The Royals and Greenville will meet for OFC Tournament title at 1 p.m. on Thursday back at TRC.
Greenville 17, Doniphan 9
The Bears scored seven runs in the bottom of the first inning and six more in the bottom of the second to build up a big leaf, then held off a late charge from Doniphan to earn a spot in the finals.
Ty Burchard’s base hit in the top of the first inning scored Gavin Reynolds and Cooper Sturgeon to put Greenville ahead 2-1 and open the floodgates. Ian Meyer’s RBI double scored Burchard and made it 3-1, then two errors sandwiched around a RBI single from Logan Hills made it 7-1.
Meyer and Austin Hill had RBI hits in the bottom of the second to make it 10-2, followed by a RBI single from Reynolds and a two-run tripe by Sturgeon to make it 13-2 and cap the rally.
The Dons did not give up, scoring five runs on four hits and three errors in the top of the fifth inning to close the gap to 13-7 and stave off the 10-run rule, but could get no closer the rest of the way.
Meyer had a big game, going 3-for-4 at the dish and driving in four runs, while Burchard was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and Sturgeon added two hits and drove in two more runs.
Andrew Lady and Maddox Baucom each had two hits for the Dons, while Lady drove in two runs.
Twin Rivers 11, Puxico 3
In Tuesday’s first semifinal, the Royals scored nine times in the bottom of the fourth inning to take control of a close game and earn a spot in Thursday’s championship.
Bryce Dollins’ two-run single tied the game at 2-2, then Jake Hester added another two-run single to put Twin Rivers ahead 4-2. Luke Hester followed that up by taking a pitch over the left-field fence for a two-run homer to make it 6-2.
The Royals added two more runs on an error and capped the rally when Evan Bonifield scored on a hit batsman.
Dollins, Bonifield, Jake Hester and Luke Hester each had two hits, while Luke Hester drove in three runs and the duo of Dollins and Jake Hester drove in two apiece.
Jake Hester also earned the win on the mound, allowing five hits and one earned run while striking out nine and walking three in a complete-game victory.
Mason Parsley had three hits for Puxico in the loss.