KC rallies to defeat Moniteau in 8 innings
Jacob Jones finished things at the plate. Colton Christie did likewise on the mound.
And Karns City escaped with a come-from-behind 6-5 baseball victory over Moniteau on Friday at Pullman Park.
“This is a nice win for us,” Gremlins coach Josh “Sluggo” Smith said. “We fell behind early and it didn’t look good, but we stayed together. Nobody got down. We kept battling against a good team and I loved seeing that.”
Moniteau (10-7) scored four runs on only one hit in the second inning to take a 4-1 lead. The lone hit was a two-out, two-run single to center by Keagan Book. Karns City (13-2) had a pair of two-out RBI doubles by Joey O’Donnell and Hobie Bartoe in the fourth io pull within 4-3.
A two-out run-scoring single by James Gillen increased the Warrior lead to 5-3 before KC scored a pair in the sixth, one on an RBI single by pinch-hitter Tyson Frazer, the other on a bases-loaded walk to Tyler Kelly.
The game remained tied after seven innings.
Bartoe reached on a two-base infield error with one out in the eighth and moved to third on a ground out for the Gremlins. Jones — Karns City’s starting pitcher — delivered a two-out line single to left to plate the go-ahead run. He had been 0-fot-4 prior to that at bat.
“I was just looking for a pitch to drive, put the ball in play hard somewhere,” Jones said. “I wanted to come through for my team.”
Jones and Moniteau starting pitcher Dawson Cook both left the game on pitch count in the sixth. Jones struck out eight and walked five in 5.1 innings pitched.
“Too many pitches,” Jones said. “I didn’t have enough command of the strike zone.”
Cook worked 5.2 innings for Moniteau, striking out seven and walking three. He threw 71 of his 100 pitches for strikes.
“I was throwing strikes, but I wasn’t hitting my spots,” Cook said. “I’ve had better outings than this.”
Christie worked the final 2.2 innings for the Gremlins, allowing only a one-out single to Gillen in the eighth inning. He struck out the final two batters to earn the win in relief.
“We brought Colton on in a tie game because he’s earned the right to pitch in situations like that,” Smith said. “He comes in and attacks the zone. He’s a very confident kid.”
Christie has been used primarily in relief by KC.
“I’m used to that role,” he said. “What I try to do is change speeds with my pitches and keep hitters off stride. This win today will give us a lot of confidence moving forward.”
Mason Sherwin had two singles and walked for the Gremlins. he led off the inning in each of those at bats and scored each time. O’Donnell had two RBI, including a sacrifice fly that produced the game’s first run.
“Mason hits in the sixth spot for us because he can be like another leadoff hitter in our lineup,” Smith said. “He leads off innings for us quite a bit.”
Book had two singles and two RBI, Gillen a pair of singles and an RBI for the Warriors.
Karns City 010 202 01 — 6 9 2
Moniteau 040 010 00 — 5 5 1
WP: Colton Christie 2.2 IP (2sop, 0bb). LP: Connor Ealy 2.1 IP (1so, 2bb).
Karns City (13-2): Hobie Bartoe 2B RBI, Tyler Kelly 1B RBI, Jacob Jones 1B RBI, Trpy Nael 1B, Mason Sherwin 2-1B 3-R, Tyson Frazer 1B RBI, Koen Williams 1B, Joey O’Donnell 2B 2-RBI.
Moniteau (10-7): Connor Ealy RBI, Keagan Book 2-1B 2-RBI, Ian Ross 1B, James Gillen 2-1B RBI, Carson Minnear RBI.
Tuesday: Cranberry at Karns City
Wednesday: DuBois Central at Moniteau
