Gabe Marcantonio had one thing on his mind when he stepped to the plate with no outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th inning.
The Jefferson City senior executed what he set out to do.
Marcantonio drove a 3-2 pitch to left-center field to score Hayden Strobel from third base as the Jays claimed a 4-3 win in extra innings against Southern Boone on Monday evening at Vivion Field.
"I was going up there looking for a fastball," Marcantonio said. "I got one middle-inside, so I just tried to hit a fly ball so I could get that run in from third. That's all I cared about."
Strobel led off the frame with a double to the right-center gap to give Jefferson City its first hit since the sixth inning and set up the eventual game-winner.
"I was just trying to hit something hard," Strobel said. "When he got down in the count, I knew he was going to throw me a fastball and I was just trying to hit it hard."
The Jays (16-5) had a 3-1 lead entering the top of the seventh, but Southern Boone (8-10) tallied four hits in the inning to tie the game.
Jefferson City still extended its winning streak to five, despite being outhit 10-9 by the Eagles and committing two errors.
"We didn't play particularly bad," Jefferson City coach Brian Ash said. "You've got to give a lot of credit to Southern Boone and how they played today. They can swing it and they took advantage of some things that we didn't take care of."
The Jays looked to be in good shape entering the top of the seventh - especially after starting pitcher Adam Grunden entered the frame having allowed one run on six hits.
But that's when the Eagles' bats started to come alive.
John Troth brought Southern Boone within one with an RBI single and Alex Anderson followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at three.
"My kids always compete," Southern Boone coach Tony Phillips said. "We asked our kids to limit the mistakes, put the ball in play and just compete - and we did that.
"This is a game we can build on. I'm proud of our effort."
Blaine Meyer threw 32/3 scoreless innings for Jefferson City, allowing one hit to give the Jays a chance to win it at the plate. Alex Johnson got the win after pitching a scoreless inning in the top of the 11th and Jefferson City's offense took care of the rest.
"Blaine did an outstanding job," Ash said. "He's a bulldog. He doesn't throw particularly hard, but he just goes right after hitters. You're going to have to put the ball in play to beat him."
The Jays also got a lift from starting catcher Jackson Walker, who threw out two baserunners in the 11th.
"Some of the kids call him The Eraser," Ash said. "To have him back there, with his throwing ability to keep guys off of second, that's huge. Those were all momentum builders for us each time he did that."
Troth had only allowed one hit and had walked two - all intentional - in four innings of relief before Strobel got things started for Jefferson City in the final inning.
"No situation is too big for Johnny," Phillips said. "He doesn't get excited, he just competes."
The Jays took an early lead when Jake Walker led off bottom of the fourth with a double and Jackson Walker drove him in two batters later with a single to right field to give Jefferson City a 1-0 cushion.
Southern Boone scored its first run of the game in unusual fashion in the top of the fifth.
Following a leadoff single by Nick Kile, Sam Bowles and Troth connected with back-to-back balls that hit the field umpire near second base with two outs. The second one resulted in a tie game.
"It's a little bit of adversity - so what," Ash said. "They ultimately score that run and nobody feels worse about it than (the umpire). It's part of the game. The kids had to bounce back and fight through a little adversity."
Johnson connected with a two-run double down the right-field line to give Jefferson City a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth, but the Jays only had one hit after that - until the 11th inning.
"Later in the innings, it looked like each guy at the plate was trying to end the game," Ash said. "Finally, we got back to some basics."
Strobel had three hits, while Marcantonio added two to help lead the Jays at the plate.
Bowles, Troth and Nate Isenberg all had two hits to pace the Class 3 Eagles, who have suffered eight of their 10 losses to Class 5 schools.
Jefferson City, which stranded eight baserunners, will return to action against Lebanon today at Vivion Field.
"I think this was kind of a wakeup call for us," Strobel said. "We should have never been in the situation to begin with. We should have been done in seven."
In the junior-varsity game, Jefferson City was a 4-1 winner.
Logan Schmitz received the win after allowing one run on three hits, while striking out 10 in five innings.
Ripken Dodson was 1-for-1 with two RBI to lead the Jays offensively. Cody Hager added an RBI, while J.T. Bohlken, Gerrit Shirts, Bryce Beckley and Meyer each added hits for Jefferson City (10-1).