In a game in which both starters threw well, and where both offenses mustered just five hits, it didn't take a genius to figure out Friday night's game between Jefferson City and Fatima in the Capital City Baseball Invitational would come down to the intangibles.
The Jays were just a bit better than the Comets in that aspect of the game, and Jefferson City was able to carve out a 3-0 victory at Vivion Field.
The Jays manufactured two runs in the third inning thanks in large part to a pair of errors by the Comets, then used a perfect squeeze bunt to score their other run in the sixth.
"When you're struggling scoring runs, as we have all year, you've got to be opportunistic," Jefferson City coach Brian Ash said. "I kind of make the comparison to the Missouri Tigers, who are having success in the SEC right now. They're not lighting the offensive world on fire, but they're getting good pitching, good defense and timely hitting. So we're trying to pattern ourselves after them."
When the Jays finally got onto the scoreboard for the first time, it started with the pitcher's old enemy - the leadoff walk. After Jake Pridgin drew a five-pitch walk, Ripken Dodson followed and put runners at first and second when the Fatima second baseman dropped a popup.
Pridgin then took off for third and when the Fatima catcher air-mailed the throw into left field, he came into score.
"When you're dealing with high school sports, kids will make mistakes," Ash said. "We take a gamble there and we're running and if it's a great throw, he's out and we look like we're idiots. But I just felt like we're struggling to score runs, we've got to try to create something.
"The ball gets thrown out there and we're able to get a run across and get some breathing room."
Even more important was the fact Dodson made a smart play by going all the way from first to third on the play, putting him in position to score on a groundout by Gaven Strobel.
"That was an absolute heads-up baserunning play by Ripken," Ash said.
After three innings, the Jays were getting outhit 2-1, but led 2-0 on the scoreboard.
"We kicked it around there that one inning and we gave them a couple runs," Fatima coach Scott Kilgore said. "You take those away and if we're able to put the bat on the ball better, it's a different game."
Making things tougher was the fact the Comets, who outhit the Jays 5-4, had a runner picked off second in the second inning and another picked off third in the fifth. They also struck out nine times, six of them looking.
"We put ourselves in position to win a couple times, but we just made too many mental mistakes," Kilgore said. "The baserunning took us out of innings, as did watching strike three. Too many backwards Ks.
"We're going through a little funk right now."
The Jays got the game's final run in the bottom of the sixth. Allan Roettgen walked with one out, moved to third on a double by Bret Jaegers and scored when pinch-hitter Logan Schmitz put down a perfect squeeze bunt.
"Logan comes in and gets a tough ball to bunt, gets it down, and that gets us our third run," Ash said. "That was huge."
Jaegers and Travis Hennessy, hitting in the 7 and 8 spots, respectively, had two hits apiece to account for all of the Jays' hits.
"We've juggled the lineup, it's never been a set lineup game to game," Ash said. "I told the guys, after the (Capital City Invitational), we'll have a more consistent lineup, but we've got to know what we can do.' The thing is, you've got to love it if you're on this team, because you know you're going to get an opportunity to play."
Zach Hudspeth had a pair of singles to pace Fatima on offense.
Travis Hennessey worked five-plus innings to get the win on the mound, as he scattered three hits while striking out seven.
"That was only his third time out this year, he's been nursing a shoulder injury," Ash said. "The warmer the weather gets, the better he feels. I didn't like him to throw as many pitches as he did (68), and I knew in that last inning, if a guy got on base, he was done."
Blaine Meyer finished up, throwing two innings of two-hit ball, striking out two.
Brady Weavers was the tough-luck loser for Fatima, as he scattered four hits during five innings. Both runs he allowed were unearned, and he struck out three.
"Brady Weavers threw a heck of a game," Kilgore said. "Take nothing away from that kid - we just couldn't get him any run support.
"That was his first start of the season, we've been using him out of the bullpen, so I was very pleased with him. He got his pitch count up a little bit, that's why I pulled him. He was at 88 pitches and I got a little nervous. He's conditioned, he's good for it, but I didn't want to push him this early in the season."
Josh Holtschneider pitched the final inning for the Comets, allowing one earned run on one hit and one walk while striking out one.
"With us being one of the smaller schools in this tournament, that's a win in my book," Kilgore said. "That was a good, positive outing."
Both teams finish pool play in the event this morning at Vivion Field. Fatima (6-2) plays Eureka at 9 a.m., while Jefferson City (6-5) takes on Blair Oaks at 11:30 p.m.