After slowly but surely chipping away at Sedalia's lead for four innings, the Jefferson City Renegades saw the Bombers answer that hard work with a four-run seventh inning in a 10-6 loss at Vivion Field.
"We got behind and we kept battling back," Renegades coach Mike DeMilia said. "Made a couple errors. Both of them were tying to make a really hard play and I wasn't that disappointed with it. When you're trying to make plays, sometimes bad things happen. I don't want our guys playing conservative."
A five-run third inning for the Bombers made it 6-1. By the end of the sixth, the Renegades were within a run.
Cole Evans got it started with an opposite-field solo home run to right in the third.
"I knew it had a chance, but I wasn't so sure," DeMilia said. "Obviously it barely made it."
Austin Blazevic delivered in the fourth with a two-RBI single to center field.
Blazevic finished the night with three RBI after sending a fly ball to the left-field corner in the sixth, scoring Evans, who stole second base.
"(Blazevic) has been up and down," DeMilia said. "A lot of guys were talking about not getting a lot of at-bats in the spring, so it's just taking them some time to get a feel and get their timing down."
But the one-run deficit went back to five in a flash. Three hits and two errors in the seventh led to four runs for Sedalia.
Jefferson City got back rolling in the bottom half, but a Quincy Jones RBI single was all the Renegades could muster as Jones was out trying to advance to second base to end the inning with a 10-6 score.
DeMilia said he liked the aggressiveness from Jones.
"Absolutely. I thought he was safe," he said. "Whether he was out or safe, yes. We want to get in scoring position there."
Jones did have two hits and two RBI for the game, including a hard grounder up the middle for an RBI single in the first inning.
"He's just a good baseball player," DeMilia said. "He didn't keep the same hot streak he did at the beginning, but who could? He was absolutely on fire. He's still steady getting a hit or two a night."
Evans was the third Renegade to finish with a multiple hits.
Bombers leadoff batter Chris Lewis had RBI singles in the second, third and seventh innings.
Tyler Pettit had a key hit in the five-run third, doubling to left to drive in two runs.
Matt Wade took the loss for Jefferson City, surrendering six runs on nine hits with eight strikeouts and three walks.
Justin Baylard was the winning pitcher for the Bombers. He pitched two-thirds of an inning of relief, allowing two runs on a hit and two walks.
Jefferson City (9-7, 6-7 MINK League) hosts the St. Joseph Mustangs at 2 p.m. today at Vivion Field.