The Fatima Comets have lost two game this season. Both to the top-ranked team in Class 5. Both by a single run.
Jacob Weirich sent his first career home run to the hill beyond right-center field in the sixth inning and struck out the side in the seventh to help lead the Jefferson City Jays to a 6-5 win against Fatima on Thursday in the Capital City Invitational at Vivion Field.
The Jays also scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning of their previous matchup with the Comets last month in Washington.
"We take a lot from that. We take a tremendous amount from that," Fatima coach Scott Kilgore said. "Being the little guys in this tournament, to come out and being able to compete with a top-ranked Class 5 school like that. I'm happy, I'm proud."
Fatima entered the game ranked fifth in Class 3.
The first matchup went back-and-forth for six innings. Thursday's went that way for just the first three innings before Fatima pitcher Skyler Dickneite started to get out of jams, Jefferson City starter Grant Wood kept runners from advancing past second and the defense sharpened on both sides.
After the Jays tied it at five with three runs in the third, no one scored until Weirich's solo shot in the sixth.
"Finally teams were able to settle in and it finally came down to pitching and defense," Jays coach Brian Ash said.
Wood reached the pitch limit of 105 in six innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts. He also walked four and hit two batters.
"He's still kind of trying to learn and how to figure out certain pitches to pitch and certain situations with certain batters," Ash said. "I think what helped him is he started getting his off-speed pitch over for strikes a little bit and kind of kept them off balance and then his fastball was able to get by them a couple times."
The six innings is the most Wood has thrown this season.
"We're trying to build his stamina a little bit because he's just not used to pitching like that," Ash said. "We're going to need him to pitch."
On the other side, the Jays still got on base against Dickneite after the third, they just weren't able to across the plate.
Dickneite got a strikeout and groundout with runners at second and third in the fourth. Kade Franks and Gaven Strobel started the bottom of the fifth with a single and double, respectively, before a strikeout, flyout and groundout once again stranded runners in scoring position.
Dickneite went five innings on the mound, allowing five runs, two earned, on eight hits. He also struck out five, walked one and hit two.
"Dickneite didn't have his normal stuff," Kilgore said. "His knuckle curve was not really working for him. That first inning was a rough inning. He battled back, settled in."
Fatima got on the board fast, getting runners on with an error and walk and driving them in with Jonathon Backes' single up the middle and Jacob Crede grounding out.
The Comets' remaining three runs came in the second as Dickneite doubled down the left-field line for one run and Steven Brandt brought in two with a single to center field.
Payton Bodenstab got the Jays on the board in the first with a two-run home run to left field.
"He's strong. He got the ball in the air and kind of got it up in the windstream and it went," Ash said. "As soon as he hit it I knew it was gone."
Bodenstab bunted his way on in the third and a run scored on a wide throw to first base.
Franks grounded out to allow another run to score and Strobel singled to left to tie it at 5.
"Thankfully we were able to do that because if we're not able to answer right back, they've got all the momentum and the outcome is probably going to be a little bit different," Ash said. "I was pleased with how we didn't panic and we went up there and took some good at-bats."
Jefferson City (8-1) continues pool play at 2:15 p.m. Friday against Eureka, which lost 3-0 to Hickman on Thursday. The Jays will face the sixth-ranked Kewpies at 6:45 p.m. Friday to finish pool play.
Fatima (7-2) will face Hickman at noon today before taking on Eureka at 4:30 p.m.