In six of the past seven games, the Jefferson City Jays' opponent has scored the first run. The Jays have won five of those six.
Four Grain Valley Eagles reached base in the first inning Friday, two of them scoring. Grain Valley only had one hit the rest of the way and Jefferson City (13-2) scored four runs in the sixth inning to win 6-2 at Vivion Field.
"There's no panic. Actually there's a little more panic on the coaches," Jays coach Brian Ash said. "You just feel like, 'What are we doing? Why are they not getting off to a better start?'"
In Tuesday's 3-2 win against Battle, Jefferson City trailed 2-0 before scoring three in the sixth.
On Friday, Jefferson City trailed 2-0 after one, 2-1 after four and tied it at 2 in the fifth.
The sixth inning once again made the difference.
Gaven Strobel, Jacob Weirich and Kade Franks loaded the bases with two singles and a walk. Courtesy runner Cole Ahrens scored the go-ahead run on Brandon Williams' flyball single to center field.
Weirich scored on a sac fly by No. 9 batter Tyler Bise, and Franks and Williams crossed the plate on Peyton Bodentab's single to center field.
Grain Valley starting pitcher Chaise McCord was taken out after the go-ahead run scored. He struck out seven and walked three.
"That kid, he's tough," Ash said. "His ball moves so much. For us to knock him out of the game and score what we did off him was a great job by our guys at making great approaches later in the game."
The Jays also loaded the bases in the fourth as See singled, Wood sent a flyball over the right fielder for a double and Weirich walked. Franks singled in See to get Jefferson City on the board.
A strikeout and pickoff at first base quickly ended the threat of more damage.
The Jays used small ball to tie the game in the fifth. Hayden Hirschvogel led off with a walk, went to second on Bise's sacrifice bunt and advance to third on Bodenstab's groundout. See then delivered with a liner down the left-field line.
"Our guys are pretty unselfish," Ash said. "They don't care who gets the limelight, they just want to win. That's a good sign."
See and Wood each had two hits from the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively. For the second straight game, the Jays' order shifted as See went from eighth to second.
"We're just trying to find a little bit more consistency," Ash said. "You take a look at guys who have a very high on base percentage in Peyton and Gunnar right now, along with Grant obviously. They are getting on base so why not. Just throw him in the two-hole and he provides a little pop there too."
Ash got the contributions he was looking for as eight players either recorded a hit or a walk and five drove in at least one run.
The Jays were also solid on the mound as Wood threw a complete game, striking out seven and walking one. He retired the side in order in the second, fourth and seventh innings, and stranded a runner at second in the third and sixth.
"I thought he was pretty dang good," Ash said. " Something was working for him. He had better command. He started to pitch a little bit better than what he did the first inning. Hopefully we can get all of our pitchers off to a better start and not wait until we get down two runs."
The Jays have played seven consecutive games at Vivion Field and will now play seven straight away from Jefferson City, starting Wednesday at Rolla.
Jefferson City won Friday's JV game 4-2.
Cade Galbraith was the winning pitcher, allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts in five innings. Joseph Travis and Justin Wood each had an RBI.