In what started off as a pitcher's duel, it took one big inning to decide the outcome.
The Eureka Wildcats scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning Thursday to beat the Blair Oaks Falcons 5-2 in pool-play action of the Capital City Invitational at Vivion Field.
Even though it was a loss, Blair Oaks coach Mike DeMilia said it was the most complete game his team has played this season.
"I think our guys rose to the occasion," DeMilia said of facing Eureka, a Class 5 opponent. "Eureka is a big school with a good tradition. Our guys came to play."
The game began with a battle between two left-handed pitchers: Colton Hoelscher for Blair Oaks and Jake Schneider for Eureka.
Hoelscher needed just 22 pitches to get through the Wildcats' batting order the first time. The Blair Oaks senior stranded a runner on third base in the second, third and fourth innings.
But Eureka pushed through with a run in the third to take a 1-0 lead. Blair Oaks catcher Maclaine McCarter tried to pick Eureka's Adam Fuqua off first base, but the throw nicked off Parker Bax's glove, allowing Will Wood to score from third base.
"I told Maclaine, 'You live by the sword, you die by the sword,'" DeMilia said. "He's picked off a number of guys this year. One's going to go awry."
Blair Oaks got that run back with a two-out single by Bax in the fifth, scoring Nolan Hair to tie the game at 1.
"We had runners on about every inning," DeMilia said. " For Parker to come up in that situation and get that hit, that was big."
Eureka added runs in the bottom half of the fifth on a sacrifice fly and an RBI groundout. Kyle Miller singled to left field to score Tom Burke, extending the Wildcats' lead to 4-1.
Schneider labored at times against the Falcons, walking five batters, but he stranded four runners in scoring position before reaching his pitch-count limit of 105 pitches on his final batter of the sixth inning.
"We've faced a couple of good (pitchers), and he's as good as the ones we've faced," DeMilia said of Schneider, who allowed just three hits in six innings and struck out five. "I thought we had some good swings. We hit some balls hard and they played really good defense."
Eurkea plated another run in the sixth, but Blair Oaks answered with a run in the top of the seventh. With two outs, Kamron Morriss tripled into left-center field and scored on an infield single by Bryce Kempker to make the final margin three runs.
"We competed to the end, and that's all we're asking for," DeMilia said. "I was real impressed with how we kept playing."
The Blair Oaks offense was held to five hits. Morriss had the only multi-hit game for the Falcons, going 2-for-4 with a single in the third inning in addition to his triple.
Hoelscher took the loss, allowing four runs on four hits with five walks and four strikeouts in 4 innings. Gavin Bernskoetter struck out one batter in the last 1 innings in relief.
Mitchell Davis went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles to lead Eureka (7-0).
Blair Oaks (3-4) will play two more pool-play games today at Vivion Field. The Falcons open against defending Class 5 state champion Jefferson City at 11 a.m., followed by a matchup against Russellville at 3:30 p.m.
"We just have to play the way we did today," DeMilia said. "Play good defense, throw strikes and swing the bats the way we're capable of."