The math didn't seem to quite add up.
Waynesville had more hits and fewer errors than the Jefferson City Jays on Wednesday. Whatever calculator the Jays used, it worked.
Jefferson City got the hits it needed and then caught a couple of breaks to defeat the Tigers 7-5 at Vivion Field for the sixth straight win for the Jays.
"I'm trying to figure out how we did that," Jays coach Brian Ash said.
The Tigers had four reach base in the sixth inning, but failed to score.
Devon Stearns led off with a single to center field but Justin Wood picked him off at first.
After three walks and a strikeout, Wood got out of the jam with help from his shortstop.
Noah Ochoa hit a sharp liner Michael Skinner was able to snag by leaping to his right, keeping the Jays on top 6-5.
"Michael covers a lot of ground," Ash said. "He's not real tall but he's athletic enough. As soon as he took his first two steps I went, 'He's going to have a shot at it.' Luckily he was just tall enough to extend and he made a great play."
Wood also pitched around a leadoff single in the seventh to close out the final two innings on the mound. He allowed one hit, walked three and struck out one.
"He gutted it out," Ash said. "Sometimes you've got to do that."
Jefferson City took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the fifth.
Mason Hansen tied the game at 5 with an opposite field single to left to score Skinner, who walked.
"Mason's got a knack to hit the ball to the opposite side," Ash said. "He's got good barrel control."
Hansen scored shortly after on a Jack Shinkle single and a Waynesville error.
A single, wild pitch, groundout and a Cameron Marcum single led to the first run of the game in the second.
The Jays answered with four runs in the bottom half on three walks, a fielder's choice and two singles.
Tucker Schwartz, who had two of the Jays' six hits, drove in a pair of runs with a single to right field out of the No. 9 spot in the lineup. Payton Bodenstab followed with an infield single to score Schwartz, who went to second on an error and stole third.
The Jays didn't lead for long as Eric Kane doubled in two runs and later stole home on a double steal to tie it at 4 in the third.
Waynesville took the lead in the next inning when a dropped third strike ended up resulting in a wide throw to third base, allowing a Tiger runner to score from second base. It was one of three errors for the Jays.
"I've seen us play clean," Ash said. "We played clean for four games in the Borgia/Union Tournament. Obviously the field conditions, there were a couple plays we slipped on."
Two of the five runs Jays starter Cade Galbraith allowed were unearned. He struck out five and walked none while giving up seven hits in four innings.
"He looked solid," Ash said. "He kept the ball down. He did exactly what I wanted him to. He left a few balls up that got hit, but he did fine."
Landon Dunlap earned the win by striking out two in a scoreless fifth inning.
"He was effective," Ash said. "We've got to have that. We've got guys that have to go out and throw an inning or throw to a batter or two batters or whatever."
Jefferson City (6-1) is scheduled to play four games Friday and Saturday in Springfield.
On Friday, the Jays will face Carthage at noon at Parkview and play at 4 p.m. at Hillcrest. On Saturday, the Jays play at 11:30 a.m. at Glendale and at 3 p.m. at Kickapoo.
Jefferson City won Wednesday's JV game 7-1.
Dawson Koch and Dunlap each had a double and two RBI. Trevin White added a walk and an RBI and Brayden Whittle added a hit and an RBI.
White was the winning pitcher for the Jays.