The Russellville Indians finally got the monkey off their back.
Since entering the Capital City Invitational last spring, Russellville had lost seven straight games in the tournament. The Indians snapped that streak Saturday with a commanding 14-1 win against the Fatima Comets in the seventh-place game at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex.
"Fatima is a common opponent that we're used to seeing and we already beat them once this year, so our guys had some confidence," Russellville coach Lucas Branson said.
Fatima had the early momentum, opening the bottom of the first inning with back-to-back triples by Jaden Hoskins and Austin Wegman. But Russellville pitcher Matt Miller shut down the Comets and stranded Wegman at third to keep it a one-run game.
"If you get a runner at third with less than two outs in a high school game, most of the time that runner's going to score," Branson said. "Fortunately for us, we held them to one in that situation. It really changed the momentum."
Russellville scored just four runs in three pool-play games Friday, and the offense had a sluggish start against the Comets, failing to score in the first two innings.
But a six-run seventh inning made that a distant memory.
Branson made plenty of adjustments to his lineup Saturday and saw it pay off.
"I told (the players) before the game that we're taking the game to (Fatima)," Branson said. "I don't care what the score is, we were going to be aggressive when we get people on base."
In the third inning, Ethan Huff advanced from first to third base on a groundout. The next batter, Mason Stewart, hit a single to right field to score Huff, tying the game at 1.
"Every day that we show up, whether it's practice or a game, I know what I'm going to get out of Ethan Huff," Branson said. "It's going to be 100 percent."
Russellville scored two or more runs in each of the remaining innings. The Indians finished with 15 hits, more than they had in their three pool-play games combined.
"Sometimes the ball goes your way, sometimes it doesn't," Branson said. "Today, we were able to take advantage of a couple of those (balls) that snuck over some gloves and bounced through some holes."
Miller, meanwhile, had more than enough run support. After the two triples, he retired the next 13 Fatima batters he faced until Wyatt Luebbert hit a one-out double in the fifth.
"It was a very good turnaround for him," Branson said of Miller, who allowed just three hits and struck out six batters in five innings. "He's got the ability to be a top-level pitcher for us.
"He didn't get to pitch at all last year because he was hurt. For him to start regaining some confidence that he had before the injury is key."
Trenton Morrow pitched a scoreless sixth inning, while Braden Hickey struck out two in the seventh and stranded the bases loaded to finish the game for the Indians.
Morrow, who either pitched or caught all 28 innings in the tournament for Russellville, also reached base five times and added two hits and two RBI.
"He's a very tough kid," Branson said. "He handles adversity really well, and for him to either be a pitcher or a catcher for four straight games says a lot about him."
Landon Plochberger led the Indians' offense, going 4-for-5 with three singles, a double and two RBI.
"Landon is definitely one of those guys that isn't just going to blow you away with what he does, but he always finds a way to get on base," Branson said.
Huff went 3-for-3 with three singles, while Nick Thompson finished with a single, a double and two RBI for the Indians. Austin Roe added two singles and two RBI.
Austin Troesser took the loss for Fatima (3-9). In five innings, he allowed six runs on nine hits with three walks and four strikeouts.
Russellville (7-5), ranked No. 2 in Class 2, hosts California on Monday.
"We're in a much better spot this year compared to how we finished last year," Branson said. "You feel better when you win your last game, you feel better when the sun is shining and it's not 30 degrees either."