Baseball can be a cruel sport.
The Jefferson City Jays were one out away from closing out a Central Missouri Activities Conference win, but a ball bounced out of a diving Connor Earleywine’s glove and the Sedalia Smith-Cotton Tigers capitalized by scoring seven runs to steal a 12-8 win Tuesday at Vivion Field.
“I have kind of watched it unfold multiple times this year in that same situation,” Jefferson City coach Kyle Lasley said. “Right now the baseball gods aren’t with us, so we got to find a way to get them back with us. Hopefully that happens sooner than later.”
Tuesday night started out well for the Jays, though.
Smith-Cotton was able to score a run in the top of the first inning on an RBI double by Bryce Crawford, but the Jays responded by scoring three in the bottom half.
Earleywine led off the inning with a bunt single down the third base line and scored after Brody Johns’ sacrifice bunt attempt was thrown into right field to tie the game and break a 23-inning scoreless streak dating to May 6 against Rolla.
After a wild pitch moved Johns up to third base, Jordan Martin drove him in with a groundball to short, the first of three RBI for Martin en route to his 3-for-4 day at the plate.
Eli Martin reached with a walk one batter later and scored after a pair of wild pitches and another RBI groundout to the shortstop, this time by Dylan Wallace.
The Jays added on in a big way in the second inning.
Ryan Tadsen started the inning with a line drive single into right-center field, Hayden Wells followed by reaching on another throwing error on a sacrifice bunt attempt and Earleywine loaded the bases with nobody out on another bunt single.
After a pop out, Martin delivered a two-RBI double into left-center field to increase the Jays’ lead to 5-1. Miller followed by reaching on an error that allowed Earleywine to score and Wallace drove in Martin as the next batter with a sacrifice fly to give Jefferson City a 7-1 lead after two innings.
“The first two innings, our guys did a good job of getting on, putting pressure on them, whether that be playing a little small ball or taking advantage of a couple passed balls,” Lasley said. “That has to be who we are. We have to be able to do that early and often. That game, it was early, but it wasn’t very often. You got the first two innings of the game where you score seven runs, and then after that you’re blanked for the next five. There has to be consistency throughout each inning.”
The Tigers slowly started to climb back into the game following the second inning.
Sam Cash led off the third inning with a solo home run to left field. The Tigers were able to add two more in the inning on four more hits and a walk to make the game 7-4.
Smith-Cotton got another run back in the top of the fifth inning after a leadoff walk came around to score on a sacrifice fly to shallow right field by Lane Simmons.
This set the stage for the Tigers’ comeback in the seventh inning.
The first two batters of the inning reached after a single and a hit by pitch, but Wallace was able to rebound by striking out the next batter and inducing a shallow fly ball to left field for the second out.
Smith-Cotton’s leadoff hitter Mylan Hawkins singled to load up the bases and Crawford’s line drive into center field tied the game after Earleywine just missed a diving catch that would have secured the victory for the Jays.
Four hits, including a two-RBI ground rule double by Andrew Lazenby, and a walk followed to give the Tigers a 12-7 lead.
Jefferson City did not pack it in for the bottom half.
Martin led off with a single to center field and Miller followed by reaching on an error. After a pop out, Will Berendzen drove in Martin with a single to center field. A line out and another pop out ended the comeback attempt and handed the Jays their 14th straight loss in heartbreaking fashion.
“I hope that is something, that looking back on it, is a positive for us moving forward,” Lasley said. “Don’t give up, try to get in there and compete. Get a couple guys on and see if we can make something happen. Big game tomorrow, crosstown rival in the city, you obviously want to win those games. We will get ready and geared up for that one, and then everyone is 0-0 after that.”
Smith-Cotton (7-22, 1-4 CMAC) saw Jacob Brownfield pitch five innings in relief to get the victory while giving up just one unearned run on four hits with no walks or strikeouts.
Jefferson City (6-24, 0-5 CMAC) will look to rebound today when it faces Capital City at Vivion Field at 5:30 p.m.