Jefferson City strolls to win vs. Rolla to split tournament games

Jefferson City shortstop Brody Johns fields a ground ball Friday during a Columbia Tournament game against Rolla at Vivion Field.
Jefferson City shortstop Brody Johns fields a ground ball Friday during a Columbia Tournament game against Rolla at Vivion Field.

The morning and afternoon were night and day for the Jefferson City Jays on Friday.

Jefferson City began the Columbia Tournament with a run-rule loss to the Owensville Dutchmen, but the Jays rolled to a run-rule win later in the day against the Rolla Bulldogs at Vivion Field.

"We needed that one," Jefferson City coach Kyle Lasley said after a 13-1 win in five innings against Rolla. "I told the guys we are who we are right now after losing three games in a row. It happens, it's baseball. We responded well in that game, just with the energy."

Owensville scored twice in the first innings, three times in the second and added eight more runs in the fourth in a 13-2 win in five innings against Jefferson City.

Jacob Roettgen drove in the Jays' runs with a double in the third inning. He reached base twice against Rolla, including an RBI single to center field in the second inning.

"He's been pretty consistent since coming back from his little injury," Lasley said.

Rolla got both of its hits off Jeremy Parks in the second inning, but a double play prevented a runner from getting past first base in the inning.

Parks struck out six, walked two and allowed an unearned run in the fourth when Simon Yoakum reached on an error.

"He's gonna come in there and throw strikes," Lasley said. "He's not a strikeout pitcher, but he knows how to get in there and change his speeds."

The Jays gave Parks a lead to work with in the third with three runs.

In the fourth, Taylor Hopkins launched a fly ball to the fence in left-center that resulted in a ground-rule double and scored Eli Moreland and Connor Earleywine.

Hopkins added an RBI single in the fifth to finish off a two-hit, four-RBI game.

"Taylor Hopkins is swinging the bat well," Lasley said. "Connor was in a little funk, but he got out of it with a good double to left-center."

Nick Williams had three hits and three RBI for the Jays, who scored more than 12 runs for the first time since the second game of the season.

"That's who we were the first eight, nine games of the season is putting pressure on other teams, scoring in bunches, scoring consistently," Lasley said. "It was good to have one of those games today."

Lasley gave Hopkins a break from shortstop by slotting in freshman Brody Johns, who helped turn the double play in the second inning.

"Every time we've put him in there, he's been confident," Lasley said. "He does well in practice and he fits right in with these guys."

Jefferson City (11-5) will host Lee's Summit at 10 a.m. and Rolla at 5:30 p.m. today to finish off the tournament that had its schedule altered because of Friday's rain.