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Smith's single in the bottom of the seventh beats East Carter
SIKESTON -- With the game on the line, the Sikeston Bulldogs had the right guy up in the right situation.
With the score tied 1-1 and the bases loaded with one out, Sikeston senior Patrick Smith delivered the game-winning hit with a line drive single into centerfield to defeat East Carter 2-1 on Senior Night Tuesday at VFW Stadium.
Smith, also known as "Patty" to his teammates, was 0 for 3 coming into his final at-bat, but he stroked the first pitch he saw past a diving Aaron Boyer in centerfield to bring in Doug Still with the winning run.
"I was really excited to come up with that situation," Smith said. "That's like every kid's dream to come up bases loaded and you've got the winning run on third in the last inning. I just got up there, saw the ball real good, and hit is as hard as I possibly could and as deep as I could to score the run. Makes you feel great whenever you hit the ball and you know for a fact that it's down."
The victory salvaged a stellar pitching effort from senior righty Trey Tigart, who threw a one-hitter and mowed down 11 batters to improve the Bulldogs to 17-4 on the season.
His only mistake came in the top of the first inning. Trevor Lewis reached on a two-base error on a line drive to right field. He then scored on a hit just inside the third base bag by Ethan Boyer that gave the Redbirds a 1-0 lead.
Tigart was untouchable from that point forward, issuing just two walks while not allowing another runner to reach second base.
"He threw great," Sikeston coach Alan Scheeter said. "He had a little bit of trouble in the first inning. A kid hit a ball hard off him that we misplayed, and then they got a base hit down the line. After that they never really threatened. Trey's just going to be the same every time out. He's going to come out, he's wants the ball, he's going to compete. He did exactly what Trey Tigart does."
Sikeston tied the game in the bottom of the second inning when Drew Harper, Gavin O'Brien and Colton Black each singled to start the inning to load the bases. Cord Sheehy then brought home Harper on a fielder's choice to tie the game.
East Carter pitcher Logan Saffle also settled down, working out of the jam without any further damage.
"My pitcher threw extremely well today -- he threw well enough to win," East Carter coach Brock Crowley said. "He's just a sophomore. He's at the top of our pitching rotation and he's thrown well this year. We've had a couple other games like this when he's been throwing."
Saffle helped himself by picking off a base runner and also his catcher nabbing a runner trying to steal second.
But his defense, which had been solid the whole game, let him down in the seventh. After Black led off the inning with a single, Still pinch ran for him to represent the winning run.
Saffle was able to retire the next batter, but an error on the second baseman after a lengthy at-bat by sophomore Colton Hampton moved Still up to second. Tigart then laid down a perfect bunt for a hit that loaded the bases with just one out to bring in Smith for the game-winner.
"I've been playing here for four years and it doesn't even seem like it," Smith said. "I've seen all the seniors that I've looked up to. I just wanted to be in their spots one day and wanted to be one of those players that would hit the ball and score the game-winner. For every one of these seniors, it's just phenomenal to win your last home game. It's really something that not a lot of people think about, but when you look back 10 years from now and say, 'I won my last game on the last time on my field.' I mean it's really just something."
Saffle took the loss, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing two runs off nine hits with two strikeouts and one hit batter.
"We just had a couple mistakes in the field," Crowley said. "It all comes down to execution. If we make those two plays in the seventh it could possibly be a different situation. With one out and the bases loaded, they're in the driver's seat at that point. All they got to do is put it in play and they did. You play against a great team like Sikeston, you can't have miscues, especially late in the game. I mean it just kills you."
The Redbirds fall to 10-5 on this season and 23-8 over the fall and spring seasons combined.
"They're a very fundamental ballclub," Scheeter said of East Carter. "They have some hitters that really look good. They hit some balls hard that we had to make plays on today. Their pitcher wasn't overpowering, but he spotted every pitch that he threw. I was impressed with them. They've got a good ballclub. I think they've got a good shot to win their district."
Crowley was impressed with the Bulldogs on Tuesday, and none more than Tigart on the mound.
"He hit his spots as good as anybody we've seen this year," Crowley said. "In and out, especially that outer corner there, he just wore it out and we had a hard time making adjustments. He's got kind of a herky-jerky delivery and he seems like he's a very smart pitcher."
O'Brien, Black and Tigart each collected two hits in the game to lead the Bulldogs.
O'Brien also had a sensational defensive play in the fourth inning. Playing second base, O'Brien laid out to his left for a sharp grounder off the bat of Lewis. He made the stop, popped back to his feet and threw to first to get the runner in time.
"One play that was a momentum shifter was when Gavin made that diving play," Tigart said. "That was an amazing play and it just amped everybody up. It just transferred over to everything else."
Sikeston will play at New Madrid County Central today at 4 p.m. before moving on to district play next week at Notre Dame High School.
"We've played our last game here, but it's our last home season game," Tigart said. "Hopefully we'll get a couple more after districts."
East Carter 100 000 0 -- 1 1 1
Sikeston 010 000 1 -- 2 9 2
WP -- Trey Tigart. LP -- Logan Saffle. Multiple hitters: (S) Gavin O'Brien 2-3, Colton Black 2-3, Tigart 2-3. 2B -- O'Brien, Tigart.
Junior varsity
Sikeston 9, East Carter 0
The Sikeston J.V. team improved to 14-1 on the season with a 9-0 win over East Carter.
Chase Gaines and Sebastian Matos combined to throw a no-hitter for the Bulldogs.
Gaines was the winning pitcher, throwing three innings, allowing two walks with three strikeouts.
Matos threw two innings, allowing one walk with three strikeouts.
Offensively, the Bulldogs were led by Audi Hay (3-3, double, 3 runs, RBI, stolen base), Gavin Pobst (1-1, run), Colton Hampton (1-3, run, RBI), Luke Williams (1-3, double, 2 RBIs), Jacob Clark (2-3, double, 2 RBIs), Nathan Hampton (2-2, run), Ryan Griggs (1-1, double, run), Gaines (1-2, run), Cody Rodgers (run scored).