Bernie baseball team beats Advance 10-3

ADVANCE, Mo. - The Advance Hornets trailed state-ranked Bernie by just one run after four innings of play but were unable to put together the finish needed to hand the Mules its first loss.

Bernie outscored Advance 6-0 in the final three innings on its way to a 10-3 road victory Monday.

"I'm just glad we got to play because I didn't think there was anyway with all the rain we got in Bernie," Bernie coach Darrin Shipman said. "It wasn't a very clean game on our part, but I thought we hit the ball hard several times and got several extra base hits. I thought Brock's pitch count was a little high, but he threw well. It's a good road win against a good team."

Bernie never trailed Advance in the two hour, 15 minute affair.

The Mules jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Austin Beck collected a leadoff single, scored on a one-out RBI single by Brock Beacham and Beacham later scored from third base when Devin Trammell grounded out on the infield.

An RBI double by C.J. Seger tied things up at 2-2 in the bottom of the second inning.

Bernie quickly moved back on top 4-2 when it calculated three of its eight hits in the top of the third inning. Matt Veron had an RBI single in the frame and later scored from third base when Trammell grounded out.

Advance cut the deficit to 4-3 when it scored an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Bernie added four runs in the top of the fifth frame and two more in the top of the sixth inning to set the final score.

"We didn't put a full game together," Advance coach Chris Asmus said. "We came out and hit the ball well at the start of the game, which is something we haven't done all year. Later in the game our defense kind of collapsed, I felt like. There were a few miscues in the outfield that I think we normally make plays on. It just seems like we lose interest in the game sometimes, and some of that may be because of our youth."

Beacham calculated his second RBI via a double in the fifth inning.

Trey Kirkpatrick had two-RBI single in the fifth for Bernie.

Trammell recorded his team-high third RBI on a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth inning.

"I always say we need to play good baseball and that's good fundamental baseball," Shipman said of his RBI machine Trammell. "You don't always have to get a hit to get a run home. Give the guys in front of him credit for getting on base and credit Devin for putting the bat on the ball."

Beacham improved to 2-0 on the hill. He allowed three runs on five hits, walked three and struck out 10 in six innings of work.

"I'll give a lot of credit to Beacham," Asmus said. "He's a great pitcher. I could tell by his mound presence he doesn't get rattled by anything. Early on he was down and a lot of guys would fold in tough situations. He stayed tough, stuck with it and threw strikes. He battled all day long and is a great pitcher.

"We fell behind and I felt like we got down on ourselves," Asmus added. "It seems like we've struggled to get a timely hit the last two years when we've needed it. There was a bases-loaded situation and I think maybe a second-and-third situation that we just didn't get a hit on to score runs. It just didn't happen for us in those situations, today."

Brian Whitson was the pitcher of record for Advance. Whitson allowed eight runs in four plus innings of work.

Dawson Mayo allowed two runs in three innings of relief for the Hornets.

Advance (1-5) is slated to host Leopold Wednesday.

"We've just got to keep our spirits up, try to get back around .500 and I think some good things will happen for us at the end of the year," Asmus said.

Bernie (5-0) returns to action Tuesday when it visits undefeated Bell City.

"We are looking forward to competing against a really good team that has had a fantastic start to the season," Shipman said.

DUSTIN WARD - dward@dailystatesman.com Advance sophomore Preston Wuebker makes a throw from the outfield Monday afternoon against Bernie.

Bernie 10, Advance 3

BHS 202 042 0 - 10 8 2

AHS 020 100 0 - 3 5 2

WP - Brock Beacham. LP - Brian Whitson. 3B - Owen Foster (B), 2B - CJ Seger (A), Jayce Burke (B), Matt Veron (B), Beacham (B). Multiple hits - Bernie: Beacham 2-4, Vernon 2-4.