Neelyville beats Bernie 10-0 in September Showdown championship

BERNIE, Mo. - The offensive surge continued for the top-seeded Neelyville Tigers Friday night in the championship of the eight-team September Showdown baseball tournament at Bernie.

Neelyville, fresh off a 25-3 quarterfinal win against Southland and 10-0 semifinal victory against Leopold, shut out second-seeded Bernie 10-0 in six innings to secure its third straight run-rule victory.

"We went down to Campbell about a week ago and they kicked our hind end and beat us 13-3," Neelyville coach Justin Dobbins said. "We were playing with a little bit of a lack of intensity. We had a sit-down and talked about being leaders and having a good approach at the plate because our approach was a little selfish.

"We are taking a much better team approach at the plate right now, putting the ball in play with two strikes," Dobbins continued. "We were not coming over here expecting to beat Bernie 10-0. We know they are good and they gave us all we wanted the last time we played them. Hats off to my team. They stepped up and I couldn't be more proud of them."

Cody Birdsong hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to give Neelyville an early 2-0 lead.

An RBI single by Brett Luna padded the Tigers lead to 3-0 in the third.

Neelyville added three runs in the fourth and four more in the sixth to set the final score.

Birdsong had a two-RBI double in the fourth and drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth. He finished 2 for 3 with five RBIs.

Birdsong also earned a complete-game win on the hill. He allowed two runs in six innings pitched. He struck out 10 and did not surrender a walk.

"I thought it was great," Dobbins said of Birdsong's start. "He came out and threw strikes. He had a couple of full counts and pumped a fastball in there. His breaking ball and change up were good. When Birdsong is on he's tough as nails. His ball moves and he throws three pitches hard. He is a good player and we are blessed to have him."

Bernie threatened in a big way in the top of the second inning. The Mules loaded the bases with nobody out following two Neelyville errors and a bunt single by Justin Stanfield.

Birdsong escaped trouble when he struck out the next two Bernie hitters he faced and recorded the other out on a failed squeeze attempt.

"We just didn't play well tonight," Bernie coach Darrin Shipman said. "They are a really good team that is well-coached. Their pitcher just kind of dominated us tonight. We had a chance there in the second with the bases loaded and nobody out. We struck out and missed a squeeze bunt. I think that kind of gave them momentum and we never could get it back."

Kyle Nance had an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth. Hayden Cassinger had an RBI double in the fourth. Lane Spencer had a game-ending RBI single in the sixth inning for the Tigers.

Neelyville (20-2) will look to secure its second tournament title in as many weeks when in begins play in the Ozark Foothills Conference baseball tournament Tuesday at 1 p.m. at Three Rivers College.

Top-seeded Neelyville will play the winner of a quarterfinal between fourth-seeded Greenville and fifth-seeded Doniphan.

"We got in this tournament last year because there are good teams in it," Dobbins said. "Bernie is a good team, Puxico is much improved and Bloomfield is a good team. Our conference tournament is next week and this was great preparation for our conference tournament and I love coming over here. Bernie has a great field and they are great guys."

Bernie concludes its strong fall season with a record of 16-5. Bernie beat Puxico 9-8 in 10 innings in a quarterfinal game of the tournament and Campbell 11-3 in a semifinal.

"We had a good fall and this one game doesn't take away what we did in the fall," Shipman said. "We accomplished a lot of good things. We had new kids step up in major roles. I hope this will motivate us to work harder in the offseason and be ready to go in the spring."

No. 1 Neelyville 10, No. 2 Bernie 0 (6 Innings)

BHS 000 000 - 0 2 2

NHS 201 304 - 10 9 2

WP - Cody Birdsong. LP - Devin Trammell. HR - Birdsong (N). 2B - Hayden Cassinger (N), Birdsong (N), Brett Luna (N). Multiple hits - Neelyville: Cassinger 2-3, Birdsong 2-3, Luna 2-3.

DUSTIN WARD - dward@dailystatesman.com Bernie shortstop B.J. Jennings fields a ball.

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