Malden claims title at own baseball tournament

MALDEN, Mo. - The Malden Green Wave baseball team collected a pair of come-from-behind wins to secure the top prize at its own nine-team baseball tournament Saturday night.

Malden (12-4) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat state-ranked Cooter 6-2 in its first game Saturday and rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat Portageville 13-3 in five innings in its final game at the two-day event.

The Green Wave beat Cooter staff ace Tyler McLevain in Game 1. McLevain went the distance for Cooter, allowing six runs on six hits in six innings of work. McLevain was forced to pitch around four defensive errors.

Cooter jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Riley Hickerson drove home a run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning.

Malden recorded an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning to tie things up at 1-1.

A two-out RBI single by Landen Castelli put Cooter back on top 2-1 in the top of the second inning.

Malden moved ahead 4-2 in the bottom of the third inning after Shaeen Perkins and Dee Triplett recorded RBI doubles and Toby Miller collected an RBI single.

Triplett had an RBI single in the fifth inning and Mason Brown added an RBI single in the sixth frame to set the final score.

Conner Murphy pitched the first four inning for Malden. Jeremy Jones pitched the fifth and sixth innings and Miller pitched the seventh inning against Cooter.

"I thought we hit the ball real well," Malden coach Harmon said. "Murphy struggled a little bit in his four innings, but made good pitches when he needed to get outs. Then Jeremy Jones gave us two big innings after throwing seven innings yesterday. He probably didn't feel good, but gutted up two innings. Then Miller got the final three outs to secure the win."

A 2-RBI double by Hunter Jackson gave Portageville a 2-0 lead against Malden in the top of the first inning.

Malden tied things up at 2-2 after Triplett collected an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning and bottom of the third inning.

Parker McCormick followed Triplett's second double of the game with an RBI single to put Malden on top 3-2.

Malden added five runs in the fourth inning and five more in the fifth inning. Portageville scored an unearned run in the top of the fifth inning.

Perkins finished 3 for 4 with a pair of RBI doubles against Portageville. Triplett was 3 for 4 with two RBI doubles and a 2-RBI single. Chapen Riley added an RBI triple and Brandon Stanley tallied an RBI single against Portageville.

McCormick pitched the first two inning against Portageville and Murphy pitched the final three innings.

"Parker McCormick is our catcher," Harmon said. "He gave us two innings and kept us in the game. He was gassed after two and Conner Murphy came in and got outs when he needed to get outs again."

Triplett had three doubles, three singles and six RBIs in his seven plate appearances at the tournament Saturday.

"Triplett tore the cover off the ball," Harmon said of his elite hitter. "He really kept us going. He's a freshman that bats cleanup. That shows how much confidence we have in him to put him in that spot. He thrives under pressure and really hits the ball hard."

Cooter beat Portageville 9-2 in the other championship pool game Saturday.

Bernie finished first in the runner's-up pool as it secured an 8-1 victory against New Madrid County Central and 2-0 win against Scott City.

Bloomfield, Doniphan and Caruthersville all finished 1-1 in the consolation pool. Bloomfield won the tiebreaker of least runs allowed to secure a first-place finish in the consolation pool. Bloomfield allowed eight runs, Doniphan allowed 15 runs and Caruthersville allowed 17 runs.

View results from the tournament below:

CHAMPIONSHIP POOL

Malden 13, Portageville 3 (5 Innings)

PHS 200 01 - 3 6 3

MHS 102 55 - 13 15 1

WP - Parker McCormick. LP - Derrick Priggel. 3B - Chapen Riley (M). 2B - Dee Triplett 2 (M), Shaeen Perkins 2 (M), Toby Miller (M), Hunter Jackson (P). Multiple hits - Malden: Perkins 3-4, Riley 2-4, Triplett 3-4, McCormick 2-4; Portageville: Ryan Priggel 2-2.

Malden 6, Cooter 2

CHS 110 000 0 - 2 4 4

MHS 103 011 x - 6 6 1

WP - Conner Murphy. LP - Tyler McLevain. 2B - Shaeen Perkins (M), Dee Triplett (M). Multiple hits - Malden: Triplett 3-3.

Cooter 9, Portageville 2

CHS 301 014 0 - 9 7 4

PHS 001 100 0 - 2 4 3

WP - Tyler Battles. LP - Warren Chambliss. 2B - Peyton Curtis (C), Cole Crowder (C). Multiple hits - Cooter: Crowder 2-3, Jeff Phelps 2-4; Portageville: Jon Garrett Kellams 2-3.

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RUNNER'S-UP POOL

Bernie 8, New Madrid County Central 1

Scott City 6, New Madrid County Central 3

Bernie 2, Scott City 0

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CONSOLATION POOL

Bloomfield 7, Caruthersville 5

Caruthersville 13, Doniphan 10

Doniphan 3, Bloomfield 2

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FRIDAY'S ACTION

Defending champion Bernie was eliminated from championship contention when it suffered a 6-2 loss to Portageville in the ninth game played on Friday. Portageville beat Caruthersville 10-3 in its other Pool B game Friday. Bernie secured a second-place finish in Pool B with a 13-3 victory against Caruthersville.

Malden beat New Madrid County Central 7-0 and Bloomfield 9-3 to secure a first-place finish in Pool A. New Madrid County Central beat Bloomfield 14-0 in five innings to secure a second-place finish in Pool A.

Cooter beat Scott City 6-5 and Doniphan 7-4 to secure a first-place finish in Pool C. Scott City beat Doniphan 10-0 to secure a second-place finish in Pool C.

Teams were re-pooled after Friday's play and played pool play in a championship pool, runners-up pool or consolation pool.