SEMO Pirates hammer its way past California 8-6 at Dexter

DEXTER, Mo. - The SEMO Pirates Senior Babe Ruth baseball team continued to look like a finely oiled machine Tuesday night after more than a week away from the diamond.

DUSTIN WARD - dward@dailystatesman.com The Pirates' Austin Beck trotts to the dugout.

The Pirates offense calculated eight runs on 13 hits in a nine-inning contest against the California Colton Knighthawks Tuesday night at Dexter Park.

The Pirates scored five runs in the bottom of the second inning to move ahead of the Colton Knighthawks 6-1 and never trailed after as it secured an 8-6 win.

Four Pirates finished with multiple hits as SEMO out hit California 13-6.

"They were probably at an unfair advantage," SEMO Pirates coach Tyler Trover said of California. "They've got a big wood bat tournament this weekend and swung wood bats tonight. We benefited some from being able to use the metal.

"But we hadn't played in close to two weeks because we have been been rained out of a lot of games," Trover added. "I thought we responded extremely well after the layoff. We came up with some big hits and took advantage of a couple of defensive miscues. You've got to do that if you are going to be successful and we came up with the hits when it mattered most tonight."

Pirates leadoff hitter Garret Reynolds, a Woodland graduate, finished 2 for 4. No. 2 hitter Logan Heisserer, a Notre Dame graduate, finished 2 for 5. No. 6 hitter Landon Johnson, a Woodland graduate finished 3 for 4 with a double and two RBI singles. No. 7 hitter Ross Essner, a Notre Dame graduate, went 3 for 4.

DUSTIN WARD - dward@dailystatesman.com The Pirates' Josh Stevens races to first base.

Pirates No. 3 hitter Brad Freed and cleanup hitter Josh Stevens, who are both 2014 Bernie graduates, each collected an RBI when they drove home a runner from third base on a sacrifice fly.

Pirates No. 5 hitter Christian Job,a Notre Dame talent, also collected an RBI when he reached base on an infield single.

The Pirates used three pitchers, while the Colton Knighthawks used seven pitchers.

Blake White, a South Pemiscot graduate, pitched the first four innings for the Pirates and was credited with the victory. He lost a no-hitter when he surrendered a two-out RBI double in the top of the fourth inning. White allowed two unearned runs, one hit, walked two and struck out six.

Zach Elfrink, a Leopold graduate, pitched the fifth and sixth innings for the Pirates. He allowed three runs on four hits, struck out three and did not walk a batter.

Austin Hicks, a Bell City talent, collected a nine-out save for the Pirates. He allowed one unearned run, one hit, walked two and struck out two.

DUSTIN WARD - dward@dailystatesman.com SEMO Pirates left-handed hurler Blake White releases a pitch to the plate Tuesday night at Dexter.

"They are a younger club, but a talented club," Trover said. "Our guys really did a great job. It turned into a really nice team-win for our pitching staff."

The Pirates improve to 14-2 with the victory.

Weather permitting the SEMO Pirates play Jackson in its opener at the three-day Advance Invitational Friday at 11 a.m.

A schedule for the tournament is available here: Baseball Tournament Schedule

Trover said playing the 17-and-under squad from California a few days before the start of the Advance Tournament was needed practice for his squad.

"They were coming down from Chicago to play the Missouri Bulls Wednesday night and we contacted them," Trover said. "They are making a cross-country voyage right now. That's kind of how it got setup and I'm very thankful to their coach for coming down to play us tonight. We needed this game win, lose or draw. We needed to get back on the wagon and get used to playing because teams like the Fighting Squirrels, that we will be playing in a couple weeks, have been playing a lot. It was exciting to get back on a diamond tonight and get a victory."

SEMO Pirates 8, California Colton Knighthawks 6

CALF 100 130 001 - 6 6 6

SEMO 150 002 00X - 8 13 3

WP - Blake White. LP - Kristoph Rosales. SV - Austin Hicks.

DUSTIN WARD - dward@dailystatesman.com The Pirates' Brad Freed hammers a pitch.

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