Season closes with Sectional win, Quarterfinal loss

Carl Junction's run at another state final four appearance came to an end at home Thursday, as the Bulldogs fell 8-6 to Logan-Rogersville in the Class 3 State Quarterfinals.  The Bulldogs ended their season with a 19-8 record.

The team had advanced to Thursday's quarterfinal contest by beating Monett 7-3 on May 25 in the State Sectionals played at Carl Junction.

The Bulldogs struck first against Rogersville, scoring a run in the first on a sacrifice fly by Logan Deem.  They added two more runs in the second on RBI singles by Jeff Terry and Jack Luton.

The Wildcats responded with a 4-run third inning, capped by a 3-run homer by Seth Connor.  Connor, who has signed a letter of intent to play at NCAA Division I Missouri State, drove a pitch from Bulldogs' sophomore pitcher Payton Walker over the fence in straightaway centerfield.

The game remained tight at 4-3 into the sixth inning, when the wheels begin to fall off for Walker and his defensive teammates.  A bloop hit to right fell in between three Bulldogs defenders, and the Rogersville hitter advanced to third during an errant pickoff attempt.  The next hitter walked and advanced to second on a groundout.

With only one out and runners on second and third, Rogersville lined a clean single to center to score two.  Walker gave up another base on balls to the following hitter, leaving runners on first and second and yielding to reliever Jared Forker.

Forker struck out the first hitter he faced, but with two outs luck was on the side of the Rogersville offense as another fly ball fell in for a single between CJ outfielders.  Trailing 7-3, the Bulldogs gave up another run-scoring single and trailed 8-3 after Forker got Connor on a fly ball to right.

The Bulldogs refused to go down without a fight, with senior Matt Thompson leading off the bottom of the seventh with an infield single.  Walker lined out to second, and Luton followed with a grounder to second that was played poorly for an error.

With one out and runners on first and second, senior Jake Stevenson lined a single to center to score Thompson.  Deem then grounded out to the pitcher leaving the Wildcats a single out away from victory.

Garrett Carden hit a routine grounder to second, but the throw from the Wildcats' second baseman was low for an error. With Carden safely reaching first, Luton and Stevenson each scored pulling the Bulldogs to within 8-6.

Nathan Skaggs stepped to the plate representing the tying run.  The sophomore catcher proceeded to get all over a pitch and drive it towards the leftfield corner.

The shot looked like a sure extra-bases hit, with perhaps the only question remaining of whether Skaggs would end up at second or third.  But before the ball could safely find the corner, Rogersville's Travis Schlesener raced into the picture and made the play of his life.  The senior leftfielder went into a full airborne dive to his right, cleanly backhanding the catch before colliding with the turf.  He raised his glove, with ball, into the air and was quickly mobbed by his teammates after the umpire signaled out.

Skaggs squatted near second base, helmet in hand, wondering how his shot could have been caught.  The Rogersville fans, in stark contrast, were celebrating their team's victory and looking forward to their trip to the final four.

As for the Bulldogs fans, they were disappointed in what could have been, awed by Schlesener's catch, and appreciative of a relatively young Bulldogs team that nearly returned to the state's final four showdown for the second consecutive year.

Seniors Thompson, Stevenson and Jared Doyle will move on to college, but Coach Flave Darnell will have a solid nucleus to build around for 2011.  Nine of the 11 players seeing action in Thursday's quarterfinal game were underclassmen.  It's never easy to get this far, but CJ fans can look forward to more future success on the diamond while reflecting upon the success of the 2010 Bulldogs.

Bulldogs win District championship

By Levi Payton, The Joplin Globe

It didn’t take long for the Carl Junction Bulldogs to clinch Class 3 District 12 baseball championship as they walloped Nevada 12-1 Friday at the Seneca Sports Complex.

With the win, Carl Junction moves on to face Monett in a second game at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Carl Junction.

The Bulldogs (18-7) batted around in the first inning, plating six runs, and never looked back. Armed with a balanced attack, they made the most of their seven hits in the game; only one hit failed to produce a run.

Meanwhile, starting pitcher Jake Stevenson stymied Nevada with seven strikeouts in the complete-game effort.

“It was nice to get runs early,” Bulldogs coach Flave Darnell said. “It kind of settled (our team) in and calmed (us) down.”

Logan Deem did the most damage at the plate, going 3-for-3 with three RBI. He cranked an RBI double to center field during a four-run second inning, and then scored on a single by Nathan Skaggs later in the inning to make it 8-0.

Later in the inning, Taylor Terry, hitting in the No. 9 slot for the Bulldogs, punched a double down the left field line to score Skaggs and Garrett Carden to make it 10-0.

The first inning set the pace for the Bulldogs, however.

Matthew Thompson (walk), Payton Walker (hit by pitch) and Jack Luton (walk) all reached safely to lead off the first inning for Carl Junction before Deem reached on an infield single with one out to score Thompson. Carden then lined the first pitch he saw back through the box and into center to score Walker.

Things only got worse for the Tigers as Skaggs reached on an error to score Luton and Deem. After swiping second base, Skaggs crossed the plate on a single by Ryan Anderson to make it 6-0.

Just like that, the Bulldogs were in complete control.

“We took were (driving in) runners and took advantage of a few miscues that they had,” Darnell said. “That was nice to see that.”

Luton scored three times while Deem, Carden and Skaggs each scored two runs apiece.

With the momentum on his side, Stevenson never gave the Tigers much of a chance at getting back in the game. He stranded seven baserunners, with the key coming in the third inning when he worked out of a bases-loaded jam to end Nevada’s only real threat.

The Tigers scored their only run in the fifth inning. Leading off, Ross Wolf doubled off the wall in right center and then traded places with Cory Kerbs when he doubled to right to make it 12-1. That would be all the Tigers would get, however, as Stevenson retired the next three batters in order to close it out.

Darnell said he is pleased with the way his team is playing in the postseason thus far.

“It’s important in playoff baseball to get up on a team early,” he said. “It kind of puts (the opponent) on their heels a little bit. It’s definitely good to see when we can do that.” 

PREVIEW

Three seniors lead the Carl Junction Bulldogs return to the diamond in 2010, following a state runner-up finish in 2009.  Matt Thompson, Jake Stevenson and Jared Doyle are all expected to fill key roles this season.

The Bulldogs, who were ranked #2 in the Missouri Class 3 pre-season poll, have six returning players who saw significant playing time in 2009.  That group includes juniors Logan Deem, Garrett Carden and Jack Luton, as well as sophomore Payton Walker.

Luton was an All-State Second Team selection as an infielder in '09, thanks in part to his team-leading .424 batting average.  He also led the team in runs scored with 31, doubles with 10, on-base percentage (.537) and slugging percentage (.565).

Stevenson and Thompson joined Luton in earning 2009 All-District Honors.  Those three, along with Walker, Carden and Deem, all received Big 8 All-Conference honors as well.

Stevenson was 6-2 on the mound with 2 saves, recording a team-leading 2.83 ERA.