By Anvil Welch

awelch@joplinglobe.com

Who said a tie was such a bad thing?

For sure, you haven’t been talking to the coaching staff of the Joplin Sports Authority All-Stars.

It savored the 5-5 tie — called after seven innings — against the Dallas Mustangs (Hendricks) Thursday night at Joplin High School.

The All-Stars — headed for three games in the consolation bracket — finished 0-2-1 in pool play in the Premier Baseball Junior World Series. The Dallas Mustangs (Hendricks) were 1-1-1.

“Our players, as the game went along and we were competing, began believing and thought we had a chance to win,” All-Stars head coach Phil Cook said.

“We played better — more consistent — than we had in our first two games,” Cook added. “We executed. We threw strikes.”

The Mustangs, who didn’t score after the third inning, built a 5=2 lead.

“We missed some opportunities after the first three innings,” Mustang coach Mike Hendricks said. “We made some mistakes on defense, which helped them come back.

“They (the All-Stars) played well after they had been struggling. We gave them too many chances.”

The JSA All-Stars caught the Mustangs at 5 in the bottom of the fifth off submarining right-hander Joe Felts.

Nick Henson was hit by a pitch, swiped second and raced all the way home on an infield single by Mitch Albright.

The right-handed Albright, who tossed four scoreless innings, shared the hero’s billing for the All-Stars, according to coach Cook, with starting pitcher Barrett Noirfalise and Henson.

“I love that Henson,” Cook said. “He knows the game and he’s an outstanding player. He was running hard to reach third and never slowed down (in easily beating the throw home).