By Levi Payton
sports@joplinglobe.com
CARL JUNCTION, Mo. —
Garrett Carden blasted a three-run home run in the third inning to help propel Carl Junction to a 7-3 victory over Monett in a Class 3 sectional baseball game on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs (19-7) will entertain Rogersville (20-5) in a quarterfinal at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Rogersville advanced by beating Pleasant Hill 4-3.
Leading 2-1 in the third, Carden, a junior, connected on an off-speed offering from Marcus McCaffrey and hooked the ball just inside the foul pole in left to make it 5-1. With a gusting wind blowing in from center, the Bulldogs felt fortunate that Carden got enough of the ball to keep it fair.
“Garrett Carden came up with a big hit for us,” Bulldogs coach Flave Darnell said. “That was huge. I was real proud of him.”
The blast turned out to be the game-winner, thanks in large part to a solid relief effort from Jake Stevenson. He closed out the game after bailing the Bulldogs out of a jam in the third inning.
Payton Walker started for Carl Junction and struck out five in 21⁄3 innings before running into trouble in the third. After striking out the first batter, Walker walked four consecutive hitters — allowing one to score on a wild pitch — before Darnell summoned Stevenson from center field.
Stevenson, a senior right-hander, induced a grounder to third which forced out a runner at the plate. He then retired Colten Phillips on a liner to Jeff Terry at shortstop to end the frame.
Stevenson went on to allow two runs over 42⁄3 innings with four strikeouts to pick up the victory.
“Jake’s been a great team leader for us,” Darnell said. “Going to Jake, I felt extremely comfortable because he’s been a huge positive for us and he does a good job.”
The Cubs, despite trailing from the second inning, continued to mount threats.
Jesse Bremer walked and McCaffrey singled to open the fourth inning before Doug Aldridge looped a two-run double past a diving Hugh Cramer in left to cut the deficit to 5-3.
Cramer then threw out Aldridge at the plate as he was trying to score on a Marcus Enloe single. That knocked the Cubs onto their heels for the next few innings.
Monett put up one final fight in the seventh on two-out singles from Jake Smith and Andy Hagedorn. But Stevenson induced a grounder to shortstop to put a lid on the victory. Walker and Stevenson limited the Cubs to four hits.
“It was a solid team effort,” Darnell said of the victory. “We’ve got guys playing real good right now and we hope to continue doing that.”
The Bulldogs jumped ahead 2-0 in the second inning thanks to a Cubs throwing error. With two out Skaggs singled and Ryan Anderson was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second. Jeff Terry then hit a sharp grounder to short, but a hurried throw skipped by the first baseman, allowing both runners to score on the play.
Jack Luton, who laced a two-run single in the fourth inning, went 3-for-4 at the plate with the two RBI for the Bulldogs. Carden finished 2-for-3 with the homer, a double and three RBI. Matt Thompson also had a pair of hits in the victory.
