Johnsonburg ran itself out of a couple of opportunities early, enabling Moniteau to take a run at it late.

But the Rams survived a last-inning rally by the Warriors, stranding the tying run at third in holding on for a 4-3 District 9 baseball victory Saturday at Pullman Park.

“We have a lot of speed on our team and we like to stay aggressive on the bases,” Johnsonburg coach Michael Porter said. “It cost us some chances to add on early runs today.

“We coaches take responsibility for running us into outs. Sometimes you have to take chances to see what you can get away with and what you can’t.”

Johnsonburg (7-2) scored three runs off Moniteau pitcher Dawson Wallace in the first two innings, but ran into three outs on the bases in the process. Aiden Zimmernan doubled to open the game, but was picked off when he tried stealing third before Wallace motioned toward the plate.

Cam Marciniak tripled to left, driving in a run, but was cut down later in the inning trying to steal home. Collin Porter singled home a run in the second, but was later picked off second.

Wallace allowed seven hits and three runs in those first two innings. He surrendered only four hits and one run over the final four frames.

“I had to gain control of my off-speed pitches,” Wallace said. “I didn’t have that early in the game, but once I found it, I felt good out there.”

Wallace threw 87 pitches in his complete-game effort — 66 for strikes. He struck out five and allowed his only walk in the first inning. He retired the side on seven pitches twice.

“I’m usually around the plate,” he said. “That’s a big part of my game.”

“That kid pitched a good game for them,” Porter said. “He forced us to hit the ball to get on and we had some good, hard contact today. A couple of those balls we hit would have been home runs at our place.”

Moniteau (6-3) got on the board in the second inning when Jakub Obman doubled to right, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Branson Carson’s groundout. The Warriors stranded a runner in scoring position in the third and fourth frames.

They missed a big opportunity in the sixth. Brock Matthews and Keagan Book opened the inning with singles to left. Wallace hit into a force play, leaving runners at first and third with one out for Obman.

Obman hit a chopper to third that would have plated a run, but he came up lame coming out of the batter’s box and fell victim to an inning-ending double play.

“He’s been having hamstring issues and he pulled it there,” Wallace said. “Nothing we could do about that ... just a tough break.”

Still, the Warriors weren’t done. Trailing 4-1, Carson tripled to deep right to open the seventh. Connor Ealy singled him home and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Carson Ritts reached on an infield error, scoring Ealy to cut the deficit to 4-3.

With one out, David Martino bunted Ealy to second base. Ealy moved to third on a wild pitch, but was left there as Matthews grounded out to third to end the game.

Sophomore Luke Zimmerman was the winning pitcher for Johnsonburg, striking out five and throwing 67 pitches in four innings. Aiden Zimmerman pitched the final three innings for the save.

“Luke was making his first start of the season, coming off an injury,” Porter said. “We didn’t want to push him too far. We’ve got plenty of pitching.

“Moniteau is a good team. We saw them in the playoffs last year. We may see them again.”

Johnsonburg1201000 — 4111

Moniteau 0100002 — 371

W: Luke Zimmerman 4IP (5K, 1BB). L: Dawson Wallace 7IP (5K, 1BB)

Johnsonburg (7-2): Aiden Zimmerman 2B 2-1B RBI, Dom Allegretto 2-1B, Cam Marciniak 3B RBI, Luke Zimmerman 3B 2B 2-R, Caden Smiley RBI, Collin Poerter 2-1B RBI, Jefferson Freeburg 1B

Moniteau (6-3): Brock Matthews 2B 1B, Keagan Book 1B, Dawson Wallace 1B, Jakub Obman 2B, Branson Carson 3B RBI, Connor Ealy 1B RBI

Monday: Forest at Moniteau