Karns City downs Moniteau, 4-0
Mallick Metcalfe was determined to break out of a lull at the dish.
Thanks to his three-hit performance and nearly six innings of scoreless work on the hill, Karns City beat Moniteau, 4-0, Wednesday at Michelle Krill Memorial Field at Historic Pullman Park.
“I’ve been struggling with my hitting, and it feels nice to get three (hits),” Metcalfe said. “I’m starting to figure out my swing a little bit. I’ve been in a little bit of a slump. I was, like, 1 for my last 9. I’ve been over-striding.”
He stepped in the batter’s box in the visitors’ first and smashed the third pitch he saw to right center field. He wheeled to third and Braden Grossman scored from first as the ball rolled all the way to the warning track.Tyler Hutchison grounded into a fielder’s choice in the next at-bat, which pushed Metcalfe across.
The Warriors (2-3-1), meanwhile, had at least one base-runner on in each inning. They stranded eight in total, half of which in scoring position.
“I like to work under pressure a little bit,” Metcalfe said. “We rushed warm-ups, so I didn’t get all my warm-up pitches in. That kind of didn’t help me, but I just like to battle on the mound. Any way I can get outs, I’ll take them.”
“He’s been there before,” Gremlins coach Josh Smith said. “He didn’t have his best stuff — and he’ll be the first one to admit that — but he battles. When you don’t have your best stuff and you go 3-2 a lot, 2-2, you throw a lot of pitches ... We’re a better team with him on the mound.
“The guys behind him know he’s going to give us everything he’s got and he gave us a good effort.”
Karns City (7-2) had a different look to its defensive infield after regular first baseman Michael Neff was struck in the face in the pre-game.
Mitchell Waldroup, usually a catcher, manned second base and was later moved to third. It was the first time he’d played either position in his career. Sophomore Adam Manuel filled in for Neff and third baseman Koen Williams was switched from the other corner later in the game.
“When you’ve got a pitcher that doesn’t have his best stuff — even if it is our ace of the staff — you’ve got to do something behind him,” Smith said. “When you can make a play in a situation, it kind of kills momentum, and we needed them. It was big.”
Smith was referring to a pair of stabs that led to line-out double plays in the third and fourth innings. Falling backwards, Jacob Callihan later made an impressive catch on a long fly ball to left field by Moniteau’s Brock Matthews.
“We’ve just got to hit the ball,” said Matthews, who pitched five scoreless innings in relief of starter Dawson Wallace. “We were able to hold them to no runs scored (the final five innings). It was just the offense that was what needed to kick in.”
The top four batters in Karns City’s order — Jacob Jones, Grossman, Metcalfe, and Hutchison — combined to go 8-for-16 on the night. Jones’ triple to left-center plated Hobie Bartoe in the second frame after Bartoe’s single scored Waldroup.
“Last night up at Brookville, we didn’t have our best offensive night, but we still found a way to win,” Smith said. “Tonight, that was a lot more of our style and our game — is hit, hit, and hit.”
Karns City 220 000 0 — 4 10 1
Moniteau 000 000 0 — 0 5 0
W: Mallick Metcalfe 5.2 IP (4K, 5BB). L: Dawson Wallace 2IP (3K, 0BB).
Karns City (7-2): Jacob Jones 3B 1B RBI, Braden Grossman 1B R, Mallick Metcalfe 3B 2-1B R, Tyler Hutchison 2-1B RBI, Mitchell Waldroup 1B R, Hobie Bartoe 1B RBI R.
Moniteau (2-3-1): Dawson Wallace 1B, Brock Matthews 3B 1B, Derrik Moyer 1B, Blaine Jamison 1B.
