For most of the early part of the season, Karns City's Tyler Yough has battled a balky pitching arm.

It felt pretty good Monday afternoon.

Yough needed just 96 pitches to cruise through his outing against Moniteau – and also made a few stellar plays in the field – as Karns City edged the Warriors 2-1 at Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park.

“He battled,” said Karns City coach Josh “Sluggo” Smith. “I wouldn't say he's been banged up, but his arm has just not felt right. I told him, 'I'm going to go when you're ready. I'm not going to push it. It's not worth it.' He looked at me today and I could see in his eyes he was ready to go.”

Yough was efficient, wasting very few pitches in the complete-game win. He struck out five, walked just one and scattered five hits over seven innings.

Yough's big pitch was a slow, bending curveball that confounded Moniteau hitters.

“His curveball was pretty nasty,” Smith said.

“I just try to locate it where I need to,” Yough said, flashing a knowing grin, “and hope they swing and miss.”

There wasn't a lot of swinging and missing, though.

A lot of looking, however.

Yough's bender froze the Warrior hitters more than the frigid temperatures at Pullman froze the throng of fans in attendance.

“I just tried to hit the fastball,” said Moniteau shortstop and pitcher Gage Neal. “I took some big cuts at the curveball but missed. It's very hard to hit.”

Karns City (5-2) wasn't having much luck, either, against Moniteau pitcher Hunter Fitzingo.

The right-hander was wild early, walking a batter and uncorking three wild pitches in the first inning. That allowed the Gremlins to manufacture a run on a RBI single by Yough.

But Fitzingo settled down after the jittery first and struck out nine over five innings.

“I just felt uncomfortable out there (in the first inning),” Fitzingo said. “I'm not making any excuses. I have to hit my spots. I got more confidence throughout the game. I just threw way too many balls in this game. We just have to keep our head up. We have a lot of games left. It's a bad loss, but we have to stick with it. We can't be done after one loss.”

Moniteau (5-3) gave Fitzingo a boost when it finally got to Yough in the top of the fourth inning.

Neal roped a double off the base of the left-field wall and Jared Lominski followed with a towering drive that was blown around in the stiff wind and found the outfield grass in center for a RBI double.

Fitzingo was getting close to his 100-pitch limit when he left the mound to start the sixth inning.

Moniteau coach Ross Martin said he went with Neal to begin the inning instead of having Fitzingo work to one or two batters before he would have to leave the game.

Neal got the loss – on a strikeout.

Jake Weckerly led off the inning with a single and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. He scored the decisive run when Ty Belles struck out on a pitch in the turf and the throw to first sailed into right field.

“It's a tough one,” Neal said. “But I think we can bounce back.”

Yough helped himself at the plate and in the field.

He had two hits and also made a diving catch on a soft liner off the bat of Nathan Tack in the third inning and fired to first to double off Tanner Williams.

In the top of the sixth with two runners on, he fielded a weak grounder near the first base line and flipped to first to get Tyler McFadden by a step to end the Moniteau threat.

“It helps the team out when you can make plays when you need them,” Yough said. “Having and extra guy out there who can make plays is big.”

It was a typical game in the series between Moniteau and Karns City.

When the two teams meet, the game usually comes down to a final at-bat.

“A 2-1 game – I grew up playing baseball and you live for games like this,” Smith said. “All these years between us and Moniteau, it's always really good games and they always seem to be played well. I take pride in that and I'm sure (Martin) feels the same way, too.”

Moniteau 000 100 0 — 1 5 1

Karns City 100 001 x — 2 5 2

WP: Tyler Yough 7 IP (5K, 1BB). LP: Gage Neal 1 IP (1K, 0BB)

Moniteau (5-3): Tanner Williams 1B, Gage Neal 2B 1B, Jared Lominski 2B RBI, Mason Mershimer 1B

Karns City (5-2): Steve O'Donnel 1B, Yough 2-1B RBI, Josh Whitmire 1B, Jake Weckerly 1B