Although Pacific lost its first baseball game of the season over the weekend at the Farmington Wood Bat Tournament, the Indians still won two of three games for a fifth-place finish.
Pacific, Sullivan and Pattonville each finished with 1-1 records in pool play.
With fewest runs allowed as the tiebreaker, Sullivan (12-3) took the pool title and went on to defeat Windsor for the tournament championship.
The Indians (16-1) placed third in the pool and hammered Herculaneum 10-0 in the fifth-place contest.
Pacific’s Andrew David suffered a mild concussion when colliding with Tanner Brown on a fly ball early in the opener against Pattonville and missed the final two games of the tournament.
“It was a nasty collision. We hope to have Andrew back the week before districts. That took a big bat out of our lineup and the guy who was supposed to pitch our second game against Sullivan,” said Pacific Head Coach Jeff Reed. “Considering something like that happened, which took away some of our focus, I was happy to go 2-1 in the tournament. We played three games in less than 20 hours. Our kids were exhausted on the bus ride home.”
Pattonville
Pacific opened the tournament Friday with a 7-5 setback to Pattonville, its first loss of the season.
The Indians led 5-0 after two innings, but Pattonville scored six runs in the top of the third inning to take the lead for good.
Nathan Bruns got the start on the mound for Pacific and took the loss. In 2.2 innings, he allowed six runs on seven hits with two walks and no strikeouts.
Zeth Boyer tossed the final 3.1 frames. He allowed one run on two hits with no walks or strikeouts.
“Nate ran into trouble in the third inning. He left the ball up too much and had only one pitch working,” Reed said. “We didn’t lose to a cupcake. Pattonville has a good team.”
Ryan Jones collected two of the Indians’ six hits, including a triple, and scored two runs.
Josh Moore (double), Josh Conley, Jake Null and Boyer each added one hit. Moore had one RBI and one run. Conley also walked and had one RBI.
Bruns walked twice and had one RBI. Andrew David walked and scored. Kyle Dean added one walk and one run. Hank Vandaveer drew a walk.
Keith McAllister was the winning pitcher for Pattonville (12-5). Carter Hanford had two hits and three RBIs.
Sullivan
Pacific bounced back with a 5-3 win Friday night over Sullivan.
It was the Indians’ second victory over the Eagles in a five-day span.
“We’re happy to get the win over Sullivan,” Reed said. “It was a good way to bounce back after our first loss.”
Vandaveer got the start on the mound for Pacific and earned the win. In 4.2 innings, he allowed three runs on seven hits with one walk and one strikeout.
Boyer tossed 2.2 scoreless innings in relief for the save. He allowed one hit and no walks while striking out one.
“Hank struggled a little, but still did a good enough job to get the win,” Reed said. “Zeth pitched in both of our games Friday and did very well.”
Brad Reiker pitched all six innings for Sullivan. He allowed five runs on four hits with three walks and eight strikeouts.
Jones, Moore, Bruns and Brown each had one hit for the Indians. Jones also walked, had one RBI and one run. Bruns walked and had one RBI. Moore scored one run.
Brandon Colter scored three runs. Vandaveer and Boyer both drew a walk.
Jones and Moore both stole home for the Indians.
Austin Coleman, Cullen Stockley and J.T. Waller each collected two hits for Sullivan. Stockley added two RBIs.
Seth Mesey, Lester Turilli and Adam Weiland each added one hit.
Herculaneum
Pacific concluded the tournament Saturday with a 10-0 win over Herculaneum in six innings.
Making his first appearance on the mound this season, Brown tossed a three-hit shutout for the win. He walked one and struck out five.
“Tanner hadn’t even thrown a bullpen this year,” Reed said. “The big thing for Tanner was he kept the ball down and let our defense make plays behind him.”
Brown helped himself at the plate with two hits, a walk and one RBI.
Conley finished with one hit (double), two RBIs and two runs.
Jones, Bruns, Vandaveer and Null each had one hit. Null also walked twice, had one RBI and one run. Jones walked, scored two runs and had one RBI. Bruns walked and had one RBI. Vandaveer walked and scored a run.
James Howie and Moore both walked and had one RBI. Dalton Mathis added one RBI. Boyer scored a run. Colter walked and scored. Ryan Dorenkamp and Drew Fonner both scored a run.
