With the White River Cobras starting recent MLB draftee Wyatt Sparks on the hill, the Route 66 Stars knew they would have a dog fight on their hands Monday night. And that it was as both teams battled fiercely into extra innings.

The night started out slow for the Stars as the Cobras scored the first four runs of the game with one in the first, one in the third off Stars starting pitcher, Beaux Bonvillian, and two in the fifth off Stars Reliever, Jarret Dotson. After the Stars recorded the first two outs in the first, Logan Berlof reached on an error by the Stars third baseman advancing Berlof to second base. Berlof was then driven in on a 1-2 pitch by the Cobras first baseman, Austin Peay commit Ryan Kouba, with a single to centerfield. In the third inning the Cobras added another run with the help of two walks and a single by Blake Daniels. And with two outs in the fifth, after a single and a walk by Danny Crews and Berlof, Blake Daniels came up big again with a run scoring single which scored Crews from second. The second run came around to score after an error by the Stars second baseman. That ended the scoring for the Cobras and the bottom half of the inning is where the Stars started their comeback.

In the bottom half of the fifth, the Stars got on the board with two runs when Maryville’s Cherokee Boynton was hit by a pitch, stole second, was advanced to third by Peak Performance Player of the Game, Jamie Mitchell, and then scored when the Stars successfully pulled off a double steal of home and second base. The Stars scored the second run as Mitchell advanced to third on a wild pitch and was then driven in by a sac fly off the bat of Wyatt Elbe.

In the sixth and seventh inning, the Stars scored their third and fourth run of the game, tying the game at four apiece. In the sixth, with two outs, Central Arkansas Brett Daily reached on a single, stole second, and on a walk to South Dakota State’s Derrick Hackman’s walk, stole third and then scored on an error by the Cobras pitcher. The Stars tried to add another run in the sixth, but Hackman was thrown out at home on a single by Cherokee Boynton. In the seventh, Jamie Mitchell led off with a triple to left field and scored the tying run on a single to right off the bat of Wyatt Elbe.  

Both teams battled through the eighth and ninth innings with the Stars having a chance to score with bases loaded and two outs in the ninth but was not meant to be as a line drive off the bat from Brett Dailey was caught by the Cobras right fielder.

As we headed to the tenth inning, Alden Blest, who had relieved Jamie Mitchell after the eight inning, took on the five through eight order with a walk and three straight strikeouts. Those three strikeouts pumped up the Stars as they headed to the bottom half of the inning smelling victory. With Missouri State’s Jake Lochner on the hill, Derrick Hackman led off with a walk and was pinch ran for with pitcher, Jansen McQuerter. Mcquerter advanced to second on a bunt single by Connor Paulson and both runners were moved over by a sacrifice bunt from Cherokee Boynton. That brought Jamie Mitchell to the plate and on a 1-2 count, Lochner threw a wild pitch that scored McQuerter from third and ended the ball game.

Winning pitcher was Alden Blest as he threw 1.2 innings allowing one hit with one walk and four strikeouts. Lochner was straddled with the loss as he threw the final 2.1 innings allowing three hits, one earned run, two walks, and four strikeouts.

Offensively, the Stars had thirteen hits on the night led by Jamie Mitchell (3-4, 1 triple, 2 runs) Cameron Tissue (2-3) and Brett Daley (2-5, 2SB). On the mound, the Stars had Beaux Bonvillian start and go 4 innings, 2 hits, one earned tun, sand two strikeouts. Jarret Dotson threw 4 innings as well giving up three hits, one earned run and five strikeouts. Alden Blest finished the game with 1.2 innings pitched with one hit and four strikeouts.

The Cobras were led by Danny Crews (3-5, 2 2b, 1 run) and Blake Daniels 9 (2-4, 1 RBI). Wyatt Sparks threw 4.2 innings giving up 4 hits, 2 earned runs, and six strikeouts. Quinn Appletoft followed throwing 1.1 innings giving up 2 hits. Brett Wilbanks was up next for the Cobras throwing 1 inning, 4 hits and 1 earned run. Jake Lochner closed out the last 2.1 innings with three hits, 1 earned run and 4 strikeouts.