The Emporia AAAs got off to a good start at a tournament in Bartlesville on Wednesday, scoring two in the top of the sixth to take the lead and adding three insurance runs in the seventh to notch an 8-4 victory over Joplin.
The AAAs trailed 4-3 entering the top of the sixth, but got a rally going when Casey Atchison and Ethan Hall each drew walks. The two runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch, and Henry Ott rapped a single to drive them home.
The insurance runs, coming courtesy of the top of the AAAs’ order, were more than enough for reliever Ryne Cook to close out the game. Cook had a pair of hits, including an RBI double and one of the run-scoring hits in the ninth, and tossed up zeroes in the final two innings in relief of Zach Shuler.
“Ryne’s probably really the hardest thrower that we have,” Emporia coach Brad Kelly said. “He throws strikes, he has pretty good offspeed pitches, and ... he does a good job for us. I trust him completely coming in and closing a game.”
Emporia scored two runs out of the gate in the top of the first and added another run in the second, but Joplin scored a pair in each of its first two trips to lead 4-3 after two. Emporia committed a pair of errors to start the game, and then Shuler hit a batter to load the bases with no one out.
“And I feel kind of lucky that we were able to get out of that with (them) just scoring two runs,” Kelly said. “We got a groundout and a popup, and they got a couple of hits in there, too. But we did a pretty good job of getting out of that, compared to what we have been doing the last few games, anyway.”
In addition to going five innings, Shuler added an RBI hit for the AAAs.
Emporia was scheduled to play their next tournament game at 11:30 a.m. today against the Lawrence Raiders. Pre-bracket/pool play continues through Saturday to determine Sunday’s championship bracket.
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