Errors thwart North Callaway in EMO loss to Clopton

The Thunderbirds were plagued by six errors in Tuesday night's 4-2 Eastern Missouri Conference loss to the unbeaten Hawks.

Clopton (5-0, 3-0 EM0) tallied an unearned run in the top of the first inning, two more unearned runs in the fifth and an earned run in the seventh. Senior starter Brandon Hagedorn had an RBI single in the third and sophomore right fielder Alex Brazil contributed an RBI single in the seventh for North Callaway (3-5, 1-3), which out-hit the Hawks 9-7.

Brazil was 2-for-3 with a double and a stolen base, while Hagedorn finished 1-for-4. Sophomore second baseman AJ Stubblefield went 1-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base.

Hagedorn (0-3) gave up three unearned runs and only four hits in five innings to suffer the loss. He struck out nine and issued two walks.

"Brandon pitched an excellent ballgame," Thunderbirds head coach Kevin O'Neal said. "We had a lot of hits, but not timely hits. We have to put our hits together earlier in the game."

North Callaway (3-4) prevailed in the junior varsity game 8-4.

The Thunderbirds host EMO opponent Elsberry at 5 p.m. Thursday. There will only be a varsity game.