Fulton suffers NCMC setback to Moberly

Sophomore catcher Isaiah Pani supplied two of the Hornets' five hits in stumbling to the Spartans 2-1 in North Central Missouri Conference play on Thursday.

The loss snaps a three-game spurt for the Hornets (7-7. 4-4 NCMC), who are coming off a 6-1 defeat of the state-ranked Boonville Pirates on Tuesday in Fulton.

The Hornets' red-hot offense - scoring just over 10 runs during their win streak - was cooled off by Moberly starter Tanner Wetrich's complete-game, 10-strikeout outing.

Wetrich walked two, while allowing an unearned run.

"Wetrich is a very good pitcher, he throws with good velocity and changed speeds well," Fulton head coach Darren Masek said. "For whatever reason, we couldn't lay off high fastballs tonight."

The Hornets moved in front 1-0 on junior third baseman Tristan Steffens' one-out, RBI single to center to score sophomore shortstop Devin Masek in the top of the third inning.

The Spartans drew even in the bottom of frame, then tallied the go-ahead run off of Fulton's sophomore reliever Alec Fleetwood with two gone in the bottom of the fifth.

Senior starter Blake Thompson worked four innings to take the loss for the Hornets. He allowed two earned runs on two hits, walked four and struck out four.

"Blake put himself into trouble at times," Darren Masek said. "He could have gone out and got some quick innings, but he put guys on base and put himself in jams.

"He didn't pitch poorly, he just didn't pitch well."

Fleetwood struck out one and gave up three hits in the final two innings.

Pani was 2-for-4 with a double, Steffens went 1-for-2, and sophomore designated hitter Jared Peery and Devin Masek were 1-for-3 and 1-for-4, respectively.

Fulton hosts state-ranked Fatima at 5 p.m. Monday. The Comets are ranked No. 2 in the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association Class 3 poll.