LINN, Mo. - Senior catcher Derek Shikles' three-run home run punctuated a five-run uprising in the top of the sixth inning as New Bloomfield tripped Linn 7-2 in a state-ranked clash between Wildcats on Tuesday night.
New Bloomfield - ranked No. 3 in Class 2 - grabbed a 2-0 lead on Shikles' two-run single in the fifth, but No. 9 Linn answered with two runs in its half of the inning to tie the game.
Freshman first baseman Clayton Martin reached on a one-out error in the sixth for New Bloomfield. Martin moved up on a sacrifice by junior right fielder Tommy Bedsworth and went to third on senior second baseman Clay Jensen's single to right.
Senior shortstop Grant Nichols followed by dropping a single into right, scoring both Martin and Jensen to put New Bloomfield in front to stay at 4-2. After senior starter Tyler Fennewald drew a walk, Shikles hammered a 1-0 pitch over the fence in center for his three-run shot.
"We had some good pressure hitting, which is what I want to see," New Bloomfield head coach Justin Forsythe said. "That's going to make us a better ball team. We put some good at-bats together and kept the inning alive."
Shikles went 2-for-4 with his five RBI and a run scored as New Bloomfield (2-0 Show-Me Conference) amassed 10 hits. Nichols also finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and scored two times, while Jensen was 2-for-5 and scored once.
Fennewald tossed a complete game to log the victory, giving up two unearned runs on just four hits. He struck out six and issued three walks.
"Tyler was dominant," Forsythe said. "His strikeouts don't show what he did - he threw the ball by a lot of people and his velocity was good."
New Bloomfield (4-5) suffered a 10-4 non-conference loss at Hallsville on Wednesday night. Further details were not available at press time.
The Wildcats play a pair of games at Jamestown on Saturday. New Bloomfield faces the host Eagles at noon and Tuscumbia at 2 p.m.