PILOT GROVE - Senior third baseman Tyler Fennewald had three hits, drove in two runs and scored three times as the New Bloomfield Wildcats tore past the Pilot Grove Tigers 13-3 in five innings Thursday night.
Fennewald was 3-for-4 with a triple to fuel a 13-hit attack for New Bloomfield (2-2). The Wildcats tallied four runs in the top of the first inning, put up four more in the third, added two in the fourth and piled on three in the fifth to to end the game on the 10-run rule.
"Offensively, we showed up big-time against a very good Pilot Grove team," New Bloomfield head coach Justin Forsythe said. "Now that we're getting to see more live pitching, it's only going to get better for us and hopefully we can get into a groove.
"We attacked fastballs and hit a lot of deep balls into the gap."
Junior left fielder Zach Burton also finished 2-for-3 with three RBI and three runs scored for the Wildcats, while senior shortstop Grant Nichols went 3-for-4 with a double and scored twice. Junior second baseman Tyler Martin was 2-for-3 with two RBI and sophomore center fielder Nick Hammann finished 1-for-2 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored.
Senior starter Clay Jensen gave up three runs and scattered four hits over four innings to earn the victory. Jensen struck out four and walked none.
"It was good to get back to seeing a solid game all-around," Forsythe said. "We played defense much better (with only one error) and when Clay is on the mound, we're always going to be competitive.
"Clay went out and attacked bats. He was in the (strike) zone all night and made it hard to hit his pitches. He was always ahead in the count."
New Bloomfield returns home for a showdown in its Show-Me Conference opener against defending Class 3 state champion Fatima at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The Wildcats - last year's Class 2 runners-up - are ranked No. 3 in Class 2 by the Missouri Baseball Coaches Association and the Comets are No. 1 in Class 3.