Hornets take third place in thriller

The Fulton Hornets’ seniors were certain there would be a comeback.

“We came in the dugout (down a run going to the bottom of the 11th inning) and I didn’t have to tell them anything, they already knew,” Fulton head coach John Brinkmann said. “We had a few seniors take leadership and say, ‘Guys, we got this, don’t worry.’

“We didn’t get down on ourselves. I thought we actually used it as motivation.”

After the Hornets tied the game with rival Mexico, senior left fielder Zach Franklin drew a bases-loaded walk on four straight balls to force home junior third baseman Luke Gray with the winning run to give the Hornets a 7-6 victory over the Bulldogs in the third-place game of the 22nd-annual Fulton Tournament at the high school athletic complex Friday night.

“He stayed within himself,” Brinkmann said of Franklin. “I told him, ‘If it’s there, I want you swinging first pitch, but if it’s not, don’t chase them.’ He did the right thing and won us the game.”

Senior shortstop Tristan Steffens led off the inning with a walk and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior center fielder Josh Quick. Steffens advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored when junior third baseman Luke Gray was safe on a one-out error to make it 6-all.

Gray then went to third on a single to right by junior first baseman Jared Peery, who was pulled for sophomore courtesy runner Solomon Huff. Junior catcher Isaiah Pani was walked intentionally to load the bases for Franklin.

“They gave us the one run on an error and we took advantage,” Brinkmann said. “They didn’t throw strikes, but we didn’t chase and made them work, and that was big for us.”

Mexico had taken the lead by putting up a run in the top of the 11th. Senior second baseman Tanner Smith led off with a double to center, senior shortstop Brett Groves walked and Smith came around to score on senior left fielder Karsten Ekern’s double to center.

The Bulldogs forced extra innings by rallying for four runs in the sixth to pull even at 5-all.

Senior starter Dalton Logerman was hit by a pitch to start the inning, was replaced by junior courtesy runner Dalton Slater and sophomore first baseman Quinton Baumgartner walked in the next at-bat. Both Slater and Baumgartner advanced on a fielder’s choice and then scored on a single to left by senior designated hitter Scott Speaks to bring Mexico within two runs.

Smith pulled a two-out single to left to advance Speaks to third and both runners scored on Groves’ double to center to tie the game.

The Bulldogs took an early lead with a run in the third, but the Hornets (12-8) responded with two runs in their half of the inning to go in front 2-1. Senior right fielder Trenton Clines tripled to right to open the inning and scored when junior second baseman Devan Hudson followed with a single to center.

Hudson went to second on a passed ball and eventually scored on Gray’s two-out single to left.

Fulton added three more runs in the fourth to pad its lead. Pani kicked off the inning by lining a solo home run over the fence in left and Franklin doubled to right in the next at-bat. With one out, Hudson doubled to center and Franklin stopped at third.

Quick was safe on an error, allowing Franklin to score to make it 4-1. Hudson — who went to third on the play — then raced home when Quick stole second.

Pani went 2-for-2 as the Hornets collected 10 hits. Hudson finished 2-for-4, Clines was 2-for-5 and Peery went 2-for-6.

Junior reliever Devon Keltner (2-2) threw three innings to pick up the win for Fulton. Keltner gave up an earned run on three hits and walked one.

“We swung the bats well early,” Brinkmann said. “Ours bats went silent in the middle, but all-in-all, it’s a hard-fought game between two good teams. Someone had to win and someone had to lose. Today it’s us and hopefully Saturday, it’ll be us again.”

Fulton won for the second time in three meetings this season with Mexico and will face the Bulldogs again in the Class 4, District 8 semifinals at 3 p.m. next Saturday at the high school athletic complex. The Hornets are the third seed and Mexico is No. 2.

Before Fulton gets to district play, it will travel to South Callaway — ranked No. 6 in Class 3 — at 5 p.m. Monday. The Hornets, winners of seven of their last 10, then end the regular season with a North Central Missouri Conference home matchup against Kirksville at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

“It’s great,” Brinkmann said. “I feel good about it and I’m ready to go. Today was a big game, let’s hope we carry that momentum all the way into next week.”