Baseball: Hornets hammer Thunderbirds 10-0, take seventh place

Leuther, Vandeloecht help Fulton halt 11-game slide

The Fulton Hornets were determined to avoid a dismal dozen.

Sophomores Gavin Leuther and Gage Vandeloecht combined on a one-hit shutout as the No. 7 seed Hornets took seventh place in their 23rd-annual Fulton Tournament by throttling the No. 5 North Callaway Thunderbirds 10-0 on Thursday at the high school athletic complex.

Junior third baseman Joe Hinchie doubled twice and drove in two runs as Fulton took control by putting up six runs in the bottom of the third inning. The Hornets tacked on a run in the fifth to end the game on the mercy rule.

Most notably, Fulton (3-17) ditched an 11-game losing streak that consumed three weeks. The Hornets' last victory came in a 10-9 North Central Missouri Conference triumph over Moberly on April 12 in Fulton.

The Hornets also avenged an 8-7 loss to North Callaway (12-11) on April 17 in Auxvasse.

"Wins are always nice," Fulton head coach John Brinkman said after Thursday night's victory. "It was great to see the energy the guys had - it's been a while since we've seen that excitement."

Leuther was making his third start of the season for the Hornets and didn't allow any hits over three innings to pick up his first victory. Leuther (1-0) issued two walks.

Vandeloecht gave up the Thunderbirds' lone hit - a leadoff double to senior first baseman Clark Zerr in the top of the fourth - and struck out three in his two innings of work.

"(Gavin and Gage) really pounded the inner and outer thirds of the plate and did a good job of throwing first-pitch strikes," Brinkmann said. "They stayed away from the middle part of the plate and attacked hitters all game long."

Fulton also played clean defense behind Leuther and Vandeloecht, committing only one error.

"We pitch to contact, so when the defense is making plays, that makes our pitchers and defense so much more confident," Brinkmann said. "It's a positive snowball effect."

Fulton manufactured its first run in the first inning. Junior shortstop AJ Reid led off with a single to left, moved to second on freshman catcher Austin Taylor's sacrifice, advanced to third on a balk and raced home on a wild pitch.

The Hornets then gave themselves some cushion with their six-run outburst in the third. Taylor drew a walk to start the inning and was replaced by senior courtesy runner Makygh Galbreath.

After junior second baseman Brock Fisher walked, Hinchie's double to right scored Galbreath to make it 2-0 and Fisher went to third on the play. Junior first baseman Evan Gray was then hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Sophomore designated hitter Ethan Phillips' fielder's choice scored Fisher and sophomore left fielder Landon Dzurick followed with a double to left, bringing home Hinchie and Phillips to stretch Fulton's lead to 5-0.

Dzurick moved to third on senior right fielder Solomon Huff's single to center and scored on sophomore center fielder Jake Moore's single to left. Huff advanced to third on the hit and bolted home on an error to put the Hornets up 7-0.

Fulton added to its lead by logging two runs in the fourth. Fisher earned a walk to open the inning, stole second, went to third on an error and scored on Hinchie's double to left.

Then with one out, Phillips' single to center brought home Hinchie from second to give the Hornets a 9-0 advantage.

Fulton capped off its long-overdue victory by tallying a run in the fifth. Moore coaxed a leadoff walk, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored on Taylor's single to right.

Hinchie finished 2-for-2 with his two RBI and two runs scored as the Hornets collected eight hits. Phillips and Dzurick were both 1-for-3 with two RBI and each scored a run.

"We battled, no matter what the (pitch) count was, and did a good job of adjusting to the count," Brinkmann said.

Fulton finishes the regular season with a trip to defending Class 3 state champion South Callaway - ranked seventh in the state - at 5 p.m. Monday.

"We want to keep this excitement up and use the momentum from (Thursday night) and carry it over into the postseason," Brinkmann said. "You never know what can happen at this time of the year."

Junior starter Jordan Delashmutt took the loss for North Callaway on Thursday night. Delashmutt (0-1) surrendered six earned runs on just three hits and four walks in 2 1/3 innings.

The Thunderbirds were coming off an outrageous 23-15 Eastern Missouri Conference win at Wright City on Wednesday night. The game lasted 3 hours, 45 minutes.

The Wildcats came up with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 13-all and force extra innings. North Callaway (7-1 EMO) prevailed by piling on 10 runs in the top of the eighth, sending 15 batters to the plate.

The Thunderbirds committed eight errors in the contest and Wright City (6-12, 4-4) had seven. Pitchers for the two teams combined to issue 21 walks.

"In this game, we saw the good, the bad and the ugly," North Callaway head coach Kevin O'Neal said.

The Thunderbirds jumped on top with five runs in the first, but the Wildcats countered with three runs in their half of the inning to narrow the gap to 5-3. North Callaway put up a run in the third and then erupted for seven in the fourth to establish a seemingly comfortable 13-3 edge.

Wright City, however, matched the Thunderbirds with a seven-run outburst of its own in the bottom of the fourth to make it 13-10. The Wildcats then rallied to tie the game with their three runs in the sixth.

North Callaway pulled away behind its barrage in the eighth. Delashmutt - playing right field - supplied a two-run double, scored a run and also had an RBI single in the inning.

Delashmutt was 4-for-6 with two doubles, five RBI, three stolen bases and two runs scored as the Thunderbirds accumulated 11 hits. Zerr went 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles, three RBI and scored three times, while senior center fielder Adam Reno finished 1-for-4 with a sacrifice fly, three RBI and two runs scored.

Senior Justin Popp (4-1) threw 3 1/3 innings of relief to earn the victory for North Callaway. Popp gave up three runs - all unearned - on only two hits, struck out four and issued three walks.

The Thunderbirds (7-7) won the junior varsity game 6-4.

North Callaway can wrap up its first outright EMO championship since 1999 when it hosts a makeup game against Bowling Green at 5 p.m. Monday.