The Jefferson City Jays edged their way to a pair of wins Friday in the Jay Baseball Classic, defeating the Eureka Wildcats 3-2 before concluding tournament play with a 5-4 victory against the Pembroke Hill Raiders at Vivion Field.
Today’s tournament action was canceled because of weather.
With the Jays and Raiders tied at 4 heading to the bottom of the sixth, Joe Hoerchler and Jacob Roettgen walked with two outs.
Nick Williams then got a ground ball to sneak under the glove of the shortstop to drive in courtesy runner Hayden Wells for the go-ahead run.
The Jays got a perfect seventh inning on the mound from Jacob Duke to close out the win.
The Jays made hard contact from the start against Pembroke Hill.
Hoerchler bounced a deep fly ball to the wall in right field for an RBI triple for the game’s first run in the first inning.
Roettgen followed with a fly ball over the left fielder for an RBI double.
In the second, Connor Earleywine turned on a pitch for a deep double to left field. He then stole third base and scored when Taylor Hopkins reached on an error to put the Jays ahead 3-2.
Pembroke Hill took a 4-3 lead in the third when Spencer Hendren drilled a pitch up in the zone over the center fielder to drive in a pair of runs.
Earleywine came through again in the bottom of the third, dropping a fly ball into shallow left field for an RBI single to tie it at 4.
Jefferson City starting pitcher Tanner Schmitz settled in after the third, only allowing one baserunner in each of the next three innings.
Schmitz struck out eight and walked four while allowing four earned runs and three hits in six innings for the victory.
Case Hager got the win against Eureka, allowing two earned runs and six hits while striking out eight and walking two in 6 innings.
Duke came in for relief of Hager, who reached the pitch limit, getting the final out of the game in one pitch with a pop out to the shortstop.
Earleywine finished with three hits and two RBI on the day, including two hits and an RBI against the Raiders.
Wyatt Fischer went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI against the Wildcats.
In other Jay Baseball Classic action at Vivion Field, Gateway Legacy Christian Academy defeated Eureka 9-7 before earning a 9-8 win against Pembroke Hill.
Jefferson City (10-2) is scheduled to host Battle for a Central Missouri Activities Conference matchup at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
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