Hitting pushes Canton over Mark Twain

Center, MO —The Canton Tigers picked up a win over the Mark Twain Tigers, as sophomore Richie Polak went 4-5 on the day with a double, two runs, and two RBI’s. Junior Cameron O’Brien and Senior Kaeden Gollaher also contributed two RBIs. Senior Ian Burbridge would start on the mound.

The Tigers scored early with a lead-off walk to senior Kaden Oliver. Oliver would steal his way to third. Drew Gottman would hit a fly ball to center. However, the Mark Twain fielder would drop the ball and allow Oliver to score. Gottman would steal his way to third, and a catching error would allow him to score. To take the lead 2-0. However, Mark Twain would gain an unearned run to make it 2-1.

Gottman would hit a double to start the third. Polak would follow with a single. A pass ball would allow Gottman to score. Gollaher would hit an RBI single to left, scoring Polak 4-1. Holding Mark Twain quiet in the third would allow Canton to get the winning run in the fourth.

Two singles and a walk would load the bases for the Canton Tigers. Polak would hit an RBI single to score one. Cameron O’Brien would get walked and score another. A pair of errors would allow two runs to score 8-1. Gollaher would hit a single to left to score the final run of the inning, making it 9-1. Mark Twain would score three runs to make it a five-run lead for Canton, 9-4.

Mark Twain would keep the Canton Bats quiet in the fifth. The Tigers would capitalize and score three runs to close the gap 9-7.

Canton would add another run in the sixth, with a lead-off double from Polak, and an RBI double from O’Brien, to make it 10-7. Mark Twain would respond with a score to make it a 10-8 game. Canton would add some insurance in the seventh as Polak would hit a single to score a run, and an error would allow another to score to give Canton a 12-8 lead. Drew Gottman, who took over pitching in the fifth, would close out the game and give Canton a 12-8 win.

The Tigers are now 3-5 and return home on April 15th to play District opponent Knox County Eagles, with a scheduled 5:00 PM first pitch.

KEY STATS

Canton; 12 R, 13 H, 3 E

Ian Burbridge (W); 4.0 IP,  6 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 1 K

Richie Polak; 4-5, 2 RBI, 3 R, 1 2B

Kaeden Gollaher; 2-4, 2 RBI

Mark Twain; 8 R, 8 H, 5 E

E Snodgrass (L); 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER; (At Bat) 3-4, 1 RBI, 3 R

R Miller; 3-4, 1 RBI, 2 R

I Torrence; 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 R