Cassville plated two unearned runs in the top of the first inning and made that hold to take a narrow 2-1 win over Big 8 Conference foe Aurora at Cassville Tuesday.
The story of this Big 8 battle was the 10 base runners the Houn' Dawgs left on base over seven innings, including three in the first and two more in the fourth.
"We had our chances," said Aurora head coach James Hoffman after the game. "You can't leave that many opportunities on the base paths and expect to win."
Aurora loaded the bases in the first inning after two men were out, but couldn't take advantage of the opportunity to take the lead. The Wildcats, on the other hand, took advantage of two base hits and two Aurora errors in the first inning to take the two-run lead that would be enough to secure the victory.
The Houn's stranded their fourth runner in the top of the second but starting pitcher Zac Shoemaker struck out the side in the bottom of the inning. Shoemaker finished with seven strikeouts over seven innings of work on the mound.
"I knew I had to hit my spots," said Shoemaker after the loss. "It was their senior night and we really wanted to take one away from them tonight."
Aurora got its only run in the top of the fourth after base hits from Payton Evans and Tanner Schmidt. Sophomore Billy Meredith followed with a single passed the Cassville shortstop, scoring Evans. Evans led Aurora offensively on the night with two of the team's six base hits.
The Houn' Dawgs stranded two runners on the base paths in the sixth and then Patrick Wheeler walked with two outs in the top of the seventh, but Aurora was unable to get the much-needed tying run across the plate.
Noah Hadlow reached base all three trips to the plate for Cassville with two singles and being hit by a pitch. He also scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the first inning.
Cassville senior pitcher Marcus Weatherman threw the seven innings for the win, giving up the six hits and one run, while striking out six Aurora batters.
Shoemaker got the loss for Aurora, giving up just five scattered hits to the Wildcats.
"Zac (Shoemaker) pitched his heart out," said Hoffman. "We just have to find ways to give him better run support."
Aurora - 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 1
Cassville - 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2