The West Plains Zizzers baseball team has faced a roller coaster of a mid-April stretch, dropping a pair of games to the Logan-Rogersville Wildcats after finding dramatic walk-off magic at the Hollister Baseball Festival earlier in the month.
Logan-Rogersville
West Plains couldn’t keep pace following a fourth-inning surge from the Wildcats on Thursday, falling 7-1 on the road. Logan-Rogersville broke things open with four runs in the fourth inning and added three insurance runs in the sixth on a three-run homer.
Head Coach James Sharp said his team competed but couldn’t overcome personnel losses midway through the game.
“We competed at the plate, but had three starters not in the lineup about midway through the game, and that really hurt us on the offensive side of the ball,” Sharp said.
Ethan Miller drove in West Plains’ lone run. Dominic Hale, Camden Bryant and Sawyer Reid each collected one hit against Logan-Rogersville starter Nate Eakins, who struck out 12 over five innings.
Two days earlier, on April 14, West Plains dropped a 4-1 decision to the Wildcats in eight innings at home, despite a dominant pitching performance from Landon Montgomery. He struck out 13 and allowed just one earned run over seven innings.
West Plains took a 1-0 lead in the fifth when Hale beat a play at the plate. However, Logan-Rogersville tied it in the seventh on a walked-in run, then pulled ahead in the eighth on a sacrifice fly, a single and a flyout.
“We just struggled against two really good arms. Defensively and pitching was really good in both games,” Sharp said.
Hollister Baseball Festival Walk-Offs
The struggles against Logan-Rogersville followed a thrilling weekend at the Hollister Baseball Festival, where West Plains finished 2-1, capped by back-to-back walk-off victories on April 10 and 11.
The Zizzers secured a 7-6 win over Smithville on April 11. West Plains jumped ahead early when Landon Montgomery homered to center field in the first inning, scoring two runs. The game stayed tight into the final inning before Bryant drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the winning run.
“Another walk-off win," Sharp said.
Landon Montgomery and Miller each had two hits, while Montgomery and Zeke Cunningham drove in two runs apiece. On the mound, Jesse Contreras earned the win in relief.
The previous day, West Plains walked off against St. Francis Borgia in a 3-2 victory. Cunningham tied the game in the fifth with a two-run double. In the bottom of the eighth, Hale hit a ground ball to third to seal the win. Ryan Montgomery worked 6 2/3 innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out six.
The tournament opened with an 8-2 loss to Blue Valley Southwest.
Early April Recaps
Prior to the Hollister tournament, the Zizzers faced consecutive heartbreaks against state-ranked Carl Junction. On April 9, West Plains fell 4-3 on the road via a walk-off home run. On April 7, a scoreless game at Zizzer Ballpark unraveled in the eighth inning, with Carl Junction capitalizing on errors and fatigue to score seven runs for a 7-0 win.
“We played a great game defensively and on the mound for the first seven innings,” Sharp said of the April 7 matchup. “In the eighth, we just ran out of gas and pitches.”
The month began with a dominant 16-2 road victory over Bolivar on April 2. The Zizzers broke the game open with a seven-run seventh inning. Bryant went 3-for-4, while Keenan Holloway and Josiah Long each drove in three runs. Ryan Montgomery pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing zero earned runs and striking out seven.
That win followed a tough 13-3 loss to the Poplar Bluff Mules on April 1, marred by costly defensive errors against a hard-hitting lineup.
