The West Plains Zizzers baseball team is finding its stride as the regular season winds down, shaking off a few tough outings to string together a series of strong performances, including a recent road win at Salem and a home doubleheader sweep.
Most recently, West Plains secured a 10-3 victory on the road against Salem on Monday. The win followed a 5-0 shutout over Ava at Zizzer Ballpark on Friday. Those victories helped the Zizzers bounce back from a rough two-game stretch against Marshfield on April 29 and 30, where West Plains dropped 11-2 and 12-2 decisions.
The momentum began building on April 25, when West Plains picked up a pair of wins at Zizzer Ballpark, pulling away late for a 9-3 victory over the Dexter Bearcats before shutting out the Lebanon Yellowjackets 7-0.
In the first game against Dexter, West Plains broke open a tight contest late. Leading 4-3 entering the bottom of the sixth, the Zizzers scored five runs, stringing together three hits and benefiting from two hit batters to create separation.
“The Dexter game was a really tight game up until the sixth inning,” West Plains Head Coach James Sharp said.
Dominic Hale earned the win, allowing two earned runs and striking out four. Tayt Duggins worked a clean fifth inning, and Drew Melvin pitched the final two innings to close it out.
Against Lebanon, the Zizzers leaned on a dominant outing from pitcher Landon Montgomery, who threw a complete-game shutout, allowing five hits and striking out nine. Sharp said the effort on the mound set the tone across both games.
“Pitching was solid throughout the day,” he said.
West Plains broke the game open in the fourth inning. Keenan Holloway drove in a run on a groundout before Ryan Montgomery delivered a two-out bunt single with the bases loaded, bringing home three runs to push the lead to 5-0. The Zizzers added to the tally in the fifth, extending the lead to 7-0.
“On the offensive side of the ball, we did a really good job working some counts and finding a way on base," Sharp explained. "Once we were able to get on, we were able to take advantage of some things.”
West Plains stole 10 bases across the two games, with Ethan Miller accounting for five.
Earlier in the week, the Zizzers found a way to win despite a rocky start on the road against Mt. Vernon on April 21. Down early, West Plains rallied late to steal a 7-6 win, pushing across the go-ahead run in the seventh.
“We didn’t play our best baseball by any means,” Sharp said. “We had a few unlucky bounces on their natural field and made a few errors.”
Mt. Vernon built a 4-0 lead in the third. The Zizzers trailed 6-2 entering the sixth before scoring three runs to make it 6-5. In the seventh, Camden Bryant doubled to center to bring in a run, and Holloway followed with a groundout that plated the go-ahead score.
Ryan Montgomery worked 4 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and two earned runs. Zeke Cunningham picked up the win with 1 2/3 innings of one-hit, scoreless relief, and Landon Montgomery closed it out with a clean seventh, striking out two for the save.
The hard-fought win at Mt. Vernon followed a tough outing on April 20 against the Springfield Catholic Fighting Irish. West Plains fell 15-0 in a game decided early.
“We didn’t come to play, and they did,” Sharp said.
Springfield Catholic tallied 13 hits in 2 1/3 innings, taking advantage of nine free bases issued by West Plains. Holloway recorded the Zizzers' lone hit with a double.
