FARMINGTON, Mo. -- For as much grit and grind the Central baseball team showed this season, it just wasn't enough Tuesday against top-seeded Poplar Bluff.

Zach Lawrence provided a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning to send the Mules to a 1-0 walk-off victory over the fifth-seeded Tigers in a Class 5 District 1 semifinal at Wilson Rozier Park.

The game was decided on the mound where Central starter Josh Morse and Poplar Bluff starter Kameron Misner engaged in a pitching duel that forced the game to be decided in extra innings.

Morse gave up a hit in the first inning but didn't give up another until the decisive ninth when Misner hit a one-out single to right field and stole second. The Tigers intentionally walked the next batter, Brandon Stuckenschneider, and caught Misner stealing third. However, a stolen base by Stuckenschneider him into scoring position, and Central (14-12) intentionally walked the bases loaded to force Lawrence to decide the outcome.

Lawrence was 0 for 3 with two strikeouts before driving a 2-0 pitch into left field, scoring pinch-runner Kyler Carr and sending Poplar Bluff (18-5) into a celebration on the field.

"Their pitcher was great today, had us off-balance a lot," Poplar Bluff coach Steven Edwards said. "We hit the ball hard a couple times in places. They just made great plays and what not, but Lawrence was having a bad day at the plate.

"Being consistent and staying with the plan at the plate, what we talk about and what we preach around practice all the time, you see it. We preach about having that plan. ... Zach stayed back on it and just drove it to right field, and it came through with us. The baseball gods looked down on us and said, 'God bless you,' I guess."

The Tigers had an ideal opportunity to score in the top of the second. Chase Hagerty reached on a walk, and Brock Baugher followed with a bunt single before an error at first base allowed Jacquen Cummins to load the bases with nobody out.

However, Misner worked the Mules out of the jam with a strikeout and two outfield pop-ups.

"We just missed opportunities early. With the bases loaded and nobody out, it just deflates you," Central coach Tatum Kitchen said. "I knew Bluff had only played one game in the last 2 1/2 weeks, so I told our guys we'd maybe have some shots early just from them being a little rusty."

Kitchen said he considered a squeeze bunt but didn't want to force anything early in the game.

"We had some opportunities there. We just didn't get a hit, and of course, a lot of that was Misner," Kitchen said. "As the game went on, you could tell he was really settling in. Those are the games we want. We just want to get that other run."

Misner allowed only five hits in earning the win on the mound. The left-hander never allowed the Tigers to get more than one hit in an inning. He struck out nine batters and walked three.

"I knew it was going to be a great game," Edwards said. "Cape's a great team. Coach Kitchen and his staff are awesome.

"... You're going to have a fight in any game now. Very rarely you're going to see a blowout or something like that. If you do, it's just someone's off day, and two pitchers pitching the way they were pitching today, hey, you've got to love it. It was a great high school baseball game."

Despite allowing only three hits, Morse took the loss. He finished with six strikeouts and five walks -- three intentional -- in 8 2/3 innings.

"He's phenomenal. ... With him on the mound, we feel very comfortable that he's going to compete," Kitchen said about Morse. "He's going to be level-headed. He works fast. The defense is in the game. I couldn't be more pleased with any of the seniors. They all came to play hard."

After Central dropped to 3-8 in a four-run loss to Shawnee, Illinois, on April 10, Kitchen said the team's four seniors -- J.D. Harding, Hagerty, Morse and Hayden Lynn -- organized a meeting to get the team in order. The Tigers responded by closing the season with an 11-4 record.

"We played good enough to win," Kitchen said. "We just didn't hit, and that's just the sad part."

Central 000 000 000 -- 0 5 3

Poplar Bluff 000 000 001 -- 1 3 1

WP -- Kameron Misner. LP -- Josh Morse. Multiple hits -- Central: Hayden Lynn 2-4, Ryan Tegel 2-4; Poplar Bluff: Misner 2-4.