Jackson baseball defeats Perryville 11-4 in final regular-season game for both teams

By the time the rain had cleared on Thursday afternoon, the Jackson baseball team was ready to take the field.

The Indians combined for 14 hits and received a strong combined effort on the mound, defeating Perryville 11-4 in both teams' regular-season finale at Jackson Stadium.

District play begins Saturday across the state, and Jackson coach Bryan Austin was elated for his players to get in one final game before the stakes are raised.

"We knew we wanted to get a baseball game in," Jackson coach Bryan Austin said. "We've got to play close to the district tournament. I'd rather do that than not play, and we needed the at-bats. I thought we swung it really well today and barreled up the baseball."

Jarrett Newell finished 4-for-4 to lead the Indians at the plate, including a leadoff infield single that got things going for Jackson (18-12) in the bottom of the third.

Jackson's Justice Crosnoe slides safely into third base as Perryville's Kwaid Fears fields a throw during the sixth inning.

Colten Weber followed with a double down the left-field line before Ryan Mize was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A sacrifice fly by Braeden Dobbs, an RBI double by Gavon Turner and a two-run single by Brayden Emmons gave the Indians a 5-1 lead, one they never relinquished.

"This is our goal at the beginning of the year, to play great baseball come May," Austin said. "We feel like we're playing great baseball right now. We played great defense again today. The bats are alive, so this builds confidence going into the weekend."

Emmons pitched 4 2/3 innings and picked up the win on the mound for the Indians. He allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits with two strikeouts and no walks. Dobbs relieved Emmons for 1 1/3 innings before Lane Prince pitched a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts.

"Dobbs came in -- he was going to be a pitch-count guy where we didn't really want to go over 15 pitches because he'll throw out of the bullpen for us in the district tournament," Austin said. "He got to around that mark, so we brought in Lane Prince, who's a sophomore. He's had a little bit of mound time for us but not much, but he came in and competed right away. So it was great to see that."

Perryville (12-11-1) used a different pitcher in each inning, as Kameron Fears was tagged with the loss. Fears allowed four runs (all earned) on four hits with two strikeouts and one walk in the third inning. Wyatt Johnson got the start for the Pirates while Derek Roberts, Garrett Dix, Trent Richardet and Blake Favier also got an inning of relief apiece.

Jackson's Brayden Emmons makes the throw to first base for an out against Perryville in the sixth inning Thursday, May 12, 2016 in Jackson.Glenn Landberg

"We were looking basically to Saturday, just throwing everybody and giving them a chance on the mound," Perryville coach Jeff Steffens said. "... We were looking to throw a lot of strikes today. Unfortunately we just didn't throw enough in the right location."

After Dobbs and Turner each drove in a run to extend Jackson's lead to 7-1 in the bottom of the fourth, the Pirates put some pressure on the Indians in the top of the fifth.

Roberts led off with a double to center before reaching home on a pair of groundouts. Aaron Mueller followed with a two-out double and scored on a single by Trent Steffens, who moved into scoring position after the center fielder missed his cut-off. Dix kept the rally alive when he reached on an error at third, and Fears trimmed Perryville's deficit to 7-4 with an RBI single, prompting Austin to replace Emmons on the mound with Dobbs.

A two-run double by Newell and an error led to three runs for the Indians in the bottom of the fifth, and Emmons capped the scoring when he plated Thele, who reached on a one-out double, in the bottom of the sixth.

Seven of Jackson's 14 hits were doubles, as Newell, Weber, Dobbs, Turner and Thele each finished with multiple hits.

"It was tough at times because they were running different pitchers in and out," Austin said. "That's a very tough approach for our hitters to see a different arm every single time, so I thought we did a really good job there."

Trent Steffens led Perryville's offense with two RBIs on two hits, including a two-out single that tied the game at 1-all in the top of the sixth.

"We played some kids today in some positions they haven't really played before just to see what they can do in case," Jeff Steffens said. "When you get to the next game in districts, you never really know what to expect."

The fourth-seeded Pirates take on No. 5 Dexter to begin the Class 4 District 1 tournament at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Notre Dame. The winner will move on to face the defending state champion Bulldogs in a semifinal.

Jeff Steffens likes his young team's chances and said his players have shown tremendous growth throughout the year.

"Looking at the top four or five seeds, if you catch somebody on a good or bad day, anybody can win the district," Jeff Steffens said. "You've got to be ready to play every day and do the simple things and the small things, just basically pitch and play good defense."

The Indians enter the Class 5 District 1 tournament as the No. 3 seed and will take on sixth-seeded Farmington in the first round at 1 p.m. Saturday at VFW Memorial Field in Sikeston.

"I don't really think any of the seeds matter," Austin said. "Everybody in the tournament has great arms on the mound. We'll see that in the first round of the tournament from every single team, and I really think that any team in the tournament can win it.

"It's not always the best team that wins. It's about the team that plays the best that day, so that's our mindset right now."

Jackson was seeded third last season when they upset top-seeded Poplar Bluff 2-1 in the district championship. The Mules are seeded first again this year, and Austin said it feels similar to a year ago.

"They're hungry right now. They're tuned in," Austin said. "They know what we have to do to be successful, and that's what you love to see. They're up in the dugout no matter the score. They want to win baseball games, and it's a very similar feel to last year."

Perryville 001 030 0 -- 4 6 1

Jackson 104 231 x -- 11 14 1

WP -- Brayden Emmons. LP -- Kameron Fears. 2B -- Derek Roberts (P), Aaron Mueller (P), Jarrett Newell (J), Colten Weber (J), Braeden Dobbs 2 (J), Gavon Turner (J), Tristan Thele 2 (J). Multiple hits -- Perryville: Trent Steffens 2-4; Jackson: Newell 4-4, Weber 2-3, Dobbs 2-3, Turner 2-4, Thele 2-4.