In what was their final appearance as Booneville Bearcats at the Billy Kiersey Baseball/Softball Complex, seniors Matt O’Bar and Dax Goff walked off, or rather bunted off Perryville Monday.
With the game tied at 7-7 and Goff at third base with one down, O’Bar put down a bunt the pitcher fielded, looked at Goff, then threw to first for the second out.
Goff made it a sacrifice and an RBI when he broke for home on the throw, sliding around a tag for the winning run (shown).
It is the third time in eight days, and the fourth time this season, the Bearcats have scored the decisive run in their final at bat.
When the seventh inning began Monday the Bearcat trailed 7-5. Rhett Nietert (2-for-3) singled to right on the first pitch from the third Mustang pitcher.
Dylan Todd (2-for-4) followed with a single to left on the next pitch, ushering in a pitching change – the teams combined to use eight pitchers in a final regular season game before their respective regional tournaments.
A wild pitch moved the tying runners into scoring position but was a non-factor as Dax Goff drew a walk to fill the bases.
With Ry Ray at the plate a passed ball moved all runners up a base with Nietert scoring to make it 7-6.
After Ray was retired Jace Washburn put a bunt down up the third base line and ended up with a base hit when nobody covered first while Todd was scoring.
That brought up O’Bar, who put down the bunt that won it on the first pitch he saw.
It was the only time in the game the Bearcats had the lead.
Perryville led 2-0 despite a double play to clear the bases with two down in the third. A pair of walks would touch home on consecutive singles.
The Bearcats drew even, also with two outs. Todd singled in front of Goff’s seventh home run and it was 2-2 through three innings.
Perryville had one hit in the fourth inning but scored five times. There were two hit batters, two walks and a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2. An error scored two and a single added another to make it 7-2.
The Bearcats got three of the runs back in the home half of the fifth. There were two down and two aboard for Ray, the other Bearcat senior. Ray doubled to center and a two-error play by the Mustangs gifted the Bearcats another run to make it 7-5.
Through five innings the Bearcats had used Todd, who started it with two scoreless innings, O’Bar, and Nietert on the mound.
Up next was Washburn (5-0). He was masterful, throwing only 21 pitches over two innings and retiring all six hitters he faced, including two strikeouts in the seventh.
The win is the 16th straight for the Bearcats, after an 0-5 start.
The Bearcats now turn their attention to the Class 3A Region 1 tournament hosted by Valley Springs at Harrison Parks and Recreation. The opening round opponent for the Conference 3A-4 regular season and district tournament champion is the fourth seeded Lincoln Wolves at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
