Are You Not Entertained?!! Carthage’s Cooper Lilienkamp Walks it Off in the 7th to Defeat Carl Junction
JOPLIN, MO — Playing at a neutral site at Warren Turner Field, there was nothing neutral about this rivalry game between COC opponents Carthage & Carl Junction.
Carthage’s Cooper Lilienkamp stepped up in the bottom of the 7th and delivered a two-out 2-RBI single to walk it off to give the Tigers the win, 4-3.
Carthage improved to 9-7 on the year. Carl Junction falls to 11-6 on the season.
Game Recap — Carthage 4, Carl Junction 3…
The game was scoreless through two innings of play until in the top of the 3rd when Brayden Larery hit a RBI-double to left field and after an error, two runners scored and the Bulldogs led 2-0.
In that same inning, Wyatt McAfee hit a Sac-Fly to score another run to make it 3-0.
Carl Junction held the Bulldogs scoreless for 4 innings until in the bottom of the 5th, Carthage’s Ethan Stark singled to score a run to make it a 3-1 ballgame.
Both teams went scoreless in the 6th, and Carthage’s defense did their job in the top of the 7th.
In the bottom of the 7th, with two outs, Blayne Lilienkamp delivered a RBI-single to bring home Brayden Tate and it was now a one-run game at 3-2.
Following him, Cooper Lilienkamp stepped up and ripped a hit to left field which allowed Landon West & Cooper Jackson to score to secure the walk-off.
Landon Bland started on the mound for the Tigers and pitched a great outing going; 6.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 0 ER and struck out 9 batters.
Brady Carlton earned the win after coming in relief going; 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, one strikeout.
Although the loss was credited to him, Brody Pant still pitched a really solid game striking out 8 batters in 6.2 innings of work.
What’s Next?
The Tigers will travel to Branson (10-7) on Friday for a COC matchup. They will return home for two games against East Newton and Fair Grove. Both games will be played at Joe Becker Stadium.
Carl Junction will return home tomorrow for a matchup with Aurora (6-5).
