The Nixa baseball team competed in the Red and Blue Classic Tournament April 1-3, 2021, hosted by Springfield Public Schools.

The Eagles played four games in three days and came away undefeated, notching victories against Hillcrest, Sedalia Smith-Cotton, Rolla and Parkview.

Nixa vs Hillcrest Recap

Nixa kicked-off the tournament against Hillcrest and cruised to a 10-2 victory over the Hornets.

Walks and stolen bases by Alek Johnson and Jaret Nelson, who eventually scored runs, started off the scoring for the Eagles in their half of the first inning and jumped out to a 2-0 lead. 

Hillcrest was unable to get a run across until the final inning. 

In the second inning, Keith Peipmeier was hit by a pitch with one out and advanced to second on a single by Sam Russo. With two outs, Nelson ripped a line drive single to left and scored Peipemeier and Russo, extending the Nixa lead to 4-0.

Nixa plated one more run in their half of the third. With two outs, Rylan Michel singled to left and eventually scored by way of two Hillcrest errors.

In the top of the fourth, Russo kicked-off the inning with a lead-off triple to left and then Nelson smoked a two-run homer to left, upping the Eagles lead to 7-0. John Gholson followed Nelson with a one out double to left and Ryan Retone walked after Gholson, giving Nixa two runners at first and third with two outs. Gholson and Retone both scored via stolen bases and Nixa led Hillcrest 9-0 after four.  

Nixa was held scoreless in the next two innings.

Jerris Thorton scored the final run for Nixa in the game in the top seventh. Thornton doubled to center and eventually scored from an RBI single by Russo.

In their half of the inning, Hillcrest walked their first two batters. With two outs, Braxton Baker drove in the runners with a double and that would be the only scoring for Hillcrest.

Four different pitchers saw action on the mound for the Eagles, and starting pitcher Hardy Dougan got the win. Dougan pitched two and a thirds hittless and scoreless innings while striking out five and walking two. Rylan Evans, Evan Johnston and Cooper Duncan relieved Dougan.

Nelson finished the game 3-3 with a home run and four RBIs.

Nixa 10, Hillcrest 2

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Nixa	2	2	1	4	0	0	1	10	10	0
Hillcrest	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	3

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Nixa vs Sedalia Smith-Cotton Recap

Nixa faced Sedalia Smith-Cotton in game two of the Red and Blue Classic, and Nixa's starting pitcher Keith Peipemeier was unhittable, blanking Smith-Cotton in a victory 5-0.

Peipmeier pitched a complete game no-hitter while striking out eight in the process and walked two batters.

It was a scoreless game up until the bottom of the fifth when Nixa got a two-out rally at the plate. Alek Johnson started the rally with a triple to right and scored Ryan Retone, who walked earlier in the inning. 

With Sam Russo at the plate, Johnson scored on a wild pitch by Smith-Cotton and pushed the lead to 2-0. Russo advanced to second on a bunt single by Jerris Thornton. Russo then scored on an error by Smith-Cotton while Jaret Nelson drew a walk. 

John Gholson capped off the scoring in the game with a two-run single to left, scoring Thornton and Nelson and extending the lead to 5-0.

Blake Pendergrass, Gholson, Johnson and Thornton all had one hit in the game.

Smith-Cotton 0, Nixa 5

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Smt-Cotton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Nixa	0	0	0	0	5	0	X	5	4	3

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Nixa vs Rolla Recap

A seven-run second inning propelled Nixa to their third victory over Rolla in the Red and Blue Classic 12-1.

Sam Russo drew a walk to start the Eagles half of the inning at the plate. Jaret Nelson drove in Russo with a line drive double to left. Then Blake Pendergrass singled on a fly ball and scored Nelson.

Nixa took a 2-0 lead heading into the second.

In the second, Nixa bats were firing and laid a seven spot in the inning. Rylan Michel kicked off the inning reaching base by a Rolla error. Keith Piepmier and Alek Johnson both reached base on a bunt single and it was bases loaded with no outs.

Russo ripped a ground ball single to right which scored Michel and Piepmeier, extending the Nixa lead to 4-0. 

Jerris Thorton was the next batter and he was hit-by-pitch. Jaret Nelson doubled to left and drove in Johnson and Russo, tacking on two more runs to the Nixa lead at 6-0.

John Gholson singled to right and scored Thornton. Then Blake Pendergrass grounded out to short but scored Nelson. 

Ryan Retone drew a walk. Nixa got their final run in the inning when Michel grounded out to second and scored Gholson.

Nixa led 9-0 entering the third.

In the bottom of the third with one out, Russo reached base by a Rolla error. Thornton and Nelson both singled to follow Russo and the bases were loaded. Gholson walked and Russo then scored. 

Pendergrass lined into a fielder's choice but it also scored Thornton and Nelson. That would be the final scoring in the game for Nixa as the Eagles led 12-0 at the end of three.

Rolla got their lone run in the game in the next half inning. Rolla drew two walks and then singled to load the bases. Rolla grounded into a fielder's choice to score their run but Nixa still led 12-1.

The ten-run rule would go into effect and conclude after five and Nixa took the game 12-1.

Nixa pounded out ten hits in the game, led by Nelson's 3 hit and 3 RBI game. Pendergrass got one hit and 4 RBI.

Starting pitcher Hardy Dougan got the win. Dougan pitched five innings, surrendering two hits, five walks and one run, while striking out five.

Rolla 1, Nixa 12

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Rolla	0	0	0	1	0	X	X	1	2	3
Nixa	2	7	3	0	X	X	X	12	10	3

 

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Nixa vs Parkview Recap

Nixa and Parkview faced off to close out the Red and Blue Classic.

Jaret Nelson's bat was red hot and drove in half of the Eagles runs on the day and hit for the cycle in a 14-4 pounding over Parkview.

Nixa plated three runs in the first, three in the second and four in the third to jump out to a 10-0 lead. 

Nelson started the scoring with a two-run double to left that scored Reese Dirnberger and Jeris Thornton. Nelson eventually scored in the inning as well. 

Nixa drew two walks and a single to start the second and that brought up Nelson. Nelson drove in all three runners with a fly ball triple to right, pushing the Nixa lead to 6-0.

Rylan Michel singled to start the third. Tanner Grant scored Michel with a ground ball and an error by Parkview. Thornton then drove in Grant with a double to left.

The bat of Nelson struck again. Nelson homered to left and extended Nixa's lead to 10-0. 

Nixa got two more runs in the top of the fifth when Ryan Buckner singled with one out and then Jackson Lock drove in Buckner with a single to left and two outs. Lock scored on a double by pinch-hitter Jack Edwards.

Nixa led 12-0 heading into the next half inning.

With the ten-run rule in effect, Parkview showed signs of life to extend the game to the full seven innings and did. Parkview scored four in the bottom of the fifth to trim Nixa's lead to 12-4. That would be the only scoring for Parkview as Nixa blanked the Vikings the next two innings.

In the top of the seventh, Nixa loaded the bases with two outs and Ryan Retone singled to center, scoring Michel. Nixa got their final run of the game when Grant doubled to right which drove in courtesy runner Cooper Duncan and Nixa led 14-4.

Parkview was shut down 1-2-3 in their half of the inning and Nixa defeated Parkview 14-4.

Sam Russo, Parker Bridgers and Blake Pendergras all saw time on the bump. Russo got the win. 

Nixa scattered 14 hits on the day, four of which came from the bat Nelson. Eight different Eagles also pounded out a hit apiece. 

Nixa 14, Parkview 4

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Nixa	3	3	4	0	2	0	2	14	14	1
Hillcrest	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	4	5	2

Nixa moves to 8-1 on the year after the Red and Blue Classic.