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ALBIA — Forget a Centerville baseball cap.
Conner Lancaster might as well have been wearing a fireman's helmet on Wednesday night at Boyd Brittain Field.
Not once, but twice, the Centerville senior extinguished Albia rallies in the final three innings of a South Central Conference baseball battle between the Highway 5 rivals. After throwing out two runners at home plate from third base in the fifth inning, Lancaster closed out a 6-3 win for the Big Reds on the mound retiring the final four Albia hitters including a catch of a pop up on the infield off the bat of Bryson Reed with two runners on base to end the bottom of the sixth.
"You just have to trust yourself in those situations," Lancaster said. "When (Centerville starting pitcher) Casen (Hawkins) walked the bases loaded (in the fifth inning) that he was going to try to get them to hit the ball on the ground, so I knew a play was going to be coming. You just have to have confidence in yourself. I think any of our infielders could have made those plays."
Lancaster not only prevented Albia from putting runs on the board, but did his part at the plate to help the Big Reds extend its lead with three hits including a sixth-inning double before coming home after Rye Barnhart was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. While Centerville made the plays to keep the Blue Demons off the scoreboard, Albia struggled defensively committing three errors that allowed four unearned runs to score with three walks in the sixth inning issued by Reed allowing the Big Reds to open a 6-1 lead.
"We struggled a little bit with our pitching until we finally started to find the strike zone," Albia head baseball coach Brad DeMoss said. "By that point, we were behind."
The Blue Demons continued to battle after allowing three runs on three hits, a pair of errors and a walk in the third inning. Isaac Helm scored Albia's first run in the fourth inning on a wild pitch and loaded the bases on a pair of hits and a walk issued by Wyatt Crosser, giving the Blue Demons a chance erase Centerville's deficit.
"If one thing went badly at that point, it could have been a really different ballgame," Centerville sophomore Abram Decena said.
Decena was on high alert behind the plate as the Blue Demons took their swings at tying or taking the lead in the fifth. Reed put the first ball in play, driving a ball to Lancaster who quickly came up with a throw to Decena behind the plate forcing out Cal Patton at home. Conner McFall then hammered another hard grounder to Lancaster, who went to the ground to field the ball before throwing the ball from the ground to Decena for another force out preserving Centerville's 3-1 lead.
"When the ball is hit to the corner infielders or the pitcher, you have to be on high alert back there behind the plate," Decena said. "That was huge for momentum. It was good that we shut that down really quickly."
Centerville ended the inning by forcing out McFall at second on a ground ball hit by Helm. The Big Reds capitalized on the struggles of Reed to throw strikes in relief during the sixth inning after Strickler was lifted due to a rising pitch count despite striking out the final five Centerville batters he faced.
"The fifth inning really took the wind out of our sails," DeMoss said. "Lancaster made a good play on both of those grounders and got two outs right away. Suddenly, that was the end of that run."
Albia, however, put one more rally together in the bottom of the sixth as two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases with two outs. Drake Irwin's two-run single to center cut Centerville's lead to 6-3 and brought Reed to the plate representing the potential tying run.
That brought on Lancaster to relieve Casen Hawkins. After saving a pair of runs on defense, Lancaster ended Albia's last threat on the mound catching when Reed popped up a 2-1 pitch.
"It's always the worst feeling as a pitcher when you leave a game with runners on base," Lancaster said. "I didn't see that ball in the air at first and I don't think anyone else did. I was just running under it and finally fell under at the last second."
The Big Reds could not prevent Chariton from making a late comeback on Thursday night. Grady Smyser delivered a tiebreaking two-run double in the middle of a six-run rally for the Chargers in an 8-4 win over Centerville, keeping Chariton within two games of Knoxville for the SCC lead.
Albia, meanwhile, dropped a back-and-forth conference clash with Clarke on Thursday. The Indians scored in the sixth inning on a wild pitch and the fifth Blue Demon error of the game, leading Clarke to a 9-7 win.
Centerville (15-10, 11-7 SCC) hosts Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont in a conference doubleheader on Monday just four days before the two teams face off on Friday to open Class 2A district tournament play in Chariton on Friday. Albia (11-15, 8-10 SCC) heads to Knoxville on Monday for a doubleheader attempting to prevent the Panthers from clinching the conference title.
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Conner Lancaster might as well have been wearing a fireman's helmet on Wednesday night at Boyd Brittain Field.
Not once, but twice, the Centerville senior extinguished Albia rallies in the final three innings of a South Central Conference baseball battle between the Highway 5 rivals. After throwing out two runners at home plate from third base in the fifth inning, Lancaster closed out a 6-3 win for the Big Reds on the mound retiring the final four Albia hitters including a catch of a pop up on the infield off the bat of Bryson Reed with two runners on base to end the bottom of the sixth.
"You just have to trust yourself in those situations," Lancaster said. "When (Centerville starting pitcher) Casen (Hawkins) walked the bases loaded (in the fifth inning) that he was going to try to get them to hit the ball on the ground, so I knew a play was going to be coming. You just have to have confidence in yourself. I think any of our infielders could have made those plays."
Lancaster not only prevented Albia from putting runs on the board, but did his part at the plate to help the Big Reds extend its lead with three hits including a sixth-inning double before coming home after Rye Barnhart was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. While Centerville made the plays to keep the Blue Demons off the scoreboard, Albia struggled defensively committing three errors that allowed four unearned runs to score with three walks in the sixth inning issued by Reed allowing the Big Reds to open a 6-1 lead.
"We struggled a little bit with our pitching until we finally started to find the strike zone," Albia head baseball coach Brad DeMoss said. "By that point, we were behind."
The Blue Demons continued to battle after allowing three runs on three hits, a pair of errors and a walk in the third inning. Isaac Helm scored Albia's first run in the fourth inning on a wild pitch and loaded the bases on a pair of hits and a walk issued by Wyatt Crosser, giving the Blue Demons a chance erase Centerville's deficit.
"If one thing went badly at that point, it could have been a really different ballgame," Centerville sophomore Abram Decena said.
Decena was on high alert behind the plate as the Blue Demons took their swings at tying or taking the lead in the fifth. Reed put the first ball in play, driving a ball to Lancaster who quickly came up with a throw to Decena behind the plate forcing out Cal Patton at home. Conner McFall then hammered another hard grounder to Lancaster, who went to the ground to field the ball before throwing the ball from the ground to Decena for another force out preserving Centerville's 3-1 lead.
"When the ball is hit to the corner infielders or the pitcher, you have to be on high alert back there behind the plate," Decena said. "That was huge for momentum. It was good that we shut that down really quickly."
Centerville ended the inning by forcing out McFall at second on a ground ball hit by Helm. The Big Reds capitalized on the struggles of Reed to throw strikes in relief during the sixth inning after Strickler was lifted due to a rising pitch count despite striking out the final five Centerville batters he faced.
"The fifth inning really took the wind out of our sails," DeMoss said. "Lancaster made a good play on both of those grounders and got two outs right away. Suddenly, that was the end of that run."
Albia, however, put one more rally together in the bottom of the sixth as two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases with two outs. Drake Irwin's two-run single to center cut Centerville's lead to 6-3 and brought Reed to the plate representing the potential tying run.
That brought on Lancaster to relieve Casen Hawkins. After saving a pair of runs on defense, Lancaster ended Albia's last threat on the mound catching when Reed popped up a 2-1 pitch.
"It's always the worst feeling as a pitcher when you leave a game with runners on base," Lancaster said. "I didn't see that ball in the air at first and I don't think anyone else did. I was just running under it and finally fell under at the last second."
The Big Reds could not prevent Chariton from making a late comeback on Thursday night. Grady Smyser delivered a tiebreaking two-run double in the middle of a six-run rally for the Chargers in an 8-4 win over Centerville, keeping Chariton within two games of Knoxville for the SCC lead.
Albia, meanwhile, dropped a back-and-forth conference clash with Clarke on Thursday. The Indians scored in the sixth inning on a wild pitch and the fifth Blue Demon error of the game, leading Clarke to a 9-7 win.
Centerville (15-10, 11-7 SCC) hosts Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont in a conference doubleheader on Monday just four days before the two teams face off on Friday to open Class 2A district tournament play in Chariton on Friday. Albia (11-15, 8-10 SCC) heads to Knoxville on Monday for a doubleheader attempting to prevent the Panthers from clinching the conference title.
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