Evan Farris (above) keeps his eye on the ball for the Mid-Missouri Mavericks in earlier action against Newburg at Memorial Field. Farris will be a senior this fall for Bourbon’s Warhawks.

Two wins later, the Mavericks took third place in the final tournament of their month-long season.

They opened the tournament last Friday against Houston in pool play.

Houston dominated from the opening pitch of the game. Scoring twice in the third and once in the fifth, that was all the offense Houston needed in a 3-0 victory over the Mavericks.

Pitching was the story as Houston tossed a perfect game with 10 strikeouts while Micah Tate (Cuba) took the tough loss with five strikeouts.

Fordland

A little over 24 hours later, the Mavericks returned to the field against Fordland to open the second day of the tournament on Saturday.

It was a much better result for Kevin Lay’s Mavericks as they defeated Fordland by a 9-2 final to take second place in their pool.

First-inning action saw the Mavericks jump out to a quick lead.

Dakota DeBroeck led the game off with a double as Kyle Bauer followed with a walk. DeBroeck scored on a wild pitch and Gabe Hollander continued the strong start for the Mavericks with a RBI single to score Bauer.

Evan Farris (Bourbon) delivered a two-out RBI single scoring Hollander. The current Warhawk later scored on a error by the Fordland shortstop after an Alex Missey single. The big blow of the inning came off the bat of Chad Hopkins. Hopkins drilled a two-run home run over the left-center field fence to give the Mavericks a 6-0 lead after sending 11 men to the plate.

Cody Spurgeon (Cuba) reached on an error and scored in the top of the second to bump the Maverick lead to 7-0 through two innings as starter Tyler Ahring continued to hold Fordland scoreless.

Inning number three saw Hopkins inflict more damage to Fordland. He singled and later scored on a RBI double by DeBroeck to extend their lead to 8-0.

Fordland got on the board in the bottom of the third with a run on a hit and a walk. This cut the Maverick lead to 8-1 after three innings.

With a quick answer, the Mavericks got that run back in the top of the fourth. Ahring helped his own cause by walking and scoring on a passed ball to bump their lead back up to 9-1.

Two hits led to another Fordland run in the bottom of the fifth. It was enough as the Mavericks evened their record to 1-1 in pool play with a 9-2 victory.

Ahring went the distance for the win allowing just two runs with two walks and four strikeouts.

West Plains

To open the final day of the tournament Sunday, the Mavericks faced the host team from West Plains. They won the other pool in the tournament.

A three-run sixth inning helped West Plains advance to the championship game with a 5-3 victory over the Mavericks.

West Plains drew first blood in the game with a run on a hit and a walk for a 1-0 lead.

Answering in the bottom of the second, the Mavericks pushed three runs across the plate on three hits and an error. Kris Havelka singled and scored to tie the game and Bryan Landwehr also reached on an error and scored to give Mid-Missouri a 2-1 lead. Joel Littrell added another Maverick tally when he also singled and scored for a 3-1 lead.

West Plains got a run back in the third inning on two hits to narrow the Maverick lead to 3-2.

Taking the lead back for good, the host team cashed in two hits and two walks for three runs in the sixth inning and a 5-3 lead after six.

Despite two walks and a single in the top of the seventh, the Mavericks were unable to score and settled for a date in the third-place game against Houston later that afternoon.

Houston (3rd place game)

In the final game of the tournament, Mid-Missouri’s Mavericks faced Houston for the second time in the tournament with third place on the line.

Wasting no time getting on the scoreboard, the Mavericks pounded out four runs on six hits in the top of the first inning.

Littrell began the scoring spree singling and stealing his way to third base before scoring on a passed ball. Kyle Bauer and Hollander also both singled and scored to increase the Maverick lead to 3-0. Landwehr completed the scoring by singling and crossing the plate to give them their fourth run.

On the mound for the Mavericks, Landwehr shut out Houston over the first three innings.

Adding to their lead in the top of the second, DeBroeck and Littrell both singled and scored to bump their lead to 6-0.

Third-inning action saw Spurgeon double and score to give the Mavericks a 7-0 lead.

Houston got on the board in the bottom of the third with a run on three hits to cut Mid-Missouri’s lead to 7-1.

With a quick answer, the Mavericks got that run back as Littrell crossed the plate for the third time in the game. He singled and scored to increase the Maverick lead to 8-1.

That was all the run support Landwehr would need as the Mavericks took third place in the tournament with an 8-1 victory.

Allowing just one run on seven hits and a walk, Landwehr went the distance for the Maverick win.