BASEBALL: West Prairie gets past Elverado
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Four errors in the top of the fourth inning cost Elverado in their 14-6 home loss to West Prairie on Friday, as the Falcons defense couldn't reward a strong pitching effort from Eli Fennell.
The six-run fourth for West Prairie put them on top 7-1, but the Falcons fought back in the bottom of the inning to keep the game within reach.
Dakota Bayles led off the inning with a walk, then after Fennell struck out, Wesley Ramsey and Jake Lipe both drew free passes that loaded the bases for Matt Miller.
After a pitching change, Miller connected on a liner to right that the West Prairie left fielder snagged with a diving grab for the second out, but Troy Stewart and Brian McClanahan both picked up RBI's on bases on balls to make it 7-3.
Christian Kistner followed with a 2-RBI single and Elverado trailed 7-5 through four innings of play.
West Prairie would pick up five more runs in the seventh, however, and the Falcons' offense sputtered in the bottom of the final inning.
Kistner was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, also drawing a walk, while stealing a base and driving in a pair of runs. Bayles and Collin Hester also collected hits for Elverado.
Bayles scored a pair of runs, Stewart, McClanahan, Ramsey and Lipe had the others.
Fennell pitched well despite the mistakes around him and got through four before Stewart took over until the seventh. Miller and Kistner closed out the game for EHS.
<u>Johnston City shuts out Falcons</u>
On Thursday, Elverado was shut out 10-0 in five innings by Johnston City at Dowell.
Hester had the Falcons' only hit in the fourth after EHS wasted a bases-loaded no-outs situation in the top of the first.
McClanahan (3 ip, 6 r, 6 k) and Lipe (2 ip, 4 r) shared the pitching duties for Elverado.