Eagles rally late but fall to Jaguars in loss that felt "like a win"

by Bill Althaus, Grain Valley News

Longtime Grain Valley High School baseball coach Brian Driskell hates to lose, more than he enjoys winning.

But Driskell said he could accept the final score in Monday's 6-5 loss at Blue Springs South because of the grit and determination his team showed late in the game.

South was cruising with a 5-0 lead after Jaguars starter Ashton Nance faced just 12 batters in the first four innings.

"They had that 5-0 lead and a lot of teams would just have folded their tent, but not our guys," said Driskell, whose Eagles scored a solo run in the fifth and four more runs in the sixth.

Wyatt Denney's RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning proved to be the game winner as Nance threw a complete game, with seven strikeouts, including the final two batters he faced in the top of the seventh.

"This feels like a win, and I'm not taking anything away from Ben's kids, they did a great job to get the win," Driskell said, after the Eagles fell to 6-6-1. "We've had a lot of tumult this season, we've faced some challenges, and we don't have the bullets in the gun that we had last season.

"I'm not making an excuse, I'm just speaking the truth. They got the big lead and we fought back to our last out."

Barr was struck by a pitch to open the seventh and was sacrificed to second base by Hunter Nally before Nance struck out the final two batters he faced.

"I could have done a better job out on the mound," said Barr, who threw three-plus innings, allowing four runs and four hits. "You love to play in a game like this. And we really wanted to win, but we fought back and made the game close and had the tying run on second in the seventh inning.

"If we'd have tied the game, who knows. But you have to give their pitcher credit. He was working hard on the mound - you could tell how much he wanted this win."

South's Mason Stover, Grayden Seuferling and Bennett Collins drove in three runs in the third inning. The Jaguars added two more runs in the fourth on Denney's first RBI single and a Cooper Callahan RBI single.

Grain Valley's Max Snyder put the Eagles on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth with an RBI single. Grain Valley then scored four runs in the sixth with Brady Meyer and John Malicoat driving in runs.

"I talked to Ashton before he went out to pitch the seventh inning," Jaguars coach Ben Baier said, after his team improved to 8-2. "I could tell how much he wanted to finish the game, his pitch count was low, so I handed him the ball, and he went out and took care of business."

Long after the Jaguars had raked the mound and cleaned their home field, Nance was still pumped.

"Grain Valley teams are always fun to play against because they give it all they have, every inning," Nance said. "We had that 5-0 lead, but I didn't feel safe. They scored that run in the fifth and then four more in the sixth and I knew I have to bear down. I was really happy that Coach had enough faith in me to send me out in the top of the seventh.

"Those last two strikeouts felt so good. That was as good as I've felt (pitching) this season."

​Grain Valley pitcher Aaron Barr shares a motivational moment with Eagles baseball coach Brian Driskell following a gritty 6-5 loss at Blue Springs South Monday afternoon. The Eagles staged a late rally that pleased the veteran coach who said, "This feels like a win." Photo credit: Bill Althaus
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