Most of the numbers read otherwise, but Nixa’s Colin Kelley disagreed Thursday’s blustery conditions made for a bad day to be a hitter, but a great day to be a pitcher.
There was no debating it was a terrible day for the Eagles’ COC championship hopes, as they dropped their league opener 4-2 to Branson. The loss halted Nixa's winning streak at 10 games and ended the Eagles' winning streak against the Pirates at eight.
Kelley recorded six scoreless innings, all for naught, as Nixa’s bullpen blew a save opportunity after inheriting a 2-0 lead in the seventh.
Kelley couldn’t throw past the sixth, after his pitch count reached 104.
“I got to 100 (pitches) against Kearney last week. But I went the whole game,” Kelley said. "I didn’t have my best stuff today. I didn’t attack a lot. I didn’t get ahead in counts like I normally do. But to not have my best stuff and put up six zeroes, I’m okay with that.”
Kelley pitched with a 10-15 mph wind at his back. The wind repeatedly held up and knocked down fly balls to the outfield. But Kelley wasn’t wild about the wind.
“I kind of would almost prefer it the other way, if anything,” he said. “I felt like the wind was almost pushing me down into the mound, which was (making) me leave a lot of stuff up. I couldn’t really throw my breaking ball confidently. My hanger was getting pushed straight down. It was definitely an adjustment that had to be made.”
Kelly and Branson pitcher Andrew Bristow dealt with a smallish, but consistent strike zone.
“You can’t control the umpire,” Kelley said. “It was a little tighter than normal, but that happens. (Bristow) was getting squeezed, too.”
“Colin needs to learn, if he wants to finish that game, he needs to be more competitive earlier in the game,” Nixa coach Logan Hughes said. "He was at 40-some pitches after two innings because he wasn’t competitive enough in the strike zone early. He got in deep counts and raised his pitch count up quite a bit. We had to take him out because of it.”
The Eagles scored their runs on a wild pitch in the first inning and a botched ground ball by Branson in the fifth. Rylan Michel accounted both runs after reaching on a bloop single over the pitcher’s head and a bunt single.
Nixa hitters never adjusted to the wind, combining for eight flyouts against a Pirates infield that appeared suspect.
“We didn’t execute very well at the plate,” Hughes said. “Tip your cap to Bristow. But we didn’t have a good plan against him. We hit the ball in the air too much. We’ve got so much team speed that anytime we hit it on the ground it’s a bang-bang play at first. We had six or seven infield hits (at Rogersville on Tuesday) and won 10-0. But when you hit the ball in the air, your speed is gone.”
Branson took advantage of two leadoff walks in the seventh by delivering a two-run single by Bristow and an RBI squeeze bunt by former Ozark product Gage Depee.
Hughes didn’t consider bringing in Jackson Gamble to pitch the seventh. Nixa’s ace hasn’t pitched in more than a week after losing 15 pounds while stricken with a virus.
“He’s not ready to go,” Hughes said. “We’ll probably get him an inning or two this weekend. We need to keep building his strength and stamina back up. He couldn’t keep any food down for a week. He’s probably a couple weeks away before he’s full strength.”
As for Nixa (10-5) winning its first COC championship since 2022, the Eagles likely will have to win out.
“Somebody might go undefeated. If that happens, we’re out,” Kelley said. “Me and Gamble will pitch most of the conference games, if not all of them. I feel with us on the mound and our defense and our hitting, we can win against anybody. I truly think we will (win nine straight).”
“We didn’t play well enough to win,” Hughes said. “We’re focused on learning from things that happen to us. We’ve got a mature group. We can’t worry about this because we play a really good Springdale Har-Ber team (Friday) and a really good Rock Bridge team in a double-header Saturday.”
Branson 4, Nixa 2
Branson 000 000 4 - 4 7 2
Nixa 100 010 0 - 2 7 2
WP - Bristow. LP - Vincent.
