Ozark’s George Reynolds and Cooper Pumphrey thoroughly enjoyed playing a rare night game while helping the Tigers collect a 2-1 victory versus Class 6 No. 8-ranked Columbia Rock Bridge on Friday.
With the Bruins bussing to the Ozarks for a four-game weekend swing and having played Springfield Catholic in the afternoon, Ozark and Rock Bridge got started at 7:45 p.m.
It was a treat for 9-to-5 workers who usually miss the first couple innings of 4:30 p.m. starts and the players were delighted to play under the nights.
“I liked it,” said Reynolds, who delivered an RBI double. “I used to play football and I liked standing on the sidelines and seeing the Friday Night Lights. This is just like it. I like playing under the lights better than sunlight. There’s more adrenaline under the lights.”
"Getting to play here in front of my family and friends and playing under the lights was special,” said Pumphrey, who was the winning pitcher while making his home debut. “There’s nothing more romantic about baseball than playing under the lights and getting a win. It was something else.”
Thanks largely to Pumphrey, it didn’t prove to be too late of a night. The game took a modest two hours to compete.
Pumphrey posted his first victory, after a no-decision at Kickapoo and a 1-0 loss to Benton in his first two starts. He turned in a masterful 93-pitch, six-inning performance.
The right-handed junior overwhelmed Rock Bridge hitters with a blazing fast ball at the top of the strike zone.
“I was pretty amped up,” Pumphrey said. “When I was in the bullpen, I was trying to feel loose. My saying is, 'Loose and dangerous.' Then, when I get on the mound, the adrenaline kicks in.”
All the while, Pumphrey felt locked in, with all his concentration on catcher Gannon Miller’s mitt.
“In the movie, "For The Love Of The Game," (Kevin Costner’s character) says, 'Clear the Mechanism.' That's what it is like for me on the mound,” Pumphrey said. “You don't hear anything going on. It's just you and the catcher.”
Pumphrey maintained his focus after a couple errors behind him helped Rock Bridge get on the scoreboard in the fourth inning.
“The thing I was more impressed with than anything was him getting out of that jam,” coach Justin Sundlie said. “As good as Rock Bridge is at the small-ball game, he kept his head and was able to throw strikes. That was the best part about his outing to me. He's a mature kid. He wants to learn in those moments.”
“If I throw a bad pitch or there is an error, I take a deep breath and remember it's a game,” Pumphrey said. “The biggest thing for me is to get wins. I don't care how we get there. It may be pretty, it may be ugly. As long as we get there, that's all that matters.”
Without Rock Bridge (10-4) getting extra outs in the fourth, Pumphrey may have gone the distance.
“I’m gaining endurance to go longer in games,” he said. “If I eliminate the walks, I'm able to pitch a complete game. In a perfect world, I'd like to keep it at 90 pitches over seven innings.”
MSHSAA’s max pitch count for juniors and seniors is 105, but with Pumphrey at 93 after six innings Sundlie had Alex Nimmo pitch the seventh. Nimmo gained the save in shut-down fashion, striking out two.
“He did a good job coming in and attacking right away,” Sundlie said.
Ozark scored both of its runs in the first. Peyton Bullinger was hit by a pitch, Reynolds drove him in with a double and Miller scored Reynolds with a single. Both RBI hits by Reynolds and Miller came with two outs.
The Tigers (6-5) traveled to Jackson today for games against Class 6 No. 1 Ft. Zumwalt West (12-2) and Jackson (9-2).
