Dodgers win weekend tourney, sweep Squirrels

Staff photo by Mike Buhler
Dunklin County's Logan Edwards delivers a pitch against Jonesboro, Ark. Saturday at the Dr. Pepper Classic in Paragould, Ark. Dunklin County won the tournament.

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After a recent slump, Post 303 has ran off six wins in a row, including winning the Dr. Pepper Classic in Paragould, Ark. over the weekend and sweeping the Charleston Fighting Squirrels Monday night at Senath.

"We're playing pretty good baseball right now," Dunklin County coach Jamie Johnson said. "I still don't think we're playing our best baseball -- but I think we're starting to turn the corner a little bit. We're starting to play pretty well."

The Dodgers are hitting well, that's for sure. Since the start of July, Dunklin County (25-6) has scored 57 runs in five games, including Monday's 10-0 and 12-2 wins over the Fighting Squirrels.

In the opener Monday, Joe Campbell led the way on the hill by tossing a four-hit shutout, racking up five strikeouts in the win.

When Campbell wasn't on the mound, Post 303 was giving him plenty of support, pounding out 12 hits as every batter in the lineup had at least one hit.

Parker Watkins was 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs, while Austin Jackson was also 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Jonathan Boone was 2-for-3 and drove in a run as DC's 5-6-7 hitters ended up 6-for-9.

In a 12-2 nightcap win, the Dodgers racked up 11 hits, five of them doubles. Jackson was 2-for-3 with a homer and a triple to lead the way.

Aaron Booker started and earned the win by tossing four innings, while Cale Weeks finished up.

"We're starting to swing the bats," said Johnson. "We've seen good pitching of late from some quality teams and we're just seeing the baseball well right now. The kids are making good decisions."

Monday's doubleheader sweep comes on the heels of Post 303 winning the Dr. Pepper Classic over the weekend.

"It's a good tournament with a lot of good teams in it and good competition," Johnson said. "We beat three quality ballclubs to win it. We're pretty proud of (winning the tournament)."

Dunklin got started at Paragould by downing West Memphis 12-4 on Friday. Trey Bazzell led the Dodgers by striking out eight in a complete-game win on the hill and also went 3-for-3 on offense.

Campbell was 2-for-4 at the dish, while Boone homered as every batter in the lineup had at least one base hit.

"We got hitting up and down the lineup that night," said Johnson. "Everybody had at least one hit and we rang out five doubles that night. We're getting good production up and down the lineup."

Post 303 kept rolling in the semifinals on Saturday, scoring seven runs in the top of the first inning to take a 13-9 win over the Jonesboro Ricemen.

"We came out swinging the bats well that night," Johnson said.

Kaleb Canoy capped off the top of the first with his first homer of the season, while Boone added a 5-for-5 night at the dish.

Weeks was 2-for-5 with three RBIs and a pair of doubles, while Jackson finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two doubles

Overall, the 6-7-8 hitters had nine RBIs, and the 5-6-7-8 batters drove in 11 of DC's 13 runs.

Logan Edwards got the win on the hill.

The Dodgers then capped their weekend run with a 10-3 win over host Paragould 7Up in the finals on Sunday evening.

Aaron McCaig struck out eight and allowed one earned run as he went the distance for the victory on the mound.

"We gave Aaron a little bit of rest," said Johnson. "We shut him down for a week and he looked as good Sunday as he's looked all summer."

Boone continued his recent hot streak by going 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Canoy was also 3-for-4 and the duo of Watkins and Bazzell each were 2-for-5 as Post 303 connected for 16 hits with six doubles.

Dunklin County erased a 1-0 deficit by scoring seven runs in the third inning, doubling six straight times to break the game open.

The Dodgers are back in action tonight when they host Cape Girardeau in a key District XIV doubleheader, as tonight's winner could end up with the top seed in next week's district tourney.

"Cape's a good ballclub," said Johnson. "They have some good players. I'm hoping it'll be a good ballgame. We'll just see how we come out. It's a big ballgame (for us) but it's a big ballgame for them too."