Carthage’s Caleb Fierro had six hits, got on base all seven times he came to bat and drove in three runs as the Merchants beat Hillcrest 19-12 in Friday’s first round of the American Legion Zone III tournament.
The Merchants had to withstand two comebacks and some unsteady defense and base running to advance to play Warrensburg at noon on Saturday in the second round of the double-elimination tournament.
The Merchants scored 19 runs on 21 hits while giving up 12 runs on 18 hits in the game. Both teams had two errors each.
Brian Poston and Tad Wagner each posted four hits and three RBIs each while Dalton Cossey, Ethan Wiggin and Terrin Garber managed three hits each.
The Merchants jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first three innings only to have Hillcrest pull to within 6-3 in their half of the third inning.
Carthage scored two more runs only to have Hillcrest answer with four to finish the fourth inning with an 8-7 Merchant lead.
Following the game’s only scoreless inning in the fifth, Carthage outscored Hillcrest 2-1 in the sixth and scored nine unanswered runs to lead 19-8.
Hillcrest scored four runs in its half of the ninth, but their rally fell short.
