Cooter ends Bernie's season

Jerry Jarrell photo - Bernie pitcher Quinton Stevens turns and throws to first on a pick-off attempt during Tuesday's sectional playoff game at Cooter against the host Wildcats. Cooter took the game, 7-0.

COOTER -- Parker Watkins went 4-for-4 at the plate with a home run and Aaron McCaig threw a complete game 1-hitter as the Cooter Wildcats defeated the Bernie Mules, 7-0, in Class 1 Sectional playoff action Tuesday at Cooter.

Cooter scored three first-inning runs and that would be all the offense McCaig needed as the right-hander faced just four batters over the minimum to propel the Wildcats to the next round of the MSHSAA playoffs today at 3:30 against Oak Ridge at home.

"He's a competitor," Cooter coach Allen Crawford said of his pitcher. "I think playing Legion ball last year helped him as a high school pitcher. He pitched for Dunklin County and he pitched a zone game last year against Festus and gained some experience and confidence. He gets in a tough situation and he doesn't back down. He'll find a way to get you out. And our defense played pretty good. Today the conditions were bad and our infielders caught the ball the made the plays."

Cooter made it four straight district titles this year, and the playoff experience may have made the difference in the game.

Bernie starter Quinton Stevens and the Mules allowed the first three Cooter batters to score in the first inning on three singles, two walks and an error. It was all down hill for a young Mules squad getting a taste of playoff baseball.

"I think they (Bernie) felt like all along that we were a little bit better than they were and I think that helped us," Crawford said after watching his team improve to 23-1 on the season. "We've beaten them like 9 out of the last 10 times. They've got a good squad, they're program is young and coming and they are going to be a force to be dealt with in the next couple of years. They are all coming back. Next year if they win, they will be hosting."

Stevens worked six innings and gave up nine hits while recording nine strikeouts and allowing five walks.

Watkins had little trouble with Stevens collecting three hits, while the Cooter third baseman greeted Bernie reliever Mike Smith with a towering shot over the 320 mark in left center field.

Watkins drove in a run in the second with a single to make it a 4-0 game and McCaig hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth to make it a 5-0 game before the home run and a RBI-single by Seth Childers in the seventh set the final score.

"We've been hitting the ball well all year," Crawford noted. "Valley is the only team that really shut us down, but other than that we've scored runs all year.

"We've got an experienced squad and defensively we didn't make an error," he added. "We struck out a few more times than normal, but their kid was throwing the ball pretty good. He's no slouch."

Bernie ends the season with an 18-6 record.

"The year did not end the way we would have liked, but we are very proud of this group of kids," Bernie coach Jasson Long said. "Not much was expected out of this group, so for them to win the district and win 18 ball games reflects highly upon them. It took a combination of solid play from our upperclassmen combined with marked improvement from each of our underclassmen which made for a very enjoyable year. It also shows that no matter what anyone else expects of you, that you can do a lot of good things with a lot of hard work."