ELLSINORE -- Bunts can be difference makers in a close ballgame, and on Tuesday they made all the difference for the East Carter baseball team.
Sparked by Wyatt Elliott's RBI squeeze bunt in the bottom of the second inning, the Redbirds rallied past Clearwater and held on for a 10-4 victory at Brodie Gargac Memorial Field.
The Redbirds followed with six more hits to bust a once tight contest wide open with a six-run inning to end the Tigers' perfect Ozark Foothills Conference record.
"The kids just came up big right there," East Carter coach Scott Henfling said. "The bunt gave us a little juice there and we were able to score some more runs with some big hits. They've got a good ballclub and we just came out on top."
After giving up two runs in the first, the offensive support was more than enough for East Carter starting pitcher Cody Hampton, who settled in, holding the Tigers to four hits the rest of the way. The junior struck out seven in earning the complete-game victory for the Redbirds (12-4), who improved to 2-1 in conference play, creating a three-way tie with Clearwater and Neelyville for first place.
"We knew coming into this game that we'd be stuck with the three-seed if we lost and Clearwater would have the No. 1," Henfling said. "Now we're all tied and who knows what's going to happen in that seed meeting."
Trailing 2-0 entering the bottom of the second, East Carter got a leadoff single from Lane Chilton to set up an unconventional game-changing series of events.
Alex Kearbey attempted to lay down a sacrifice bunt for the Redbirds, but a picture-perfect dribbler down the third-base line turned into an infield single.
As East Carter continued to attempt to sacrifice its runners forward, Clearwater (7-4, 3-1 OFC) couldn't adapt.
Elliott, East Carter's No. 9 hitter, fouled off his first attempt at a squeeze with the runner coming down the line but put his second in play back to the pitcher, Jesse Holmes, who couldn't make a throw home or to first, as Chilton slid in safely to cut the lead in half.
"It was right back to the pitcher and it should've been fielded and thrown back home or at least made sure we got one at first," Clearwater coach Cole Sheets said. "There was no communication on that play."
Drew Asher, who was 4 for 4 with four singles and a walk, followed with his first hit to load the bases before Dalton Rudd and Hampton hit back-to-back RBI singles. Jake Andrews added a two-run double to give East Carter the lead for good.
"The bunt started a rally and we kept it up real well," Henfling said. "Wyatt's a very good bunter and he's fast. That's something we work on every once in awhile in practice and he executed it perfectly."
Hampton struck out the side in the second and retired it in order in the third before East Carter increased its lead to 7-2 in the bottom half when Rudd drew a bases-loaded walk to plate Elliott.
The leadoff walk to Elliott chased Holmes from the game. The junior went two innings, allowing seven earned runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts.
Clearwater gave up six more walks, one of which led to another run.
"I think the other story to this game was just walks," Sheets said. "Our pitchers couldn't throw strikes and our defense got on their heels. When you can't throw strikes on the corners and you've got to throw it down the middle, they're going to hit the ball."
Holmes, who was 2 for 4, got the best of Hampton an inning later, taking the right-hander deep for the second time with a solo home run to cut the deficit to 7-3.
Fynn Cooper followed with a double and scored two batters later on Karson Fay's RBI groundout for Clearwater's final run.
East Carter erased the runs in the fifth as Jordan Douglas slugged a two-run single to the gap in right-center field to push the advantage to 9-4.
Hampton, who was 2 for 5 with three RBIs, kept the bunting theme alive in the sixth after laying down a sacrifice to plate the Redbirds' final run.
The OFC Tournament seed meeting will take place next Wednesday when all six coaches will have to determine the top two seeds, which receive first-round byes.
"I figured if we won this game we had the No. 1 seed locked up and now it's a three-team race for two byes," Sheets said. "Voting should be interesting."