Clearwater is one step closer to its goal of winning the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament.
With the help of a seven-run inning in the fourth, the top-seeded Tigers were able to pull away from No. 5 seed Twin Rivers club, which put up a fight early on.
Clearwater at one point found itself in unfamiliar territory when it trailed 2-1 briefly in the second, but that was just a blip on a day of opportunistic offense that eventually led to a 15-5 run-rule victory in the sixth inning.
"I'd say we were rusty," Clearwater head coach Cole Sheets said. "It's been a week since we've played a game, and even that was only three innings, so we were rusty, but we did a good job. We didn't chase (pitches). We took what their pitchers gave us, and it paid off."
Clearwater (11-0) entered the difference-making fourth inning with just a 4-3 lead. A walk and a pair of singles got things started and loaded the bases for the Tigers with no one out. Starting pitcher Jesse Holmes then emptied the bases with a triple that drove in three runs.
Holmes crossed the plate after a pitch got away from Allen Hendrix to make it 8-3. Aaron Mittlestadt relieved Hendrix and inherited two runners. He fought for two strikeouts before Christian DeGroff drew a bases-loaded walk, and Jackson Eaton knocked a two-RBI single to center, making it 11-3 in a flash.
"We kept fighting. We kept playing our baseball. That's something that we've done all year is we haven't let up at all. We keep trying to score runs every single inning," Sheets said.
The Royals (6-10) earned a pair of runs back by drawing two bases loaded walks, marking the first time Clearwater had conceded more than three runs all season, but that was all they could manage.
"I liked our approach. We went up there, got our pitch and put pressure on their defense," Twin Rivers coach Chris Newman said. "The problem with today was we'd get an opportunity and get a couple runs but then we'd just give it right back."
Two bases-loaded walks and an RBI single from Karson Fay scored Heath Ayers and reached put the margin at 10 runs to end the game.
"We still haven't accomplished anything yet," Eaton said. "We have one more game, and we've just got to play our hearts out in that one as well. We're just waiting on Thursday."
There were good plays from both sides as Twin Rivers proved it could hold its own early before the walks and errors piled up.
In the first inning, Fay connected on a hard liner to first base, but Twin Rivers third baseman Preston Martin stretched out and flashed the leather for an instinctive grab to end the side.
The Royals connected on five hits in the first two innings, but after the early success, they were stymied by stout defense from the Tigers.
Holmes did a nice job getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the first. He struck out one and relied on his defense to back him up and earn a 6-3 groundout and a fly out to right field to escape with no damage done. That inning accounted for three of the 12 runners the Royals stranded on base. Holmes pitched 1 â…" innings and struck out a pair.
Heath Ayers relieved him and got credited with the win. He tossed three innings and allowed two runs, one earned, while earning two strikeouts.
Trey Rivas pitched the final 1 â…" innings. He struck out three and gave up two hits.
Holmes and Eaton led the offense with three hits and as many RBIs, while Eaton scored three runs.
Clearwater will meet No. 3 seed East Carter in the championship Thursday at 4 p.m.