CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- It took eight days for the Poplar Bluff baseball team to get back on the field after a layoff caused by flooding in Butler County halted their trek through the SEMO Conference Tournament.
In two games Saturday at Capaha Field, they made up for lost time.
The top-seeded Mules won their third-straight SEMO Conference Tournament championship 4-1 over No. 3 Sikeston behind a pitching gem from Ronin Rice and a defense that made the routine and spectacular plays behind him all afternoon.
Poplar Bluff (17-5) won their postponed semifinal against Notre Dame 8-3 in the first game of the day to make the finale.
"I think the boys came focused and ready to play," Poplar Bluff coach Steven Edwards said. "We had a little break with the flooding in Poplar Bluff and we had limited practices. We got back after it."
Defense was Poplar Bluff's biggest hero against Notre Dame and again against Sikeston. Rice was the catalyst in the championship game getting the best of a Sikeston team that averaged 8.9 runs a contest coming into Saturday and lost to the Mules 11-10 on April 4.
Rice was the definition of keeping a team off-balance. The left-hander's slow but purposeful delivery drove Sikeston mad.
"My off-speed looked fine and they were jumping on pitches they probably shouldn't have," Rice said. "They just kept swinging and my defense made plays throughout the game... I just tried to keep them off balance. You have to. They sit on fastballs and drive it. They got a hold of a few but I just had to keep with it and the defense made plays."
Sikeston (11-5) may have out-hit Poplar Bluff 9-4, but eight of their nine hits were singles and most were for naught. Rice also coaxed 10 fly ball or pop up outs that were caused by lunging at the plate on Sikeston's part.
"I think there was frustration by Sikeston taking bad swings," Edwards said. "Ronin threw a great game. When he's throwing that hook at 48 miles an hour then the changeup comes in, the fastball might be only 78 but it looks upper 80s to you. I can't brag on him enough."
The Bulldogs managed three singles through five innings, until they finally broke through with six of their hits in the final two innings.
"We really didn't change our approach to what we needed until the very end," Sikeston coach Brett Kolons said. "That's an adjustment we're going to have to make quicker as we move forward."
Rice pitched a complete game giving up one earned run. He struck out one and did not walk a batter on 75 pitches.
"[Rice] threw his butt off today and did a great job keeping us off balance," Kolons said. "He started us off different it seemed like every at-bat. He did what he needed to do to get outs."
And with his defense making plays behind him, Rice had full confidence to throw whatever he wanted at Sikeston.
"That's the best defense I've seen in my four years at Poplar Bluff," Rice said.
The Mules turned two double plays and none were more impressive than Turner Fritts' in the top of the sixth. With two on and one out, the Poplar Bluff second baseman broke towards right field for a shallow pop fly off the bat of Bryce Bays. Fritts dove past an oncoming Kyler Carr from right field to make the over-the-shoulder catch, popped up and fired a throw to first base catching Wyatt Pratt wandering too far away from the bag for a double play.
It got Rice out of his first jam of the day and sent the Poplar Bluff crowd into a frenzy.
"That was amazing. Absolutely amazing," Edwards said. "That's why he's getting looked at by a lot of people. He's full-speed, lays out and make the diving play then has the awareness to get up and turn and throw it to first and get the double play. That's something you just can't teach. That's instincts."
"We hit a lot of balls hard and they made plays," Kolons added. "The play that [Fritts] made in the sixth was phenomenal. That's one of the best plays I've seen in high school baseball in a long time. We hit the ball hard, they made plays. We made some mistakes here and there but that's how this game works sometimes."
The Mules' offense scratched out runs when it could against Sikeston starter Wyatt Pratt. They managed four hits against Sikeston's right-hander scoring one run in the second and third and adding two more in the fourth.
An RBI double by Austin McIntosh put Poplar Bluff ahead 1-0 in the second. A one-out triple off the bat of Mason Libla in the third eventually allowed him to score on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.
The Mules doubled up in the fourth when an outfield error from Sikeston allowed Matthew Lambert to score. Rice helped himself later in the inning with a two-out single for a 4-0 lead.
"We looked for fastballs and we liked that," Edwards said. "Our plan was to not be overaggressive, work your count and get your pitch. We're recognizing pitches well and I'm glad to say that because we're not going after the ones that aren't ours."
Sikeston made one final push in the top of the seventh.
Sam Cox led off the inning with a double and eventually the Bulldogs loaded the bases behind singles from Noah Hicks and Max Ault with one out. Cox scored on a single by Will Gilmer but Hicks was cut down at the plate on another impressive throw and catch by right fielder Carr and catcher Libla.
A ground ball to third ended Sikeston's threat and the game soon after, giving Poplar Bluff it's 16th win in 17 games after starting the season 1-4.
"You get a little emotional when you talk about it because we started this year off 1-4 and now we've ripped off 16 of our last 17 and now we're here winning conference," said Edwards. "That's the challenge that we accepted. It's a testament to our players buying in. To be a three-time champion is something a lot of people can't say they've done. It's an honor to be a part of it because of these boys and the fans that support them.
"Our journey is not done," Edwards added. "Our journey is to go on, win districts and win a state title."
It's the first time a team has won three-straight tournament titles since Sikeston accomplished the feat from 2002-04.
"Our goal is to win conference and districts and this has to give us a boost going into districts," Rice said.
The Mules also picked up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming district tournament, which will be held in Hillsboro, earning a first-round bye and will play either the host Hawks or Cape Central in the semifinal.
This was Sikeston's first tournament championship game appearance since 2009. They haven't won the conference tournament since 2004.