ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Following the Cardinals 4-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, the Marshall County Marshals stepped onto the finely manicured turf of Busch Stadium to play Notre Dame of Cape Girardeau. This was their second year to play at the Busch Stadium venue.
Notre Dame beat the Marshals 9-7, but this wasn’t a game about winning or losing, but the experience of playing on a big league field, walking into
the dugout stepping on chewed and spit out sunflower seed shells, the experience of walking up those steps and running out onto the field and seeing yourself and your teammates up on the big screen with the arch overhead.
Head Coach Mike Johnson makes sure every player gets the opportunity to step out onto the field and play, endlessly shuffling his players around to various positions to get everyone into the game.
Notre Dame led the game off with one run on two hits that the Marshals followed up with two runs on two hits to take an early 2-1 lead.
Chase Bright led off with a single in the 1st, Hunter Jaco walked and Blake Johnson’s hit caught Jaco between bases in a run down, making it safe to second giving Bright the opportunity to steal home and tie the game at 1-1. Dylan Greenfield’s RBI single scored Jaco to give the Marshals a 2-1 lead.
Notre Dame put one run on the board in the 2nd inning to tie the game at 2-2, then added two more in the 3rd to go up 4-2.
The Marshals put together a 4-run 3rd inning that began with Bright and Jaco on base and no outs. An out by Johnson, put Wooten at the plate, hitting a line drive base hit to load the bases.
Bright scored on an in-field single by Greenfield which was followed by a 3-run triple by Justice Beal that cleared the bases and gave the Marshals a 6-4 lead.
Their final run of the game came in the 4th came on a Johnson line drive to right field, scoring Bright.
The Marshals 7-4 lead was temporary with Notre Dame adding four runs in the 5th and one in the 6th for the 9-inning 9-7 win.
(Photos provided)
