Staff photo by Mike Buhler Kennett's Bo Smith (left) is tagged out trying to score by New Madrid County Central catcher Matt Carter during Monday's SEMO Conference baseball game at Indian Park. [Click to enlarge]

For the first three innings on Monday, the Kennett Indians seemed headed to their fourth straight win.

Then the wheels came off and things fell apart over the next two innings, sending the Tribe to a 13-10 loss to the New Madrid County Central Eagles in a SEMO Conference baseball game at Indian Park.

Just two days before, the Indians defeated Caruthersville 10-0 in six innings at Hayti.

Kennett's collapse in the fourth and fifth innings on Monday was shocking -- the Indians allowed 13 runs, seven hits, six walks, hit a pair of batters and committed a pair of costly errors to wipe out a pair of leads.

"Our pitching wasn't as strong as it has been today," Kennett coach Aaron New said. "We just didn't score enough runs to hold on to the lead."

Entering the fourth inning, the Tribe (6-4, 2-3 SEMO) led 5-0, but the first 10 batters reached for NMCC as the Eagles ended the top half of the inning with a 7-5 edge.

However, Kennett did not give up, rallying in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead. Nathan Henfling drilled a two-out double to drive in Shane Branum and Gage Blue with the tying runs, then catcher Billy Fender singled in Henfling to put the Indians back on top. Fender scored later in the inning to cap the rally.

"That's one thing that this team has shown so far," said New. "They won't quit and they continue to play hard. Hopefully that's something that we'll continue to carry on for the rest of the year."

But the lead was short-lived, as the Eagles erupted for six runs in the top of the fifth inning, getting five hits and a pair of doubles in the frame to take command of the game.

The Tribe rallied one last time, as Shane Branum scored on a fielder's choice to slice the lead to 13-10 and Kennett got the tying run at the plate, but came no closer.

Despite unseasonably cold temperatures, New refused to blame the weather for his squad's woes on Monday.

"No. We just didn't play very well and didn't catch the ball," New said. "We couldn't stop them."

Kennett struggled to hit the ball Monday, managing just five hits, but worked Eagles' pitchers for 15 walks and a pair of hit batsmen.

Nathan Henfling was 2-for-4 with three RBIs, while Branum scored four runs and Fender drove in a pair of runs. Cameron Wallace also stole a pair of bases.

Meanwhile on Saturday, the Tribe once again did not get many hits -- Branum and Payte Harris had the Indians' lone hits -- but drew nine walks and erupted for nine runs in the bottom of the fifth inning against Caruthersville.

While the Indians' batters were turning walks into runs, pitchers Corey Henfling and Trey Bazzell combined on a one-hit shutout, as the duo finished with a total of 10 strikeouts and four walks.

With the victory, Kennett improved to 4-1 in Bootheel Conference play.

"That was a good win for us on Saturday," New said. "We were patient at the plate and took what they gave us. We got another outstanding pitching performance."

The Tribe travels to SEMO foe Jackson this afternoon before hosting Portageville in a Bootheel Conference showdown Wednesday afternoon.

"Wednesday is a huge game for us," said New. "It could possibly give us a share of the Bootheel Conference title, but we need to go to Jackson Tuesday and see if we can play a little bit better than we did today."

Senath-H'ville 15, Bernie 0
At Bernie, the Lions continued their recent hot streak as Dustin Hunter tossed a no-hitter while hitting another grand slam to sink a strong Mules team.

Hunter was especially dominant on the hill, allowing just a pair of first-inning walks and retiring the last 13 batters.

"Dustin pitched pretty well," Senath-Hornersville coach Randy Smith said. "I don't think he had his best stuff today but he threw strikes and got groundballs."

The victory was the fourth in the last five games for the Lions, who host Malden today.

"I think we're starting to play a little better," said Smith. "I'm just glad we're starting to swing the bats a little bit. ... If we can score a few runs, I think our pitching can keep us in most games."

Campbell 13, Clarkton 3
At Campbell, the host Camels erupted for 11 runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth inning to erase a Clarkton lead and enforce the mercy rule.

Cale Weeks, Dylan Lynn and Jake Tinnon each had a pair of hits for Campbell, while Tinnon drove in four runs and the trio of Lynn, Cote Harralston and Zach Jackson each drove in a pair.

Cooter 11, Gideon 0
At Cooter, the host Wildcats got a no-hitter from Nick Rinks and made visiting Gideon pay for 10 errors and nine walks Monday.

Rinks struck out seven and walked just one in five innings of work.

On Saturday, Cooter downed Campbell 6-4 to lock up the regular-season Tri-County Conference title. Seth Childers had three RBIs and a pair of hits, while Aaron McCaig pitched the last 4 1/3 innings for the win.

Holcomb 11, Risco 3
The Hornets got a huge game from Corbin Clark as they downed Risco and improved to 4-5 on the spring.

Clark went 4-for-4 with three doubles and drove in six runs while striking out 10 Tigers in five innings on the mound for the win.