Staff photo by Mike Buhler Dunklin County's Seth Littrell (center) is congratulated by teammates after hitting a home run in the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader against Scott County at Indian Park. [Click to enlarge]

The Dunklin County Redbirds swept a doubleheader from Scott County Post 369 on Wednesday night at Indian Park to put them in first place in the District XIV standings by a half-game.

In game one, Dunklin County (37-7, 6-2 District XIV) scored five of their six runs with two outs en route to a 6-5 victory. Head coach Aaron New was excited about the two-out runs.

"Getting two-out hits and driving in runs with two outs is usually the sign of a championship ballclub," New said. "Tonight, we did a good job of that."

The Redbirds were able to score first in game one when Cameron Wallace led off the third inning with a double. Wallace advanced to third when the center fielder bobbled the ball, and he scored on Andy Lack's sacrifice fly to post Dunklin County's first run and their only run that was scored with less than two outs.

After tossing three hitless frames, Dunklin County starting pitcher Cameron Wallace was touched for three runs -- two of which were earned -- on five hits in the top of the fourth inning, making the score 3-1 in favor of Scott County.

Dunklin County was unable to score again until the bottom of the sixth inning.

In the sixth, Joe Campbell was the victor in a 10-pitch at-bat, drawing a walk to lead off. After Gage Blue lined out to the shortstop and Trey Bazzell flew out to center field, Thomas Stillman laced an RBI double into left-center to score Campbell and put himself into scoring position. Adam Grantham followed Stillman with an RBI single to right field to tie the game at three apiece.

Scott County answered back with two run in the top of the seventh, forcing Dunklin County to come from behind in order to take the lead in the District XIV standings.

Logan Dollins led off the inning with a double off of the center field fence. After Andrew Hooper and Wallace were retired, Lack drew a walk. Campbell stepped up to the plate and had another long at-bat before drawing a walk to load the bases.

"Joe had two great at-bats and fouled off some pitches to walk before he scored," New said. "Everybody seemed to have good at-bats when we needed them. I'd like to see those good at-bats continue."

After Campbell's walk to load the bases, Blue drove a 1-1 offering into right field for a two-run single, tying the game and advancing Campbell to third base. Bazzell followed Blue with a sharp RBI single to right, sealing a 6-5, come-from-behind victory for the Redbirds.

"It seems like we've done a good job lately with our backs against the wall," New said. "It says a lot about your team when they don't give up and they keep battling.

"That win gave us a chance for a No. 1 seed in the district tournament," New said. "We put ourselves in as good of a situation as we could put ourselves in with that win."

Bazzell was the winning pitcher for the Redbirds. He relieved Stillman in the seventh and allowed an inherited runner to score before retiring the next three batters to set up his heroics in the bottom of the inning.

In game two, Dunklin County took advantage of 12 walks as they ran away with a 16-6 victory in five innings.

Each Dunklin County player recorded at least one hit in the game. Daniel Lockhert was the only Redbird to record multiple hits, knocking two singles while driving in three runs. Billy Fender and Seth Littrell also recorded multiple RBIs. Littrell drove in his runs with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first.

The Redbirds will host the District XIV tournament next week, and they will receive either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed. If Scott County loses to Jackson on Monday, Dunklin County secures the No. 1 seed. If Scott County beats Jackson, they will tie the Redbirds for first and force a tie breaker based on head-to-head competition.

New is confident about his team's chances to defend their title in the upcoming tournament.

"I feel good about this club," New said. "They've battled and stuck with it all year long. If we get some pitching and score a few runs, we'll have a good chance to be successful in the tournament."