WILLARD — Once again, Hudson Roberts’ resiliency will be tested and once again, he’s looking forward to displaying his unending determination.
With Roberts being Ozark’s only player to suit up and start in both basketball and baseball, he’s been in the position to cope with excruciating, heartbreaking losses the past two years more than any of the Tigers.
Ozark’s 3-2 eight-inning loss to Willard on Tuesday adds to the list of narrow defeats that Roberts has been forced to deal with.
Similarly, Roberts was part of one- and two-point defeats to Nixa at Districts the past two seasons on the hardwood.
"I'll think about this game maybe 10 minutes into the jayvee game and then I’m done with it,” Roberts said. “Same thing with basketball. Once the last buzzer sounds, I'll watch what I did wrong, the mistakes I made. Then, it's a new day and a new game.
“I'd like to think not much can get to me. I like to stay mentally tough out there,” he added. “I’ve been taught by good coaches and my parents to be tough in every situation and no matter what's thrown at you, you can learn from it. I try to learn from everything.”
Ozark (13-13 overall and 2-3 in the COC) lost to Willard for the third straight season, with the previous defeats being by 2-1 and 7-5 counts.
Ozark forced extra innings Tuesday by rallying from a 2-0 deficit, but certainly had chances to complete its comeback.
The sixth inning began with a double by shortstop Alex Nimmo and an RBI triple by Roberts to cut Willard’s lead in half, 2-1. First baseman George Reynolds was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a wild pitch, with still no one out. But Roberts and Reynolds were stranded after a strikeout, a shallow flyout and a strikeout.
“We had opportunities,” coach Justin Sundlie said. “All you can do is try to take a good swing on the ball. We just didn't do it. I'm proud of the comeback and the fight. But when you look at it, we didn't play good enough to win, not against this team.
“The good thing is we're putting ourselves in those situations,” he added. “Now, we've got to capitalize on them."
Ozark tied it at 2 in the seventh, thanks to a pair of infield errors by Willard.
With a deeper lineup on this day, Willard (20-3 and 5-0) won it in the eighth with three straight hits.
Roberts pitched into the seventh. He turned in a similar outing in Ozark’s 2-0 loss to Nixa two weeks ago.
The right-handed junior held the COC’s top two teams to four runs over 13 innings.
“He's giving us a chance to win,” Sundlie said. “In both games, we had runners on second and third with no outs or one out and we didn't get them in. It's a common theme we've got to get figured out.”
“I've thrown some games well. But I've got a good defense behind me and we've got good bats in our lineup,” Roberts said.
Willard put up two runs on Roberts in the third. The first run scored when a throw from right field to home plate bounced over catcher Gannon Miller’s head.
Roberts wasn’t pleased with himself that he didn’t back up Miller on the play.
“I wasn't there to back up a play and they scored a run,” he said. “That run probably cost us the game. I've got to be better."
The throw from Rylan Sutton in right was perfectly-placed about 10-15 feet in front of home, but took a higher bounce than anyone could have expected. Willard has minimal room behind home and the backstop, but the ball still trickled far enough way from Miller for the runner from third to score easily.
“You never know with baseball. It's unpredictable. That's what I like about it,” Roberts said.
Willard scored its second run on a sacrifice fly.
Luck also wasn’t on Ozark’s side during its comeback. In the seventh with runners on first and second, Nimmo ripped a line drive to left-center for what surely seemed off the bat would be a single or perhaps a double in the gap. But Willard’s left fielder was not only positioned in left-center but also playing shallow.
Like Roberts, Nimmo won’t dwell on the past and will look ahead.
Ozark hosts Webb City today, with the game being pushed up due to the threat of rain Thursday.
“I’ll go through my at-bats, how I played at short and how I pitched. But I don't let it eat me up,” Nimmo said. “There’s (another) day. I let it go. Learn from it and let it go.”
