JEFFERSON CITY - A fourth inning to forget got an important week of baseball off to a bad start for Hickman yesterday.

Jefferson City scored all its runs in the fourth inning - highlighted by Kevin Norris’ three-run home run - and Jordan Coons pitched around three throwing errors in the seventh inning to close out a complete-game 4-2 victory at Vivion Field.

"We gave them some gifts that" fourth "inning, and they took advantage of it with the big three-run home run," Wilson said. "They gave us some gifts, we scratched a couple runs across, but we didn’t get that big hit."

While the big hit has eluded the Kewpies (4-6) at times this season, the big fly continued to be a crucial part of Jefferson City’s success. Facing a full-count in the fourth inning against Hickman starter Greg Kanuckel, Norris laid into a hanging curveball for his team-leading fourth home run. The blast that carried over the left-field fence was the 11th of the season for the Jays (10-3) and gave them a 4-0 lead.

"We thought he’d be sitting on a fastball, so we wanted to change it up with the curveball," Kanuckel said. "I just ended up leaving it up too high, and he turned on it."

Based on past experience, Kanuckel had the right idea. According to Jefferson City Coach Bob Coons, Norris had had a bad history hitting curveballs.

Those problems, however, appear to be in the past.

"The last couple years, if you spun it up there, he was an out," Bob Coons said. "That’s a part of his game he’s really worked on. That’s not the first curveball he’s hit for a home run. … He’s been big for us this year."

Norris’ blast came after the Kewpies failed to make a couple of defensive plays that extended the inning. The trouble started with one out when third baseman Justin Jones let a hard groundball by Cory Stuefer go through his legs. Jordan Coons, who had doubled with one out, scored on the error. Zach Seales followed with a bloop single to center field that fell in front of a diving Steven Schluckebier and put runners on first and third for Norris.

Although it wasn’t an error, the bloop single was just another example of an opportunity that Wilson believes his team has been failing to capitalize on.

"You can’t make the errors and give away free stuff, which is something we pride ourselves on," Wilson said. "We’ve just been giving away too much."

Kanuckel (1-3) shut out Jefferson City the rest of the way, scattering nine hits in the game, but Jordan Coons kept the Kewpies blanked until three defensive lapses in the seventh.

After Chris Pfau led off the inning with a single, two throwing errors attempting forceouts at second base - one by shortstop John Wilson and the other by Jordan Coons - loaded the bases with one out. A Thomas Brown groundout plated Hickman’s first run.

The Kewpies’ second run scored when Colin Kemble struck out on a pitch in the dirt for what would have been the third out, but he reached safely when the catcher’s throw to first was high.

A walk to Drew Mitrisin loaded the bases for Hickman cleanup batter Taylor Steuber, but the game ended when Jordan Coons induced a fly ball to left field.

"Give Jordan a lot of credit," Bob Coons said of his son. "He kept his composure, and I thought especially there in that last at-bat. You could just see there was a determined young man there."

Pitching through some elbow discomfort in the sixth inning that prompted a short meeting at the mound, Jordan Coons struck out seven, walked two and allowed five hits. The two runs were unearned.

Jordan Coons also went 2 for 2. Seven other players collected Jefferson City’s remaining hits. Steuber and Pfau both had two hits for Hickman, which plays host to Rock Bridge at 5 p.m. tomorrow in another crucial district contest.

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