Sparta senior Kyle Wall allowed no runs on just two hits to lead the Bulldogs past Chester 2-0 Friday in an SIRR Mississippi Division baseball contest.
Both offenses were kept in check as Wall and Justin Eggemeyer of Chester had an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel for seven innings.
However, Sparta came up with the clutch hits to notch the important conference win.
“We got the clutch hits, and we had some young kids step up,” said Sparta assistant coach Seth English. “Ian Wolter did a good job with driving a run in and Matt Wasson had a clutch single at the end. It was also good to see Jordan Thompson swinging the bat well again. Wall has the hot arm right now. He is 2-0 on the season, and he is coming off a no-hitter against Trico.”
“Sparta got the clutch hits and we didn’t,” said Chester coach Jeremy Blechle. “We couldn’t string any hits together. Eggemeyer had good stuff today, we just couldn’t provide him with any offense. Wall worked really fast, and  we are just not used to that. Sparta is a good team, and we played better today than we have been, so hopefully this is a step forward.”
Each starting hurler gave up just one hit in the first inning but managed to pitch around the trouble.
Sparta took the lead for good in the top of the second inning. Wall started the inning off by reaching base on an error. One batter later, Josh Loyd drove home the opening run with a one-out double. After walking one, Eggemeyer got out of the inning by retiring the next two batters.
The Dawgs added an insurance run in the seventh for a 2-0 lead.
Wasson led off with a two-out single before being replaced by courtesy runner Ethan Renner at first base. Chris Theobald drew a walk, and Thompson lined a double to score Renner for the late two-run lead.
Wall finished off the game in style as he struck out the side in order for the complete game shutout victory.
Zach Lochhead and Tim Sullins each had a hit to lead the Chester offense.
Sparta improved to 7-2 on the season with the win, while Chester fell to 5-7.