Falcons take first in Southern Missouri Invitational tournament


The Dora Falcons took first place in last week’s Southern Missouri Invitational baseball tournament held at Dora. Members of the team are, from left, front row: Hunter Ryan, J.J. Ryan, Kaleb Harris, Colby Collins, Evan Smith and Dylan Martin; (back row) coach Rick Luna, Austin White, Robert Vigdal, Mason Luna, Korey Murphy, Bryson Luna, Tyler Luna, Auston Luna and coach Josh Strong.

The Dora Falcons took first place in the Southern Missouri Invitational baseball tournament held last week at Dora.
“I’m very proud of the boys for winning the tournament,” said coach Rick Luna. “They played well in all three of our tournament games. The first round game we played Van Buren and scattered 15 hits at the plate to win 12-2.”
Bryson Luna led the way with 3 hits, followed by Mason Luna, Auston Luna, Austin White, Kaleb Harris, and Tyler Luna, all with 2 hits each.  Robert Vigdal and J.J. Ryan each added a hit each also.   
Kaleb Harris pitched an efficient game, striking out four and walking two  through four innings of work.  
In the semi-finals, the Falcons faced Alton, which had just come off a first-round win over Mountain Grove. “They picked up right where they left off versus us,” said Luna. “Their pitching was really good. We gave them 2 runs on 2 errors and were trailing 2-0 going into the sixth inning.”
But that all changed. Dora’s first two hitters, Bryson Luna  and Auston White, were both hit by pitches, and Mason Luna came up with a triple down the right field line to tie the game. Kaleb Harris then tripled down the right field line to score the go-ahead run.
“From there, we broke it open and scored 7 runs in the sixth to win 7-2,” Luna said.
Dora pitcher Austin White had 10 strikeouts on the mound and got his third win of the season.
The Falcons played Plato for the championship.
“We were the visitors in this game since Plato was the higher seed, and we were able to come out and score 4 runs in the top of the first inning.  This set the tone for the game,” said Luna. “Mason did a great job on the hill striking out eight batters through six innings.”  
Bryson Luna, Tyler Luna and Colby Collins led the way at the plate with 2 hits each.  Auston Luna, Mason Luna, Robert Vigdal, Austin White and Kaleb Harris all added a hit each.
“Again, I’m very proud of the guys for winning the tournament and improving our overall record to 13-4,” Luna said. “We would like to thank Terry Newton (Shelter Insurance) and Marcus Lipford (Pizza Shack) for helping make this tournament a success.”

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