Overfelt's Thomas Sylve had a chance to break open a tightly contested game with Independence on Tuesday in the sixth inning, and that's exactly what he did.
Sylve's sixth-inning single with the bases loaded and two out drove in one run and two more scored when the ball was misplayed in left field. The clutch hit put the Royals ahead by three runs and they held on for a 7-4 non-league victory.
"I was just trying to get a base hit -- put the ball in play," Sylve said. "I knew it was a gapper and then I saw him miss it and so I headed for second (base). I was hyped that it brought in three runs."
Said Overfelt coach Shorty Gutierrez: "It was a clutch hit. Thomas has been putting the bat on the ball; he doesn't strike out very much at all. He had a couple of good at-bats where he turned on balls today."
Independence reliever Damien Ruiz had retired the first two Royals batters in the sixth with the game tied 4-4. But then he walked two and hit one to load the bases, bringing up Sylve.
Sylve had also personally accounted for Overfelt's second run as the Royals (9-7) increased their lead to 2-0. He led off the second inning with a triple to right field and then scored on a balk.
But Independence (8-9) stormed back in the bottom of the third inning with three runs to take the lead. Overfelt starting pitcher Leo Saldivar issued three consecutive one-out walks, then hit Nick Castillo Chavez to bring in one run and yielded a two-run single to right field by Victor Flores.
Independence added a run in the fifth inning, but also gave up single runs in fourth and fifth while making a total of four errors as Overfelt tied the game.
"We made too many errors and didn't manage their runners on base very well," 76ers coach Bob Leadbetter said.
Overfelt out-hit Independence 10-4 and committed just one error to five for the 76ers.
Adam Romayor went 3-for-5 at the plate for Overfelt and tracked down just about everything hit towards center field. Sylve, Gabe Cruz and Rodrigo Gutierrez each had two hits for the Royals.
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John Murphy may be followed on Twitter @PrepCat
