CARTHAGE — Trason Vogt dazzled from the start.
A senior left-hander for the Carthage Tigers, Vogt struck out the side in the opening frame, setting the tone for an outing to remember.
Vogt hurled a one-hitter as Carthage knocked off Class 4 defending state champion Aurora 3-1 on Friday night in a memorable home opener for the Tigers at Carl Lewton Stadium.
Relying on a fastball in the low 90s with a nasty curveball and a changeup, the 5-foot-9 Vogt fanned 12 and allowed just two walks in seven innings.
"Everything felt great," Vogt said. "The fastball was working. I was hitting my spots. I've been struggling with my curve lately and I've been working on it the last couple of days. It came out tonight. I couldn't ask for a better day. I just tried to throw the best I could."
An Arkansas-Little Rock recruit, Vogt threw threw 89 pitches, with 64 going for strikes. He tossed a first-pitch strike to 21-of-24 batters and retired the first 11 batters he faced before walking Gage Singer in the fourth inning.
"He was nails," Carthage coach Mike Godfrey said. "He had three pitches really working. He pounded the zone with his fastball and he kept it down. He had good velocity today. Every time he needed a strikeout pitch, the breaking ball was there. He really dominated with that pitch. And he did a good job of mixing in his changeup."
Vogt nearly made history, as he was three outs away from recording a no-hitter. Aurora's lone hit of the game came on the first pitch of the seventh inning, as Singer launched a home run off the scoreboard in left field.
A senior shortstop, Singer is a returning all-state performer for the Houn' Dawgs, who suffered a setback for the first time after eight-straight wins to start the '19 campaign.
"We didn't show up to play and that's the bottom line," Aurora coach James Hoffman said. "It was a dreary day and you could tell our kids' mood was ho-hum. You never want to lose, but I really hate the way we lost today…not competing. Hopefully we'll learn and grow."
Hoffman also gave Vogt credit.
"He does a nice job of pounding the zone," Hoffman said. "I was just disappointed we let him dominate us with his fastball. We always preach you can't get beat by velocity."
Aurora freshman right-hander Trey Mulholland was charged with the loss. Mulholland struggled with his command early in the game, falling behind in the count again and again. Mulholland settled down and kept his team within striking distance. He went the distance, scattering five hits, walking four and striking out two.
There were two delays in the first inning due to lightning in the area.
The Tigers plated a run in the bottom of the first, as Ian O'Malley singled to right field and later came home when Kale Schrader smacked a run-scoring double to left.
Carthage added a single tally in the second, as Will McCombs was hit by a pitch before pinch runner Alex Smith took second on a wild pitch. Smith charged home on Tucker Downing's RBI single into left-center.
A senior second baseman, Downing had two of Carthage's five hits.
The hosts went up 3-0 in the fourth, as Zeke Sappington doubled to left, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Tanner Green.
After surrendering the homer to Singer, Vogt retired the side to secure the win.
"I'm very proud of my guys," Godfrey said. "We know Aurora has a good program. To get a great outing like that, and to play like we did, I feel real good about this game."
Godfrey had another reason to feel good, as Carthage has now won five-straight games after starting the season 0-2.
"I don't want to make any excuses, but we didn't have all of our guys that first weekend," Godfrey said. "Now we have our full lineup together and that's helped. Our guys are starting to swing the bats well and we've got good pitching each time out."
Vogt noted he hopes he and his teammates can build off Friday's performance.
"This is definitely a confidence-booster and hopefully we'll keep rolling," he said.

-Jason Peake, Joplin Globe Sports