Miller’s arm leads Russellville past New Bloomfield

Indians to face Eugene for district title today

NEW BLOOMFIELD — Russellville junior Charlie Miller pitched a four-hitter Monday, as the top-seeded Indians opened their postseason with a 5-0 victory against the New Bloomfield Wildcats in the semifinals of the Class 2 District 8 Tournament at Haley Field.

Miller struck out nine and walked one in his shutout, throwing 68 of his 94 pitches for strikes.

Russellville opened up a 3-0 lead after one inning. Logan Cinotto hit a one-out double to center field, scoring Isaiah Kauffman and Brennen Stinson. Two batters later, Jesse Daniel singled to right field, scoring Cinotto.

The Indians remaining two runs were scored in the bottom of the third. Miller led off with a solo home run to left field, his second homer of the season, then Cinotto doubled and scored on Daniel’s double to make it a 5-0 game.

Daniel finished 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI, while Cinotto was 2-for-3 with two RBI.

Lucas Buscher had two of New Bloomfield’s four hits against Miller, both singles. Brendon Carter doubled and Michael Saleny singled for the remaining hits.

Saleny pitched the first five innings for the fourth-seeded Wildcats, striking out seven and walking two. He allowed five runs (two earned) on eight hits.

Trevor Jordan pitched a scoreless sixth, striking out one.

New Bloomfield ends the season with an 8-10 record.

Russellville (24-4), ranked No. 1 in Class 2, will play second-seeded Eugene (13-5) for the district championship at 6 p.m. today.

Eugene 6, Iberia 3

NEW BLOOMFIELD — The Eugene Eagles picked up a 6-3 victory Monday against the Iberia Rangers to advance to the Class 2 District 8 Tournament championship against Russellville at 6 p.m. today.

The Eagles struck first with five runs in the bottom of the second inning off Iberia starting pitcher Tanner Alexander.

Iberia cut its deficit to 5-2 in the top of the fourth on a pair of RBI from Brady Blankenship, but Eugene got a run back in the bottom half to increase its lead back to four.

Alexander was able to get a run back for Iberia in the sixth but the Rangers ultimately fell after Tyler Wren came in to pitch to collect the final out of the seventh. Garrett Hogart pitched the first 6⅔ innings and allowed three runs on four hits while striking out eight.

Drew Sommerer led the Eugene (13-5) offense with three hits while Wren drove in three runs and drew a pair of walks.

Iberia (16-4), ranked No. 8 in Class 2, saw its season end after Alexander threw a complete game on the mound while striking out nine and allowing six runs on six hits.

California 10, Buffalo 0

VERSAILLES — The California Pintos had seven extra-base hits Monday, powering their way to a 10-0 win in six innings against the Buffalo Bison in the semifinals of the Class 4 District 9 Tournament at Walton Stadium.

Three of California’s first four batters had extra-base hits to start the game. Drake Schlup hit a leadoff triple in the first inning, Calen Kruger followed with an RBI double and Trevor Myers belted a two-run home run to left field, putting the Pintos ahead 3-0.

California added two runs in the third inning, three in the fourth and two in the sixth to win by run-rule.

Myers went 3-for-4, finishing a triple shy of the cycle, while driving in three runs to lead the Pintos. Kruger also went 3-for-4 with three RBI.

Ethan Bloch had a single and a double and Hunter Berendzen drove in two runs.

Berendzen pitched a seven-hit shutout for California, striking out seven without yielding a walk.

Buffalo, the No. 5 seed, ends the season with an 11-12 record.

Top-seeded California (16-7) will face second-seeded Eldon (10-17) in the championship game at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

South Callaway 6, Montgomery County 5

MOKANE — The third-seeded South Callaway Bulldogs were down to their final out twice on Monday in the semifinals of the Class 3 District 7 Tournament, but they rallied for two runs to knock off the second-seeded Montgomery County Wildcats 6-5 to advance to the championship against top-seeded Father Tolton on Wednesday.

Montgomery County struck first with three runs in the bottom of the first inning after a two-RBI double took the lead and a bases-loaded hit by pitch gave the Wildcats an early 3-0 advantage.

The score remained 3-0 until the Bulldogs got their offense going in the fourth against Montgomery County pitcher Evan Abercrombie.

Two singles led off the inning and a passed ball moved the runners in position to score on two ground balls that followed.

Montgomery County wasted no time getting the two runs back in the bottom half on two hits and a walk.

South Callaway answered quickly with two more runs in the top of the fifth on RBI singles from Jacob Martin and Owen Rees.

The score remained 5-4 until the top of the seventh inning when the Bulldogs used a twoout single, triple and double to take a 6-5 lead.

Martin came in to pitch for the bottom half and allowed a leadoff double to Harrison Bishop, but Bishop was thrown out at third base trying to stretch it for a triple to record the first out.

Martin bounced back to strikeout the next two batters and secure the semifinal victory.

South Callaway (14-14) was led on offense by Rees who went 3-for-4 with two RBI while Martin added a pair of hits and an RBI.

Montgomery County’s season ends with a 10-8 record as Abercrombie threw a complete game while allowing six runs (five earned) on nine hits with nine strikeouts and no walks allowed.

Jamestown 11, Otterville 1

SEDALIA — Tate Duncan struck out 11 batters Monday, leading the Jamestown Eagles to an 11-1 first-round win in six innings against the Otterville Eagles in the Class 1 District 9 Tournament at Liberty Park.

Duncan gave up just one hit, a leadoff single in the fifth inning, and did not allow a walk in his complete-game victory.

At the plate, Skyler Duncan led Jamestown by going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and three RBI.

Gage Reynolds batted 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and a pair of RBI, while Tanner Gentzsch added a pair of singles.

Jamestown led 2-0 through three innings, then scored four runs in the fourth, three in the fifth and two in the sixth to win by run-rule.

Shayne Harlan, Evan Schoenthal, Tate Duncan and Landen Allen each had an RBI for Jamestown,

which hit four sacrifice flies in the win.

Otterville, the No. 6 seed, ends the season with a 2-10 record.

Jamestown (8-7), the No. 3 seed, advances to play second-seeded Sedalia Sacred Heart at 4 p.m. today in the semifinals.

Eldon 5, Versailles 3

VERSAILLES — The Eldon Mustangs used a three-run fifth inning Monday to pull past the Versailles Tigers for a 5-3 victory in the semifinals of the Class 4 District 9 Tournament at Walton Stadium.

Eldon’s Jason Evers scored on an error in the bottom of the fifth to break a tie at 1. Kaden Bashore scored on a double-steal attempt and Jason Holland followed with a solo home run to center field, putting the Mustangs ahead 4-1.

Versailles closed the gap to one in the top of the sixth, as Jesse Comer had an RBI double and Tyrus Ollison scored on Adam Radcliff’s groundout.

Eldon added an insurance run in the bottom half of the inning, as Devin Hardy scored on an error to make it 5-3.

Eldon relief pitcher Jacob Bishop retired the side in the seventh to seal the win. He struck out two and walked one in three innings of relief, while starter Hunter Hees pitched four innings and allowed one run on five hits and struck out three.

Ben Cline’s RBI single in the second gave Eldon a 1-0 lead. Versailles tied the score in the fourth on another RBI groundout from Radcliff.

Evers had two of Eldon’s four hits, while Ollison had two of Versailles’ seven hits.

Comer pitched 5⅓ innings for the Tigers, giving up five runs on four hits with two walks and one strikeout. Noah Dykzeul retired both batters he faced to end the bottom of the sixth.

Third-seeded Versailles ends its season with a 10-21 record.

Eldon (10-17), the No. 2 seed, will play top-seeded California (16-7) in the district championship game at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Hermann 9, Linn 5

HERMANN — The Hermann Bearcats used a four-run sixth inning to create enough of a cushion Saturday, beating the Linn Wildcats 9-5 in the semifinals of the Class 3 District 8 Tournament.

Linn, which was the state runner-up in Class 3 last season, ends the year with a 4-13 record.

Hermann led 9-2 through six innings. Linn closed the final margin to four with a three-run seventh inning.

With two outs, Trevor Murray singled to score Aidan Kline. The next batter, Keagan Heywood, hit a two-run home run — his third of the season — to left field in his final high school at-bat.

Linn, the No. 4 seed in the district, scored its first two runs in the fifth inning. Curtis Deeken crossed the plate on a fielder’s choice and Heywood singled to score Kline, cutting Hermann’s lead to 3-2.

The Bearcats scored the game’s next six runs to build a seven-run lead.

Parker Anderson pitched three scoreless innings for the top-seeded Bearcats and went 3-for-4 at the plate with a home run and four RBI.

Heywood was 2-for-4 with three RBI for the Wildcats, while Kline also had two hits. Heywood pitched the first five innings for Linn, giving up five runs on eight hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

Hermann (12-10) will play second-seeded Steelville (12-21) for the district championship at 5 p.m. today.