Bobcats Headed To Championship Following Big Win Over Elsberry

The big bat of Lane Sutton came through in a big way for Bowling Green in the Class 3 District 7 semifinal over Elsberry on Monday, May 15.

Sutton’s two-run walk-off blast in the bottom of the eighth inning sealed a 7-5 victory for the Bobcats who are hosting the district tournament. The win was particularly sweet as Elsberry had beaten Bowling Green earlier this season.

It wasn’t the only home run for Sutton in the game. The second baseman also stroked a three-run blast off a different pitcher in the bottom of the sixth inning. Sutton’s five RBI night earned him the Community State Bank TribCast Player of the Game.

The Bobcats drew first blood in the bottom of the first. Stephen Merz singled, stole second, advanced to third on a single by Trey Nichols and scored on a wild pitch.

Bowling Green added another tally in the bottom of the second as Gaven Comley doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on an error.

Elsberry evened the score 2-2 in the third with a pair of runs. The Indians took advantage of a Bowling Green error to take the lead by a run in the fourth inning.

Jorden Billings and Dylan Huber each singled in the sixth inning before Sutton’s two-out blast put the Bobcats up 5-3.

Elsberry wouldn’t go away that easily as they knotted the score with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning.

The Bobcats got a runner to third base in the bottom of the seventh inning, but wasn’t able to push the run across forcing an eighth inning.

Merz was the fourth pitcher for the Bobcats. Despite Elsberry getting a runner to second on an error, Merz struck out the next three batters to end the threat.

In the bottom of the eighth, Comley walked and reached second on a sacrifice by Huber before Sutton gave a two-strike pitch a ride over the left field fence for the win.

Coach Dean Streed noted he was proud of how the team battled back and overcame a few errors in the game. He added that he had nothing but respect for Hallsville, saying it will be a tough championship game.

Hallsville is seeded fifth in the tournament but knocked off top-seeded North Callaway in the first game on Monday night. The championship game will be held on Wednesday at 5 p.m. The game will be featured on TribCast.

Bulldogs Best New Haven In District Opening Round

Louisiana overcame an early deficit to pick up their first win of the season, while advancing to the Class 2 District 4 semifinal with a 2-1 opening round win over (5) New Haven on Friday.

The Shamrocks picked up two hits and scored a run in the top of the first. Senior pitcher Hunter Feldewerth struck out two in the inning and stopped New Haven from scoring again with a fly out to center.

The score remained 1-0 as Louisiana was held without a hit for the first two innings.

With one out in the bottom of the third, second baseman Tyler Pederson reached on an infield hit. Pederson stole second before a walk to Zach Ellsworth with two outs. Hunter Feldewerth was next up for the Bulldogs. The most experienced Louisiana hitter stroked a single past the first baseman and into short right field.

The throw home was offline as Pederson rounded third, but New Haven catcher Justin Shockley hustled back to put a tag down. Seeing the waiting ball, Pederson lifted his left leg over the catcher’s glove, touching the plate to tie the score at 1-1.

In the fifth, the same three players contributed again.

This time Pederson reached on a one out walk, followed by a single by Ellsworth. With the outfield shifted for the left-handed Feldewerth, the senior guided his hit to short center field, dropping between the oncoming outfielder and backpedaling shortstop of New Haven. Pederson had a good jump running with two outs and scored for a 2-1 Louisiana lead.

Feldewerth sent the Shamrocks down in order in the sixth, but allowed a lead-off single in the seventh. After a stolen base, New Haven had the tying run at second with no outs.

Feldewerth struck out the next two hitters and closed out the win with another fly ball to center for the Bulldogs first win. He threw a complete game win, striking out nine Shamrocks.

His two RBIs on two hits earned him the Community State Bank TribCast Player of the Game. He was also recently named to second team All-Clarence Cannon Conference as an infielder.

The Bulldogs are seeded fourth and will take on top-seeded Clopton Tuesday, May 16 (tonight) at 7 p.m. for the semifinal. The game was rescheduled to accommodate other school activities.

The winner will face the second-seeded Van-Far in the Class 2, District 4 Championship on Thursday at 5 p.m. All games are slated to be featured on TribCast at www.thepeoplestribune.com

Indians Blank Crossroads; Advance To Championship

It only took five innings for Van-Far to eliminate Crossroads College Prep in the Class 2 District 4 tournament on Monday, May 15.

The second-seeded Indians and third-seeded Crossroads each had opening round byes and squared off in the semifinal on Monday in Louisiana. Van-Far advanced to the championship with the 10-0 shutout victory. They will take on either top-seeded Clopton or fourth-seeded Louisiana in the championship game that is now slated for Thursday at 5 p.m. Clopton and Louisiana will square off Tuesday (today) at 7 p.m. after scheduling changes were made.

In the semifinal on Monday, the Indians struck first with a run in the first, added seven runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth to close out the win. Crossroads managed only one hit in the game.

Van-Far racked up 11 hits in the victory. The first run in the bottom of the first came on an RBI single by Cameron Barse who scored Treyson Culwell.

Five batters had RBIs in the fourth inning. Sam Middleton had an RBI single. Logan Wilson drew an RBI walk. Colten Jenson plated two runs with a single. Treyson Culwell had an RBI single followed by a two-RBI double by Cameron Barse.

Caden Wilburn led off the fifth inning with a triple and scored on a Logan Wilson single then Brayden McMillen plated the game-ending run.

Treyson Culwell picked up the win on the mound for the Indians going three innings and striking out seven. Logan Wilson pitched the last two innings and gave up only one hit and struck out two.

Coach Wes Rowden noted that both boys will be able to pitch in the championship.

“Both boys threw the ball pretty well. We made no errors for the game which was nice and we only walked two for the game,” he said.

Rowden added the team hit to opposite field many times which was also great to see.

The win also came on the heels of a tough week for the Indians, bouncing back from losses to North Callaway, Clopton and Madison where hits were tough to come by. The Indians managed only six hits in the three games.

The Class 2 District 4 championship game on Thursday will be featured on TribCast, online at www.thepeoplestribune.com.

Top-Seeded Owls To Square Off With Wellsville For District Crown

The top-seeded Silex Owls made easy work of fourth-seeded North Shelby in the Class 1 District 12 semifinal game on Monday, May 15 and will advance to the title game tonight (Tuesday, May 16).

The Owls will take on (3) Wellsville after they upset (2) Madison in the semifinal, 4-0. The Tigers also took care of (6) Marion County in the opening round last Friday.

It only took Silex four and a half innings to dispatch North Shelby. Complete stats were not available as of press time.

Silex will play the championship game in front of their home crowd as hosts of the tournament. The game will take place at 6 p.m. and will be featured on TribCast at www.thepeoplestribune.com.

Silex rounded out the regular season on a hot streak. The Owls notched seven hits and defeated Elsberry 5-2 on May 6 and blanked New Haven 6-0 on May 10. Watch for more in next week’s edition of The People’s Tribune.