Sports

Westminster Wildcats Taking Diamond Dreams To Springfield

Nine run inning gets Creve Coeur squad a trip to the state semifinals.

The baseball team is taking the scenic route to Town and Country.

The Wildcats (25-4-1) earned a spot in the Class C Final Four in Springfield next weekend with a 9-5 win over Kirksville (17-12) Friday in the last game to be played at the school's Creve Coeur Campus.

A Luke Turner leadoff double and a Shane Benes sacrifice fly got Westminster on the board in the second inning for the team's first run, but with two outs the team did the rest of its damage. A Collin Henry bloop hit into center field plated another run before a Tate Matheny double scored two more, making the game 4-0.

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In all, 13 Wildcats came to the plate, working through three Tiger pitchers in one inning. What Benes started with the sac fly he finished with an RBI single to make it 9-0 after two innings of play. "We’ve had innings like that a lot this year, where guys have great at bats, and they just kind of  have a bunch of good consecutive at bats," Westminster Head Coach Rich Van Gilst said. "Big innings usually win ballgames, most teams that win games find the big inning is one of the things that gets them there."

Henry, who as the starting pitcher was the beneficiary of , said big rallies with two outs have been part of the team's DNA lately. "We scored 11 of our 14 runs in the first game with two outs and we scored I think 8 of our 9 with two outs," the senior said. "This is a team that’s lethal. When we get baseknocks and its contagious with our whole team."

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Van Gilst said Sophomore starter Benjamin Lovell didn't have his best command, in part because of a blister on his throwing hand, but the lefthander still battled through five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, with four strikeouts, and three walks.  Van Gilst said he still wasn't comfortable with the big lead, and to their credit, the Kirksville Tigers kept their heads in the game, used several pitchers and made a number of impressive defensive plays, rallying to score two runs in the seventh inning before a close play at first base ended the scoring at 9-5.

The Wildcats now have a week to prepare for Kennett (24-2), which defeated Lutheran North 8-2 Friday. The teams will square off at Meador Park in Springfield next Friday at 4 p.m. The winner faces either Springfield Catholic (23-4) or Savannah (23-2) next Saturday.

"It’s a nice ending to this campus for us," Henry said of Friday's win, which included plenty of postgame pictures with parents and teammates to mark the last game played in Creve Coeur. But players and coaches still have their eye on bringing home two more wins to end the season.

For more pictures from Friday's game, head to our home on Facebook.


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