By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Senior Jayden Little went 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs and pitched the final two innings to help lead Lafayette (16-7) to a 9-3 win over Cameron Tuesday afternoon at the Missouri Western baseball field in the first of two Class 4 District 16 semifinal games.
Lafayette, the No. 1 seed, jumped on Cameron (7-12) from the get-go, scoring three runs on four hits in the first inning.
The Irish added three more runs on four more hits in the third and scratched across two insurance runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth - part of a 12-hit game.
"We talked about it before the game - just find a way to put the ball in play," Little said. "Minimize the strikeouts and we'll have a chance to get on and score runs as much as we can."
On the mound, senior Zach Langley made the start and held the Dragons scoreless through four innings. With bases loaded in the fifth however, freshman Levi Schreer came in relief and forced a pair of flyouts to limit the damage and preserve a 6-2 lead.
Little came on the mound in the sixth and struck out the side. Cameron managed a couple walks and a couple hits in the seventh and got one run across, but a double play and flyout quickly ended the inning and the game.
"We needed to come out and see some live at-bats," Lafayette coach Matt Jansen said, "and take care of business. We didn't look past anyone. It was one out, one inning at a time, one pitch at a time. I liked our energy."
Hilsabeck's complete game, three hits lead Savages past Maryville
Junior Tyson Hilsabeck tossed a complete game on the mound and went 3-for-4 at the plate, leading Savannah past Maryville 6-2 in the second Class 4 District 16 semifinal Tuesday.
Hilsabeck struck out four, while walking and hitting nobody. Maryville (14-9) managed eight hits and had two on with nobody out in the top of the seventh, but Hilsabeck stayed in the game, forcing a couple of groundouts and getting a strikeout to seal the victory.
At the plate, Hilsabeck had a pair of doubles and drove in a pair of runs. Leading 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth, Hilsabeck hit a two-run RBI double into bases loaded.
Sophomore Ethan Dudeck also scored in the sixth, thanks to a throwing error. Errors plagued the Spoofhounds Tuesday. They committed four of them, including three in the first inning which allowed Savannah to nab an early 3-0 lead.
The Savages went 3-1 against Maryville this season, and now they look to beat a team they've lost to twice - Lafayette. The Irish beat Savannah 4-0 on March 30 and again 2-0 just last Tuesday.
With Lafayette senior, ace pitcher and Oklahoma commit Brayden Luikart likely to start on the mound in Thursday's district championship, Hilsabeck knows what he and his team are up against.
The question now is - can Savannah break through against Lafayette's best arm?
"If I had to guess, we're seeing Luikart," Hilsabeck said. "We've seen him once. He's obviously a really good pitcher, but we've got to get something going on him."
After winning districts and placing 3rd at state in 2019, Savannah coach Erich Bodenhausen says his team not only has to beat Lafayette to get where they want to go. But, they also can't beat themselves.
"We've talked about it all year long - our goal is to go out there and have good approaches," Bodenhausen remarked. "We're battling ourselves as much as we are the other team."
Thursday's district title is set for 5 p.m. at Phil Welch Stadium, weather permitting.
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