Big start sends Kelly baseball over Saxony Lutheran, into district championship

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- The Kelly baseball team gouged out a victory in the top of the first inning and cruised the rest of the way.

The third-seeded Hawks scored nine runs in the opening frame on their way to a mild upset, a 15-7 win over second-seeded Saxony Lutheran in a semifinal of the Class 3 District 2 tournament Monday at Benny Hillhouse Memorial Park.

"We knew coming into that first inning that we wanted to set the tone," Kelly coach Justin McAlister said. "Our focus was to have quality at-bats in the top of the first inning, and we did that. I don't think it would've matter who we had out there on the mound. I think we were going to have a good top of the first inning. Our guys were ready."

Kelly first baseman Wyatt LeDure tags out Saxony Lutheran base runner Jakoata Walther after a rundown during the seventh inning.Fred Lynch

Kelly (12-12) moves on to face top-seeded Scott City in the championship at 5 p.m. today. The Rams defeated the Hawks 6-5 earlier this season, a game that ended with the tying run thrown out at home plate.

"The boys are ready. We've anticipated this," McAlister said. "We took one game at a time, told them not to take anyone lightly, and they did. They came out and took care of business and did the same thing today.

"They've been ready for this one. That's about all I can say."

The Hawks had four singles and took advantage of four walks, two hit batters and three errors to take a 9-0 lead in the top of the first. They increased their lead to 10-0 in the top of the second when Ty Householder reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Mitchell Proctor.

"That first inning was huge, just quality at-bats up and down the lineup," McAlister said. "They kicked a couple around, and we got some big hits in some big spots. That's baseball."

Kelly starter Ty Householder pitches to a Saxony Lutheran batter during the first inning of a Class 3 District 2 semifinal game Monday, May 16, 2016 in Charleston, Missouri.Fred Lynch

Saxony pitchers combined to issue 13 free passes (nine walks and four hit batters), six of which came in the first inning.

"9-0 is an awfully big hole, especially when you're playing a quality team. ... That was tough," Sander said.

Tyler Amos got the start for Saxony (15-7). He was replaced by Nathan Hurst after walking in a run that gave the Hawks a 5-0 lead.

Householder began the game on the mound for Kelly, retiring the first seven batters he faced until issuing a walk in the bottom of the third to No. 8 hitter Zach Meyr, who scored on a two-out error that trimmed the Crusaders' lead to 10-1.

"That might have been the worst thing to happen for us was to go up 9-0 and him throw 20 pitches in two innings," McAlister said about Householder's fast start. "I think the boys thought, 'OK, this might be easy.'"

Saxony Lutheran second baseman Zach Meyr jumps over Kelly's Jacob McClain after a force out during the fifth inning of a Class 3 District 2 semifinal game Monday, May 16, 2016 in Charleston, Missouri.Fred Lynch

Householder threw 6 1/3 innings to pick up the win on the mound. He scattered 10 hits, gave up seven runs (five earned), struck out six and walked two. He helped himself at the plate with a 2-for-4 outing and notched his second RBI of the day when he plated Wyatt Ledure on a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth, giving Kelly an 11-1 lead.

"I thought his velocity was really good," McAlister said about his ace. "He did kind of get away from the breaking ball, but that's because he was behind in the count in the middle part of the game there."

Jakoata Walther had an RBI groundout for Saxony in the bottom of the frame, and Paris Johnson added an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth.

The Crusaders watched their best chance for a comeback wither away in the bottom of the sixth. Walther and Meyr delivered back-to-back singles with one out before an RBI single by Dusty Lorenz and RBI double by Amos pulled the Crusaders within six runs, 11-5.

With two runners in scoring position, Johnson lined a hard-hit grounder up the middle that was scooped up by Householder, who trotted over and tossed the ball to Ledure for the final out of the inning.

"If that ball goes through and it's 11-7, then it gets interesting," Sander said. "Even though I give Kelly and Householder a lot of credit for battling all day long, I give our kids equal credit for never giving up and continuing to battle."

A sacrifice fly by Kyle Fitzgerald, a two-out error at shortstop and a balk led to a 15-5 lead for the Hawks in the top of the seventh.

Householder was lifted in exchange for Levi Alsup in the bottom of the frame before a throwing error at shortstop led to two more runs for Saxony.

The Crusaders finished with six errors on the day.

"We knew we had our hands full before we got down 9-0, but our kids are pretty resilient. They battled hard, and they never gave up," Sander said. "... We never could quite get over the hump because the hump was pretty tall. The hump was just too much, but if we could've held that down to half that many runs in the first, I felt like we could've gotten back in the game. That was just a big blow."

Amos pitched 1/3 of an inning and was tagged with the loss. He gave up eight runs (seven earned) on four hits with no strikeouts and three walks. Hurst threw six innings of relief, allowing five runs (three earned) on four hits. He struck out two and walked five. Johnson provided 2/3 of an inning of relief, giving up two unearned runs with one strikeout and one walk.

Johnson and Andrew Hartmann each had a pair of hits to lead the Crusaders at the plate.

Saxony graduates six seniors -- Hurst, Johnson, Lorenz, Gavin Brown, Andrew Bohnert and Austin Ray. Sander said they'll be hard to replace.

"You watch them come in as freshman, and they look maybe a little bigger than a grade schooler. Maybe by the time they're seniors, they're full-grown men and they're shaving," Sander said. "You watch them actually develop and mature, so that's hard to lose them. But you're happy with the time you were able to spend with them.

"We feel real good about the season we had at Saxony. To finish 15-7 after losing six senior starters last year, we really feel good about it and the young group we have coming in, so we have nothing to be ashamed of at 15-7. We're really proud of our year."

Kelly 910 100 4 -- 15 8 5

Saxony 001 112 2 -- 7 10 6

WP -- Ty Householder. LP -- Tyler Amos. 2B -- Amos (SL), Paris Johnson (SL). Multiple hits -- Kelly: Householder 2-4, Saxony: Johnson 2-4, Andrew Hartmann 2-4.