Briefly: Bell City baseball team advances to Class 1 final four with defeat of Dora

BELL CITY, Mo. -- The Bell City baseball team defeated Dora 2-0 in a Class 1 quarterfinal Wednesday at Bell City High School to secure its spot in the final four.

"It's awesome," Bell City coach Justin Simpher said. "I think it's the first time the school's ever gotten there, and I was trying to not let the excitement get the most of me throughout, thinking about it. But now that it happened, I don't know, it's just awesome. Words can't even explain what it feels like. It's just an unbelievable feeling."

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning on an RBI single by Austin Hicks.

Hicks allowed four hits in the complete-game shutout of the Falcons. He struck out 10 batters and hit one with a pitch.

Dora had the bases loaded with one out in the top of the sixth inning after two hits and an error before Hicks struck out the side to maintain the one-run lead.

Hicks drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth and scored on a fielder's choice for the final score.

Bell City will play in a state semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon, Missouri.

Check back later for complete coverage of the game.