Crusaders reach Class 1 final

Saxony Lutheran banged out 10 hits and took advantage of five errors to defeat Meadow Heights 13-3 in five innings to advance into the championship game of the Class 1 District tournament in Oak Ridge.

The top-seeded Crusaders, who improved to 12-6, will face No. 2 seed Valley of Caledonia at 4 p.m. on Thursday. Caledonia defeated South Iron 8-7 in the other semifinal.

Saxony had three doubles, including one by Bret Steffens that chased home the first two runs of the game. The Crusaders built a 5-0 lead before fifth-seeded Meadow Heights used back-to-back homer runs by Terry Wagner and Tyler Wagner in the third inning to narrow the gap to 5-3. Saxony enacted the mercy rule with a run in third, two in the fourth and six in the fifth.

Peter Winningham, Chris Roth, Casey Petzoldt and Garrett Fritsche each had two hits for Saxony. Winningham had two RBIs, while Tyson Valleroy and Chris Roth each had a double.

Ben Courtois went all five innings for the Crusaders to record the win. He allowed four hits, struck out three and walked two.

SAXONY LUTHERAN 13, MEADOW HEIGHTS 3, 5 innings

Meadow Hts 003 00 -- 3 4 5

Saxony Luth. 321 26 -- 13 10 2

WP -- Ben Courtois, 4-2. LP -- Derek Hanners. HR -- Terry Wagner (MH), Tyler Wagner (MH) . 2B -- Nathan Revelle (MH), Chris Roth (SL), Bret Steffens (SL), Tyson Valleroy (SL). Multiple hits -- Meadow Heights, Tyler Wagner 2-3; Saxony Lutheran, Roth 2-3, Peter Winningham 2-2, Casey Petzoldt 2-2, Garrett Fritsche 2-3. Records -- Saxony 12-6.

Class 2 District 2

Kelly defeated Crystal City 16-1 to advance to Thursday's district championship game at Perryville.

The Hawks will face Valle (14-6), which eliminated St. Vincent with a 7-6 decision in game delayed by rain at the start and in the sixth inning.

Valle scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to go ahead.

St. Vincent outhit Valle 11-7 and had gone ahead with two runs in the top of the sixth.

Josh Wipfler hit a three-run homer for Valle in the third.

St. Vincent's No. 9 hitter, Darin Yamnitz, drove in three runs and scored once.

VALLE 7, ST. VINCENT 6

St. Vincent 110 202 0 -- 6 11 1

Valle 013 012 x -- 7 7 1

WP -- Nathan Grass 5-2; LP -- Greg Finger. 2B -- Finger (SV); HR -- Josh Wipfler (V). Multiple hits -- Valle, Kellen Basler 2-3; St. Vincent, Finger 2-3, Scot Blythe 2-4, Greg Rellergert 2-3, Seth Amschler 2-2. Records -- Valle, 14-6, St. Vincent 5-18.

-- From staff reports