Kelly baseball team ousts Woodland, saves ace for semis

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Kelly ace Ian Householder went to the bullpen to warm up in the top half of the fourth inning Saturday.

Woodland just had cut a comfortable 4-0 Kelly lead to 4-2, and Hawks coach Josh Eftink was about to turn it over to his ace.

Kelly is awfully thankful he didn't.

Brent Forck gutted out seven innings on the mound for Kelly, and the Hawks' bats struck for four runs in the bottom of the fifth to open up a Class 2 District 3 baseball quarterfinal.

Kelly advanced to face Valle Catholic in the semifinal round with Saturday's 8-4 victory over Woodland.

Forck appeared strong early before laboring in the middle innings and then regaining his stuff late.

"There in the middle I kind of got down on myself because I wasn't hitting the ball very hard [at the plate]," Forck said. "Then I kind of got talked to and just kind of focused on just pitching, and when I started back again I really started to pick it up and it started working again."

It was a key pitching performance from the junior. It allowed the third-seeded Hawks to save Householder for second-seeded Valle Catholic on Monday.

"That was huge for us," Eftink said. "We were starting to warm him up because things were getting tight and we were going to have to bring him in, but we were able to get a six-run lead and hold onto it and feel a little better about ourselves."

The six-run lead came after Kelly struck for four runs in the fifth inning.

Jeffery Gates led off the inning with a triple then three straight batters singled with one out to plate two runs and leave runners on second and third.

Austin Wadlington grounded out before Aaron Grainger lined a two-out single up the middle to make it 8-2.

"The win was great," Gates said. "We had good pitching, good defense and the bats were working perfect. Good ballgame all around."

Gates went 2 for 4 with a double, triple, RBI and a run scored.

"At first I started off out in front," Gates said. "It was all about getting the warmup swings down and everything and just came out there, settled down and got my timing down and put the bat on the ball."

The Hawks took the lead early due to timely hitting and a lack of control from the Cardinals' pitchers.

Woodland starter Benjamin McCormick lasted only 1 1/3 innings before being lifted. The sophomore walked four and hit a batter, which helped Kelly plate two runs against him.

Sean Magee came on in relief for Woodland and slowed the Hawks' bats after a shaky start.

Magee walked the first two batters he faced and allowed a sacrifice fly and an RBI double to give Kelly a 4-0 lead in the second.

Magee settled in over the next two innings and limited Kelly to just two hits.

"The second guy [Magee] they brought in, he came in throwing a lot of offspeed stuff over for strikes," Eftink said. "[He] had us off balance for a little bit, and then we got on him in the fifth inning."

The four-run fifth was all Forck needed on the mound. He struck out five over seven innings, but more importantly he only allowed two walks.

"I came out and I was really pitching good and we were making plays behind me," Forck said. "We got out to an early lead and we kept hitting the ball and kept making plays behind me, so I just pitched with confidence."

Woodland managed to get to Forck in the fourth to cut into Kelly's lead.

Garret Reynolds led off with a walk then Landon Johnson and Magee hit back-to-back doubles to make it 4-2.

Charles McAlister beat out an infield single to make it first and third, but Forck coaxed a fly ball from Joshua Rainey to end the threat.

"Brent did a great job," Eftink said. "Here lately, the last two or three starts, he's been doing really well for us. Throwing a lot of strikes and spotting up both his fastball and curveball, and that's all he did today. He kept them off balance with his fastball and curveball and did a great job."

The Cardinals touched him up for two runs in the sixth, but it was too little too late.

"We needed that one," Eftink said. "We needed everything to work out the way it did -- us to get up early and get a little comfortable with the lead so we could make our pitching work out right."

Woodland 000 202 0 -- 4 6 2

Kelly 130 040 x -- 8 10 3

WP -- Brent Forck. LP -- Benjamin McCormick. 3B -- Jeffery Gates (K). 2B -- Gates (K), Landon Johnson (W), Sean Magee 2 (W). Multiple hits -- Kelly: Aaron Grainger 2-3, Gates 2-4, Gaven Ray 2-4; Woodland: Johnson 2-3, Magee 2-3.