KELSO -- A no-hitter by Kelso Bud Light's Jeff Schott highlighted an exciting opening day of fast pitch softball Saturday at the 13th Annual Kelso Klassic.
Schott's no-hitter earned Bud Light a 3-0 win over Carbondale NAPA in a first round contest. Schott came within two outs of a perfect game, but hit a NAPA batter with one out in the seventh inning.
With games still in progress late Saturday, four teams remained in the winners' bracket of the double elimination tournament. Kohlfeld Distributing faced H.L.F. Express of Spingfield in one semifinal. In the other St. Louis Midwest GMC battled Vandalia Guaranteed Air Freight.
Kohlfeld reached the semifinals undefeated with a 1-0 win over Hanks Excavating of Belleville and then a 4-0 victory over defending tourney champs Bonutti Othopaedics. Terry Lester pitched both shutouts for Kohlfeld.
H.L.F. Express defeated Pinckneyville Celtics 2-0 then New Haven Cubs 5-4 to face Kohlfeld. Duane Archer won both games for Express.
Midwest GMC downed Elkville 2-1 with two runs in final inning then shut out Memphis Pomen 8-0.
Vandalia earned a forfeit win in the first round then beat Kelso Bud Light 7-3. Ronnie LeGrand was the losing pitcher for Bud Light. Marty Cole got the win for Vandalia.
In loser's bracket elimination games, Hank's Excavating beat the Memphis Dawgs 5-1; Pinckneyville topped Kelso Travelers 5-0; Action Amusement defeated Elkville 5-2; and Kelso Bud Light, behind the arm of Schott, eliminated Hank's Excavating 1-0.
Other first-round scores were Bonutti over Dawgs 5-1; New Haven beat Kelso Travelers 5-1; Pomen topped Action Amusement 6-5.
Action starts today at 9 a.m. with only eight teams left from the 16-team field. The third place game is scheduled for noon and the title game should be played around 3 p.m.
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