Saxony baseball wins its first district title

~ The Crusaders rolled to a 13-3 victory over Caledonia.

For all the success Saxony Lutheran sports teams have had in the school's relatively brief existence, the baseball squad had felt a bit left out.

Not any longer, after the Crusaders completed a dominant run through the Class 1 District 3 tournament with Thursday's 13-3, five-inning win over defending champion Valley of Caledonia at Oak Ridge High School.

The Crusaders, the district's top seed, will carry a 13-6 record into Wednesday's sectional game on the road against District 4 winner Thayer.

"We pretty much set out for this since the start of the season," junior catcher Kory Mueller said. "It's good to have it."

Since opening its doors with the 2002-03 school year, Saxony Lutheran has made quite an imprint on the local athletic scene.

The Crusaders have won the last two cross country state titles, after a fourth-place finish in 2003, and the track squad added a state title in the 3,200-meter relay last year while finishing fifth as a team. The basketball squad has had three winning seasons at the varsity level.

"We got a lot of crap for not getting any district titles. This will shut the cross country team up, at least for a while," said a smiling Mueller.

In fairness to the baseball Crusaders, this is just their second season of play. But they were highly disappointed last year, when they also entered the district tournament as the top seed but were upset in the semifinal round.

"That was a real disappointing end to the season last year," said center fielder Casey Petzoldt, one of only three seniors on the Saxony roster and one of just two senior starters. "This was our goal from the start of the year, if not more."

Saxony certainly left little doubt as to who the best team in the district was. The Crusaders ended all three tournament games in five innings on the 10-run mercy rule, outscoring the opposition 36-6.

"They've been playing pretty good ball for a long time now," Saxony coach John Beaudean said. "We started out 0-3 and we're 13-3 since then."

Valley, the No. 2 seed, started out like it would have a good shot at defending its title. The Vikings scored two unearned runs in the top of the first inning and added a run in the second to go ahead 3-0.

But after that, it was all Crusaders. They got on the scoreboard with a run in the bottom of the second, then broke things wide open with a 10-run third that featured seven hits, including a home run by Mueller.

"They're a good team, but we just hit the ball," Mueller said.

Mueller got the inning started with a one-out, solo blast over the left-field fence.

Sophomore first baseman Ben Courtois had a two-run double, while other key hits in the frame were two-run singles by junior pitcher Peter Winningham and freshman left fielder Bret Steffens. Petzoldt and freshman third baseman Garrett Fritsche added RBI singles.

"A big inning like that really helps you," Beaudean said.

The Crusaders ended the contest in the bottom of the fifth. Winningham's RBI double made it 12-3, and Steffens' RBI single that scored Winningham nailed down the championship plaque.

"This was our goal from the start of the season," said second baseman Tyson Valleroy, Saxony's other senior starter.

Winningham, Saxony's ace, admittedly did not have his best stuff, but the Crusaders' 12-hit attack made things fairly routine for the right-hander as he improved to 6-1.

"I didn't really feel that good," said Winningham, who allowed six hits and one earned run while striking out five and walking three. "We hit the ball very well as a team and that helped."

Courtois doubled twice, while Mueller, Winningham and Steffens each added two hits. Winningham doubled and drove in three runs. Steffens also had three RBIs. Fritsche joined Courtois in delivering two RBIs.

Kody Martin and J.C. Lawson both had two hits for the Vikings.

While the Crusaders will now set their sights on next week's sectional game -- "We just want to see how far we can go," Beaudean said -- two of their players will pull double-duty for one more weekend.

Petzoldt and sophomore pitcher Max Wieser are also on the Saxony track team that is considered a threat to bring home the state title.

Beaudean was scheduled to drive Petzoldt and Wieser to Jefferson City on Thursday night so they could join their track teammates for the meet today and Saturday.

"We hope to bring home some more stuff with track," Petzoldt said. "It's great what the school has been able to do in just a few years."

And at least the baseball Crusaders have now done their part.

Saxony Lutheran 13, Caledonia Valley 3, 5 innings

Valley 210 00 -- 3 6 3

Saxony 01(10) 02 -- 13 12 2

WP -- Peter Winningham, 6-1. LP -- Mike Dodd. HR -- Kory Mueller (S). 2B -- Winningham (S), Ben Courtois (S) 2. Multiple hits -- Valley, J.C. Lawson 2-2, Kody Martin 2-3; Saxony, Winningham 2-4, Mueller 2-3, Courtois 2-3, Bret Steffens 2-3. Records -- Saxony 13-6, Valley 11-9.