Williams leads Kennett back to championship

A dominant performance on the mound from Ashton Williams led the Kennett Indians to a 7-3 win over the Cape Central Tigers on Saturday in the semifinals of the SEMO Conference Tournament.

Williams went the distance allowing 3 runs on 5 hits while striking out 9 and walking just 2.

“If we can get that from Ashton every time it’s going to be a successful day for us,” Indians coach Aaron New said.

Williams also went 1-for-1 at the plate with 2 walks and 3 runs scored.

Cape Central got the scoring started in the top of the first when Cole Proffer singled home Cade Emmenderfer to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

Chapman Ogles got the start for the Tigers and after a scoreless first inning, he would run into trouble in the second inning as he allowed an RBI single to Tanner Pierce and then walked Hayden Gilmore to give Kennett a 2-1 lead.

Trey Gardner had a big day at the plate as he went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and 2 RBIs.

Gardner’s home run was drilled to right field and it extended the Kennett lead to 3-1 in the third inning.

The Indians' bats would continue to put up runs as they extended the lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth.

“We’ve started grinding out at-bats up and down the lineup,” New said. “Early in the year we would get some guys hot and the bottom of the order wouldn’t do anything but now we’ve got everybody grinding out at-bats. We’ve had a lot of good at-bats this week.”

The win pushed the Indians into the championship round of the SEMO Conference Tournament where Kennett (16-7) will get a rematch of the 2022 championship with Jackson (21-6) at 5:45 p.m. on Monday, May 1 at Capaha Park. Jackson recently beat the Indians on April 25, 8-4 in Jackson.

“We owe them one,” Williams said. “They got us at their place but now we get them at Capaha. We’re coming for them and I hope they know we’re ready for them.”

Cape Central (10-12) will take on Notre Dame in the third-place game at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, May 1 at Capaha Park.