Monday Baseball: Central, Potosi to district title game

STE. GENEVIEVE – Kendall Horton has spent much of his senior baseball season either patrolling center field or being asked to close games on the mound.

Horton was utilized in a starting capacity Monday, and delivered a commanding four-hitter with three strikeouts against Herculaneum.

Ty Schweiss and Sammy Callaway each finished 2-for-3 with an RBI, and the top-seeded Rebels moved into the Class 4, District 2 championship round with a 6-0 shutout.

Freshman Kale Dreier singled twice while reaching base three straight times as Central (19-3) advanced to face Potosi for the title Tuesday at Yanks Field.

Callaway opened the scoring with a single against Devin Black during the first inning. Jobe Bryant scored behind Dreier as Jaxon Jones picked up an RBI on a ground out for a 3-0 cushion in the second.

Horton faced the minimum until the fifth, when he maintained a shutout bid despite encountering four Herculaneum (12-14) base runners.

The Blackcats loaded the bases after Horton fielded his position to start the second double play turned by the Central defense. A ground out to Lucas Whitehead at first base with the bases loaded ended the chief threat.

An RBI single by Horton made it 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth. Schweiss and Callaway padded the margin with RBI hits in the fifth.

Jones and Bryant also singled for the Rebels. Horton retired seven of his last eight batters faced, and induced a ground ball on his 80th and last pitch that Schweiss handled at shortstop.

Rickey Johnson doubled in the seventh while Dylan Jarvis, Jackson Dearing and Clayton Anderson singled for Herculaneum. Black yielded six runs on eight hits, and struck out four over four innings.

Potosi 8, Ste. Genevieve 4

STE. GENEVIEVE – Potosi catch Macklin Davis finished 3-for-4 with an RBI, and his team advanced to the Class 4, District 2 final on Monday by ousting tournament host Se. Genevieve 8-4.

Isaac Jones and Colton Politte added two hits apiece, and Blake Coleman pitched 6 1/3 quality innings as the winning starter before arriving at his mandated limit.

Potosi (10-11) increased a 5-3 lead on an RBI single by Davis and sacrifice fly from Lane Revelle in the fifth, and earned the right to face Central for the championship on Tuesday.

Catcher Alex Fleeman drilled a three-run home run to left-center field in the fourth for Ste. Genevieve (7-17), which had a runner caught stealing by Davis and lost another on the base paths in the sixth.

The Trojans capitalized on two walks from starter Mason Nix in the opening frame, as consecutive two-out singles by Politte, Jones and Ty Mills made it 3-0.

Gavin Portell greeted reliever Luke Ferranto with an RBI double in the second, and Potosi notched two runs in the inning after a sacrifice fly from Jay Pashia.

Coleman began his outing by surrendering a leadoff triple to Aiden Meyer, but the Dragons failed to drive him in from the heart of the batting order.

Two-out singles by Bryant Schwent and Fleeman – both 2-for-3 overall – were also squandered in the second. Wyatt Springkamper and Nix had the other Ste. Genevieve hits.

Coleman allowed seven hits and three walks while striking out five. Jones obtained the last two outs after Meyer walked and scored in the seventh.

Malachi Sansegraw walked twice and scored a run for the Trojans.

Farmington 8, Poplar Bluff 6

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. – Farmington completed a wild comeback in the seventh inning, and extended its win streak to seven games entering the postseason.

Aiden Redmond and Caden Probst drove in go-ahead and insurance runs with two outs in the ninth, and the Knights rallied past Poplar Bluff 8-6.

Farmington trailed 6-3 before drawing even with three runs in the final inning of regulation. Luke Birkner eventually earned the win in middle and late relief.

Colten Crump pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth for the save. An impressive turnaround over the last two weeks has suddenly guaranteed a winning season for the Knights.

Farmington (13-11) will face Festus in the first round of the Class 5, District 1 tournament on Wednesday at Windsor High School.