Scott City withstands early push by Kelly to win fourth-straight district championship

Thursday, May 19, 2016
Members of the Scott City Rams celebrate its 9-4 win over Kelly following the Class 3, District 2 championship game at VFW Memorial Stadium in Sikeston, Mo. (Chris Pobst/Standard Democrat)

SIKESTON, Mo. -- An energetic Kelly squad came out firing.

They scratched out three runs in the top of the first inning against Scott City's ace and grabbed all momentum against the Class 3, District 2 top seed.

Kelly's fan base was raucous. Scott City's was squirming.

Scott City's Braden Cox delivers a pitch to a Kelly batter Wednesday during the Class 3, District 2 championship at VFW Memorial Stadium in Sikeston, Mo. (Chris Pobst/Standard Democrat)

The only ones who weren't shook were Scott City's nine on the field.

The Rams (20-7) dusted off a rocky start from Braden Cox and their powerful offense immediately answered in the bottom of the first vaulting them to an eventual 9-4 win and their fourth-straight district title on Wednesday at VFW Memorial Stadium in Sikeston, Mo.

"There was a lot of baseball left after that first half inning," Scott City junior Ty Wilthong said. "We just had to keep grinding and we did that tonight. All year we've found a way when we've been down. That's just the kind of team we are."

Wednesday's title game was originally scheduled to be played at Hillhouse Park in Charleston, Mo., but wet field conditions forced tournament officials to move the contest to Sikeston following the Class 5, District 1 final that was played beforehand.

As hoped, Kelly started quickly. Their patient approach at the plate pressured Cox into a hit batter, a walk, two hits and a sacrifice fly and the Hawks were ahead 3-0 in the blink of an eye.

Their start mimicked the quick boost they had during their 15-7 tournament semifinal win against Saxony Lutheran Monday where they tagged the Crusaders with nine runs in the first inning.

They gave starter Jonathon Tyler the opening they were looking for to take down the district favorite on Wednesday.

Kelly's Ty Householder chases Scott City runner Hunter Copeland in a rundown Wednesday during the Class 3, District 2 championship at VFW Memorial Stadium in Sikeston, Mo. (Chris Pobst/Standard Democrat)

"I knew we'd come out strong," Kelly coach Justin McAlister said. "We had quality at-bats and that was our approach against Saxony. That was our gameplan tonight. Whether we scored or not we wanted to make that inning tough on (Cox) and make him feel uncomfortable and we did."

But it wasn't enough.

The Rams put its first five batters on base scoring four runs on three hits and a walk. Andrew Short scored two with a single. Wilthong pushed across two more with his single that gave Scott City the lead for good.

Scott City, who lost a 3-2, eight-inning game in last season's Class 3 state championship game, never lost confidence after suffering through Kelly's push.

"Our guys knew what was going on," Scott City coach Jim May said. "We've been down this road. We've played Kelly a lot over the past four years and they're a good team and we always play good games. Our guys knew what we were up against and I knew they'd answer."

The Rams added four more in the third after a two-RBI single from Jordan Kluesner, an error from Kelly first baseman Wyatt Ledure and an RBI single from Dakota Talley.

If Kelly's momentum wasn't shot after Scott City's first four runs, the second did the trick.

"That's a pretty dang good team over there," McAlister said. "They responded in that bottom half and everything kind of fell into place for them, unfortunately for us."

Cox bounced back quickly from his shaky start. He allowed three runs and four baserunners during the first inning. He finished the remaining six innings giving up one run on five hits.

A member of Scott City's baseball team takes a picture of the Class 3, District 2 plaque with his cell phone Wednesday following the Class 3, District 2 championship game at VFW Memorial Stadium in Sikeston, Mo. Scott City won 9-4. (Chris Pobst/Standard Democrat)

"Looking back on it now, I don't think I was mixing my pitches up very well," Cox said, referring to his first inning. "They came out and hit the ball and came at me. I had to change it up."

The trust Scott City, who's won the last 14 games against Kelly, had in their top pitcher never faltered.

"I knew he'd figure it out," Scott City catcher Ty Wilthong said, who's caught Cox since he was eight years old. "He always does. He's a heck of a pitcher and it's always been that way. He finds a way and he battles."

Cox allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks total. He also struck out nine.

"His curveball was really going well," May said about Cox. "He was spiking his fastball, maybe overthrowing it a little bit. He did well. He pitched a complete game against a pretty good ball club."

Kelly (12-13) understood what they were up against. They knew three runs may not be enough to hold down the Scott-Mississippi Conference champions who score an average of seven runs a game. The Rams upped that averaged to 10 runs a game in their last six.

"They played for a state championship last year so they were going to respond in the bottom half," McAlister said. "The question was were we going to be able to stop it. When they hung a crooked number up, they flat out beat us."

Scott City will take on New Madrid County Central (11-14-1), who took down Caruthersville 5-0 for its district title, on May 23 in the sectional round. The location of that game was not known at press time.

Kelly 300 000 1 -- 4 7 3

Scott City 404 100 x -- 9 9 1

WP -- Braden Cox. LP -- Jonathon Tyler. Multiple hitters: (K) Mitchell Proctor 2-3; (SC) Cox 2-4, Dakota Talley 2-3.

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