Lee’s Summit North routs De Soto, moves into title game

SPRINGFIELD | During Lee’s Summit North’s magical run through the Class 4 state baseball tournament, one thing the Broncos have consistently been able to do is put plenty of runs on the board.

And that trend continued in Friday’s semifinal game against De Soto. After a hitless first inning, Lee’s Summit North battered De Soto starter Neal Finch for eight hits and 11 runs in the second as the Broncos cruised to a 12-1 five-inning victory at Meador Park.

It was the second game in a row that Lee’s Summit North had scored in double figures. The Broncos outlasted Liberty 16-11 in a three-hour quarterfinal game on May 28.

“Usually we need every one of (those runs),” said Lee’s Summit North coach Jeff Diekmann, whose team improved to 26-5. “Fortunately today, we didn’t.”

A big reason for that was the pitching of Broncos starter Dylan Jensen. The Broncos’ big second inning allowed him to challenge De Soto’s hitters with fastballs, and he ended up striking out five and allowing only two hits over five innings to pick up the win.

“We jumped out early, and that took a lot of pressure off me,” Jensen said. “I was just trying to get outs.”

The only run he gave up was unearned. De Soto finally got on the board in the fourth inning when a Dragons player who had reached base on an error scored on a one-out double.

That was all De Soto could muster. Jensen got out of the inning and shut the Dragons down in the fifth to clinch the victory.

Right fielder Chad Shannon had three hits and a team-high four RBIs for the Broncos, who will face Fort Zumwalt South at 1 p.m. today for the state championship.

Although the Broncos have already made school history — prior to this season, they had never advanced past sectionals — there’s more they want to accomplish.

“The story is still (being) written,” said first baseman Gavin Stark, who had two hits (including a home run) and three RBIs. “We’re not done yet.”

Cape Girardeau Notre Dame 5 Harrisonville 1Harrisonville coach Jade Samborski was not surprised that his team’s Class 3 semifinal game against Cape Girardeau Notre Dame on Friday came down to pitching and defense.

In fact, given the stacked lineups that each team put on the field — the two squads both averaged around 10 runs a game this season — Samborski predicted it would.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Notre Dame received better performances in each area and rode both to a 5-1 victory.

Harrisonville committed two errors — neither of them led to runs — but pitching, in particular, proved to be the Wildcats’ downfall.

Samborski was satisfied with the way Wildcats starter Landon Teal and reliever Kyle Livingston threw. Instead, it was Notre Dame ace Colton Young who gave them problems.

Young, who had entered the game with a 0.73 ERA, allowed one run on seven hits and struck out nine in seven innings.

However, the Wildcats had their fair share of opportunities.

Take the sixth inning, when junior Derek Haug led off with a single. Senior Delby Hannah hit an RBI double that put Harrisonville on the board, and the Wildcats, who trailed by only three runs at that point, went on to load the bases with only one out.

According to Samborski, the Wildcats had capitalized all year at moments like that one. But it wasn’t to be this time, as Young struck out the next two hitters to end the threat.

“You have to tip your hat to the kid,” said Samborski, whose team dropped to 23-7.

Notre Dame, 28-1, added a final run in the top of the seventh, and Young finished the Wildcats off in the bottom of the inning to clinch the win and send his team to today’s state championship game.

Harrisonville will now try to end its season on a positive note in the third-place game, which starts at 7 tonight.

submitted by TEREZ A. PAYLOR - 2009-06-05 23:23:01

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