|
|
 |
Red Birds Soar Over Cubs 20-3
In their 3rd State Tournament game, the Cardinals hung tough for 3 innings, and then exploded for 6 runs in the 4th and 11 in the 5th to eliminate the Cubs. Brandon Schmidt pitched a solid game to get the win, pitching a 2 hitter and striking out 10 in 4 innings. Reliever Alex Mitchell struck out 2 in one inning of work to earn the save. The Cardinals' Brandon Schmidt led all base runners with 5 steals and scored 4 runs. Ian Mayfield added 4, and Jared Staton and Jordan Deaton had 3 each. Schmidt and Mayfield also had a game high 3 hits, each going 3 for 3. Schmidt had a triple and two doubles, while Mayfield had a triple and two singles. Right fielder James Simms reached base safely on both trips to the plate, drawing walks and scoring twice. Donovan Mills led the team with 5 RBIs. Defensively, the Cardinals had two outstanding plays. With 1 out in the 2nd inning, catcher Ian Mayfield made a perfect throw to 3rd baseman Jared Staton to throw out the Cubs' Clay Ketzcher on an attempted steal. Pitcher Brandon Schmidt then struck out 6 Cubs in the 3rd and 4th innings. With 1 out in the 5th, Mayfield threw on the money to shortstop Donovan Mills to retire Cubs' right fielder Kevin Chamberlin on a steal attempt. At bat in the 1st inning, the Cardinals' Brandon Schmidt got a one out walk. After Schmidt stole 2nd and 3rd, Ian Mayfield singled to right to put the Cardinals up 1-0. Cardinals' left fielder Alex Mitchell grounded up the middle to score Mayfield and give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. Cubs' 3rd baseman Chris Revas homered in the bottom of the 1st to tie the game at 2. With 2 outs in the 3rd, Schmidt doubled to right field, and scored the go-ahead run on a single to right by Mayfield. The turning point in the game came with 2 out in the Cardinals' half of the 4th. After falling behind in the count 0-2, Cardinals' second baseman Jordan Deaton battled to foul off 5 pitches to force Cubs' ace Chris Revas to throw 11 pitches before receiving a walk. Jacob Cranford stole 2nd and 3rd, and scored on a single to left field by Donovan Mills to start the scoring. After two more hits by Schmit and Mayfield, the Cardinals had a 9-2 lead. A tired Revas was pulled after throwing 43 pitches in the 4th. Cubs' cleanup hitter Ryan Weng went deep for a solo home run in the bottom of the 4th to cut the lead to 9-3. With one out in the 5th, James Simms on 3rd, and Dale Abraham on 2nd, Donovan Mills crushed a 3 run shot into the parking lot beyond the center field fence for his first career home run. This put the Cards up 14-3 and put the game out of reach of a Cubs comeback. With the victory, the Cardinals advance into the Elite 8 and become one of only 8 teams left in the State Tournament. The Cardinals will face a familiar team in the Lions on Saturday, July 15th, at 4:00pm at Lovelady Field in Dover.
|
|
