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Cardinals Stun Hector 7-2 To Force Final State Championship Game
The Cardinals jumped out to an early 3 run lead and stunned Hector 7-2. Donovan Mills pitched a masterful game and let his strong defense work for him. Mills, pitching in his 2nd State Championship game, walked none, allowed 5 hits, and struck out 5 on the way to getting a complete game win. The visiting Cardinals got the scoring started when shortstop Alex Mitchell forced in Mills on a bases loaded walk. Jared Staton worked to a full count before walking to score Brandon Schmidt. First baseman Zach Mitchell hit a shot to right field to score Mayfield and give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. Hector leadoff hitter Trent Mosley scored in the bottom of the 1st, but Hector's threat was ended on a double play by Cardinals' center fielder Dale Abraham. Hector 3rd baseman Cole Allen hit a deep line drive, but Abraham used his speed to run it down at the fence on a spectacular play that saved 2 runs. After the catch, Abraham threw to shortstop Donovan Mills at 2nd base to catch Hector 1st baseman Austin Colburn off base and end the Hector threat. Cardinals' 2nd baseman Jordan Deaton scored in the 2nd on a single from Schmidt to give the Cardinals a 4-1 lead. Hector brought in their hard-throwing ace #14 Matt Pruitt to pitch in the top of the 3rd. With 1 on and 1 out in the 3rd, Cardinals' 3rd baseman Brandon Schmidt gloved a hard grounder to retire Hector 2nd batter Clint Rook. Then, center fielder Dale Abraham caught a high fly ball at the right-center field fence from Hector's Colburn to end the inning. After Hector cleanup hitter Matt Pruitt homered to lead off the 4th, Cardinals' 2nd baseman Jordan Deaton made a big play when he caught a grounder in the hole behind first to retire Hector hitter Cole Allen for out number 1. Pitcher Mills fielded a bunt down the 1st base line and made an off-balance throw to Zach Mitchell at 1st for the 2nd out. With 1 out in the 5th, Cardinals' shortstop Alex Mitchell fielded a hot 2 hopper and made a good throw to 1st to rob leadoff hitter Mosley of a hit and keep the score at 4-2 Cardinals. With one out, leadoff hitter Abraham, after fouling off 5 pitches, was hit in the leg by Hector pitcher Pruitt. Mills followed with a single. After Schmidt reached base, catcher Mayfield doubled to deep right-center to score Mills and give the Cardinals a 6-2 lead. Alex Mitchell rounded out the scoring with an RBI single to right field for a 7-2 Cardianls' advantage. With one out in the 6th, Cardinals' left fielder Jared Staton made an outstanding play to catch a deep fly on the foul line at the fence to rob Pruitt of a hit. The outstanding defensive player of the game was Dale Abraham, who made 3 difficult catches in center field. The Cardinal offense was paced by Donovan Mills who went 4 for 4, with a double and 3 singles, and Zach Mitchell, who had 3 singles on 3 for 3 hitting. The stolen base leaders were Mills with 3, Schmidt with 2, and Abraham with 1. Mills and Schmidt both scored twice for the Cardinals. With the win, the Cardinals knocked Hector from the ranks of the unbeaten and forced a final State Championship Game to be played at 8:00 pm today.
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Southland Cardinals
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