NEOSHO, Mo. — Second-seeded Webb City went full blitzkrieg against seventh-seeded Grandview with a 12-run opening frame on the way to a 16-0 three-inning win in the opening round of Class 5 District 7 play on Saturday at Roy B. Shaver Field.
The Cardinals (16-14) brought home 12 runs on eight hits in the opening frame to take complete command before adding four additional runs in the second, while blanking the Bulldogs (7-17) in their only three at-bats.
“I thought we swung the bats really well,” Webb City coach Flave Darnell said. “We had good approaches, put good swings on fastballs and put the ball in play so good things could happen. Twelve runs in the first inning really set the tone, and it was good to see.”
Webb City advances to take on third-seeded Neosho at 4 p.m. in the district semifinals on Monday.
“Neosho is a good team and they are going to be ready to go,” Darnell said. “We won 1-0 with them last time we played, so hopefully we can swing the bats a little better.”
The Cardinals went to work out of the gates with a leadoff triple from Eric Fitch, who touched home on a wild pitch during the next at-bat. Cy Darnell doubled for back to back extra-base hits and came around to score two batters later on a double steal, with Cade Wilson taking second. Wilson stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jeremiah Leaming to push the lead to 3-0. Back to back two-out errors by Grandview allowed another run to score before Kaylor Darnell doubled to right to plate a run. After a sixth run came home on another Bulldog error, Fitch stepped into the box again and doubled to left for an RBI and his second extra-base hit of the inning. Not to be outdone, Cy Darnell followed with an inside-the-park home run to make the score 9-0. Leaming added an RBI single before William Hayes wrapped the scoring with a two-run single to right.
“I felt like we have really been swinging the bat well lately,” Darnell said about the output in the first inning. “We talk a ton about being as good as we can come May. We looked pretty good today I thought. We are going to keep grinding it out with practice tomorrow and be ready for Monday.”
After a 1-2-3 inning on defense, the offense continued to swing the hot stick as Cy Darnell doubled home a run before Kenley Hood singled through the left side to score a run and push the lead to 14-0. Leaming followed with a two-run triple to center field to push the lead past the 15-run mercy rule, with the Bulldogs again going down in order in the top of the third to end the game quickly.
Kaylor Darnell started and earned the win after pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings on one hit, one walk and three strikeouts. Leaming pitched 1 2/3 scoreless relief innings, striking out one.
Fitch, who doubled and tripled, and Cy Darnell, who doubled twice and homered, both finished with three hits and three runs scored to lead the offensive onslaught. Darnell had three RBI, while Fitch drove in one. Leaming, who tripled, and Hood each had a pair of knocks, with Leaming driving in four and scoring once and Hood scoring twice and adding an RBI.
