St. Anthony, Altamont To Meet For NTC Championship

North Clay/Clay City and South Central will meet at 4 p.m. Friday for third place while St. Anthony and Altamont will square off for the tourney championship at 7 p.m. Both games will be heard on KJ Country 102.3.

St. Anthony 4, North Clay/Clay City 1

The Bulldogs jumped on North Clay/Clay City in the first inning and then had to hold off a challenge by the Cardinals in the seventh.

Beau Adams led off the top of the first with a double to left field. Aiden Lauritzen brought Adams home with a double that also went to left field. With one out, Connor Roepke singled home Lauritzen, with another hit that headed out to left field. Braddy Hatton singled but that's where the hitting ended and the Cardinals got out of the frame.

Meanwhile, North Clay/Clay City had gone up and down in the first but came back to put their first two batters on base in the second. Cayden Craig led off with a double to right field. But the Bulldogs got Craig off the bases with a fielder's choice hit by Ayden Jones. Lauritzen then struck out the next batter and got the final out on a pop up to short.

The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 4-0 in the second. With one out, Henry Brent doubled, again to left field. Adams followed by reaching base on an error. Adams advanced on a wild pitch that brought Brent home. Adams stole third and came home on a single by Brock Fearday.

North Clay's Craig got on base again, this time with a single in the fourth but was left stranded. The Bulldogs went up and down in the inning.

Both teams were up and down in order in the fifth and Lauritzen continued to puzzle the Cardinals.

Roepke drew a walk in the bottom of the fifth but North Clay/Clay City toughened up and got out of the frame.

North Clay/Clay City broke loose in the seventh. With two outs, Ayden Jones drew a walk. Trenton Ingram followed with a single. Carder Walden then brought Jones home on a single. Evan Clifton was hit by a pitch. That's when Lauritzen exited the mound and B. Fearday came on to get the final out, ending the contest.

Lauritzen went 6.2 innings, allowing four hits, one walk while striking out five for the victory.

"When you are able to take command of the strike zone and not give up any freebies, that's big," said St. Anthony Coach Tony Kreke of Lauritzen. "He's 6-0 on the mound. I've been impressed with his growth on the mound and he always has good composure.

"We took any run we could get especially early. We got on the scoreboard in the first and second and then they kept us off balance. North Clay has a good club and their coach pushed all the right buttons tonight. Fortunately, we scored early."

Coach Kreke talked about Beau Adams play in centerfield.

"Beau works on his position. He was defensive player of the year in the spring. Anytime a ball is in the air in the outfield, somebody is going to get it."

North Clay/Clay City's Jesse Weidner came on after the first inning to the mound. Although the Bulldogs scored two more runs in the second, Weidner kept St. Anthony off the bases the rest of the way. He gave up six hits, one walk and struck out two.

Hitting-wise, St. Anthony finished with six, doubles by Adams, Lauritzen and Henry Brent and singles by B. Fearday, Roepke and Hatton. Those three drove in a run along with Lauritzen.

The Bulldogs are now 23-1 on the season and will meet Altamont for the championship Friday.

"We got one more game," said Kreke. "We focus on one game at a time. If you are results-oriented, it will eat you up. So we just go out and play. I think the game will be a barn-burner and I'm excited about it. The guys have worked hard to get to this point."

At Paul Smith Field

North Clay/Clay City              000    000    1    --    1-4-2

St. Anthony                            220    000    x    --    4-6-0

WP -- Lauritzen. LP -- Jones.

North Clay/Clay City -- Craig, single, double; Ingram, single; Walden, single, 1 RBI

St. Anthony -- Adams double; Lauritzen, double, 1 RBI; B. Fearday, single, 1 RBI; Roepke, single, 1 RBI; Hatton, single, 1 RBI; Brent, double

At Altamont

Altamont produced offensively big-time in blanking South Central 8-0 Wednesday.

The Indians rumbled in the first inning but left two on base. Not so in the second. Keegan Schultz led off the frame by taking first base on an error and stole second. Riley Berg followed by also reaching base on an error. With one out, a third error put Justin Magelitz on base as he sacrificed and Schutlz came home. Kaden Davis singled home Berg and the Indians held a 2-0 lead.

Altamont came back with two more runs in the third. With one out, Dillan Elam drew a walk and Ethan Robbins followed with a single. With two outs, Berg singled home Elam and then Eli Miller singled home Robbins and the Indians led 4-0.

A fifth run came in the fourth. With two outs on the board, Elam drew a walk and stole second. There was an error on a ball hit by Robbins and Elam crossed the plate.

Meanwhile, Kade Milleville was keeping the Cougars under control. Through the first four innings, he had scattered three singles and struck out six.

The Indians scored a run in the fourth as Elam again came home after drawing a walk, stealing second and then crossing the plate on an error.

South Central's Callaway Smith singled along with Hudson Moore but couldn't get home in the fifth. The Indians got out of the sixth after Colton Smith singled, with a double play.

Altamont scored three more in the sixth. Two errors on balls hit by Elam and Schultz, singles by Berg and Miller and Justin Magelitz singled home a run to lead 8-0.

South Central got one runner on in the seventh on an error but Altamont got the next two on fly ball outs and Milleville struck out the final batter.

Milleville went the distance, allowing no runs on five hits, one walk and striking out seven.

Elam reached base all four times with two singles and two walks. He scored three times. Schultz reached base on two errors and scored twice while Berg had a single and reached on an error and finished with an RBI.

Altamont is now 17-6 on the season while South Central dropped to 15-8.

At Altamont

South Central                 000    000    0    --    0- 4-4

Altamont                         022    103    x    --    8-11-2

WP -- Milleville. LP -- Markley.

South Central -- Co. Smith, single; Ca. Smith, 2 singles; Moore, single

Altamont -- Davis, single, 1 RBI; Elam, 2 singles; Robbins, single; Berg, 2 singles, 1 RBI; Miller, 2 singles, 2 RBI; Magelitz, 3 singles, 2 RBI