Benton falls short of Class 4 championship

By NewsPress Now

OZARK, Mo. — The Benton Cardinals finished one victory shy of a Class 4 state baseball championship Thursday afternoon.

The Cards were defeated by Blair Oaks, 7-2, in the title game, held at the Ozark Mountain Sports Complex. Benton finished with a season record of 32-4 while Blair Oaks rose to 26-13.

Blair Oaks, a multiple-time state champion in its baseball program’s history, came out the gates strong. The Falcons put the Cardinals on their heels early by scoring the first four runs of the contest before Benton could even get its first run.

Senior Jackson Kanacsky would be the entrusted starting pitcher for the Cardinals. The last time fans saw Kanacsky pitch, he pitched a three-inning no-hitter in a 16-0 victory in the Class 4 quarterfinals against St. Michael the Archangel. One week since that performance, Kanacsky would not be able to offer the same effect on Blair Oaks the same way he did to St. Michael.

Kanacsky would last just 2 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on seven hits before being replaced by fellow senior Carson Davis.

Davis would do his best to stave off the Falcons. He would buy enough time for the offense to catch up on the scoreboard. Davis and junior Chris Coy would both notch RBIs to cut the Blair Oaks lead down to 4-2.

However, the heart of a champion came about for Blairs Oaks, allowing them to continue to pile on the runs with what was a brutal bottom of the sixth inning for Benton. The Falcons would score three more runs in the inning and finish off the Cardinals without giving them much hope for a comeback.

The Cardinals’ loss brought an end to a 21-game win streak that dated all the way back to April 11 and lasted the rest of the regular season and all the way up to the Class 4 state championship game.