Cardinals win high-scoring affair with Warriors
For the second straight season, the Benton Cardinals will play for a Pony Express Tournament championship following a 16-11 semifinal win over Smithville on Tuesday.
Following a less-than-ideal showing in the Walkoff Wood Bat Tournament a week ago, in which the Cardinals suffered losses to Moberly, Chillicothe and MICDS, Benton hit the reset button and now finds itself in position to once again claim the Pony Express Tournament crown.
A controversial double play call in the second inning left the Warriors scoreless in the inning. With one out and the bases loaded, the Cardinals attempted to turn the double play from second to first as a Smithville runner was coming across home plate. Initially, the umpires ruled the first base runner safe, which would have counted the run across home plate while the inning continued. However, after a conference between the infield umpire and home plate umpire, the runner at first was deemed out, leaving the Warriors without the run they could have used at that juncture in the game.
Tied 1-1 heading into the top of the third inning, Benton found its groove at the plate even with two outs early in the inning. Senior Chris Coy got the action started with a double to left center field. Following Coy, freshman Porter McCarthy would drive in Coy on an RBI single, but the Cardinals would continue to impose their will. With the bases loaded and leading 2-1 in the bottom of third, junior Cy Polley would drive in two more runs with a shot to right field.
Following the quality win over a 14-2 team in Smithville, the Cardinals will now head to the Pony Express Tournament title game on Thursday at Phil Welch Stadium. Benton is currently the defending champions of the annual tournament.
