Benton Cardinals advance to championship game in the Pony Express Baseball Tournament
By Calvin Silvers
Phil Welch Stadium was prettied up after some weather damage from Tuesday’s storm, and the sun shone on the diamond for the Pony Express High School Baseball Tournament semifinal matchup between the Benton Cardinals and Smithville Warriors.
Despite a slow start, the Cardinals used the back half of innings to find their rhythm, as clutch pitching mixed with an onslaught on scoring from the fourth inning gave Benton a 6-1 victory, propelling them to 17-3 on the season.
In the top of the first, Benton’s Jackson Kanacksy struck out the first two Smithville batters, then caught a pop-up in field fly for the third out. Bats were woken up early, as Cardinals’ Myles Bachali was able to reach base off a single at his first at bat. Bachali would reach second after Chris Coy tallied a single.
With runners on first and second, a deep fly ball would be caught by the left fielder for Smithville, and Benton’s Carson Davis’ hit tried the right field, but that would be caught as Smithville escaped the inning without allowing a run.
As the second inning rolled around, Smithville found some luck with their bats. With two outs and runner on first, Smithville’s Owen Mitchell used a short infield fly to reach first and advance a runner to second. After a controversial call that ruled Smithville safe at second, bases were loaded with Bryce Whitney to bat.
The pressure of loaded bases would prevail, as a wild pitch from Kanacksy allowed the runner from third to cross home plate with no issues, and Smithville left the top of the inning with a 1-0 lead. The bottom of the second inning wasn’t too exciting for Benton. They would place a runner at second, but back-to-back pop-ups would end the inning, and Warriors held onto their slim lead.
In the third inning, both teams showcased their defensive prowess, as both teams were able to relatively get through with few hits. It wouldn’t be until the fourth inning where Benton would break open the game, and never look back.
Jaxson Rich getting things going, his hit took a couple infield bounces, an overthrow to the first baseman allowed Rich to remain safe, and brought in Davis for a run, tying this game at one apiece. Carson Schmidt was the next batter, and his hit dropped in the infield, and the Warrior shortstop had trouble fielding the ball, resulting in safe runners at first and third, and Treigh Nowak added another run.
Benton wasn’t done in the fourth. Bachali would get his shot at the plate, and he lined one up the middle, bringing in Rich to tally another fourth inning run to propel the lead 3-1. Chris Coy would smack one to right field, and Schmidt would score to end the inning with a 4-1 run lead.
The Cardinals would hold onto their lead, and advanced to the championship game after defeating Smithville 6-1. The championship is at 4:30 on Thursday at Missouri Western.
