Cardinals advance to district title

By Jacob Meikel

The Benton Cardinals cruised past the Cameron Dragons 15-0 in the Class 4 District 16 semifinals on Tuesday.

Senior Jackson Kanacsky set the tone for the Cardinals with his start on the mound. Kanacsky struck out three batters looking to record all three outs of the top of the first inning.

Benton then took the momentum from its starting pitcher and carried it over into the bottom of the first inning to get the scoring started early. With bases loaded, no score and two outs, Diego Barron came through for the Cardinals by knocking in two runs on a two RBI single to right field.

The Cardinals ended the first inning up 2-0 and would continue that throughout the contest and score 13 more runs the rest of the way.

The shutout victory marks the 28th win of the year for Benton, adding to its record-setting season. The Cardinals will play Savannah for the Class 4 District 16 Championship on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Missouri Western.