KASEY TOURNEY:
Tonight’s championship game
At Greentown
7:05 p.m. Mike’s Pizza (R) vs. Stout & Son (R)
RUSSIAVILLE — Stout & Son came into the 2009 David A. Kasey Memorial Youth Baseball Tournament with modest credentials.
Now, it has a chance for a storybook finish.
Stout & Son will play for the championship after beating Salsbery Garden Center 9-3 in all-Russiaville semifinal round game Wednesday night at Robert M. Waddell Memorial Park.
“Last year, Stout & Son kind of came in with a target on their back and we made a run at [eventual champion] Rocchio’s [in the Sweet 16] and the better team did win that night,” Stout & Son manager Shawn Burton said. “This year, because of the way the second half of our season went, we knew we could play with anybody, but we knew we had to play this way and when we started doing that, we knew we had a good shot at it.
“We just kind of laid low and in all honesty, our expectations were to get to the Final Four. We’re ahead of that and we’re really proud.”
Stout & Son (15-8) advances to play another league rival, Mike’s Pizza (19-4), in the championship game at 7:05 p.m. today at Greentown. Mike’s was one of the top two teams at Russiaville this season while Stout & Son finished in the middle of the pack of the always-competitive league.
“We played [Mike’s] pretty weak, to be honest with you. I think we have a better ball team now. We’re going to give them the best we can give them. We’ll see what happens. Win, lose or draw, I’m proud of the kids,” Burton said.
Like Stout & Son, Salsbery (15-8) made an unlikely run to the Final Four. The Gardeners beat Russiaville champ Waddell’s IGA in the second round to highlight their impressive week.
Salsbery scored two runs in the top of the first to take a brief lead against Stout & Son. Josh Jansen and Kyler Vail had singles, Tyler Burthay lofted a sacrifice fly to score Jansen and Alex Crull followed with an RBI groundout.
Stout followed with three runs in the bottom of the first to take a lead it held the rest of the way. Speedy leadoff hitter Jacob Gascho reached on a bunt single to set the tone for his squad. Tyler White, Jake Burton, Tyler McFauls and Jonathon Raines all put down bunts too as Stout continually put the pressure on Salsbery’s defense.
“We’ve done it occasionally,” Shawn Burton said of the small-ball approach. “I don’t think you’ll see as much of that [tonight], but we knew who we were playing, how we thought they might react to small ball, and it worked out for us. We would have quit in a heartbeat had they made some plays, but you can’t quit until they start making you quit.”
Stout kept the 3-2 lead through three innings, then exploded for six runs in the fourth to break the game open. After Alex Herren led off with a single, Kaleb Harness and Gascho put down bunt singles and Herren scored when Salsbery committed a throwing error on Gascho’s bunt. Tyler White followed with a bunt that scored Harness.
Four batters later, with the bases loaded and two outs, Jacob Cox hit a hard grounder that Salsbery failed to field. Two throwing errors later, all four runners had crossed home plate and Stout owned a commanding 9-2 lead.
Salsbery scored a single run in the fifth to draw within 9-3, but it left the bases loaded which all but ended its comeback hopes.
Kyler Vail pitched the first three innings for Stout and Jake Burton pitched the final three. Vail allowed four hits, struck out three and walked one. Burton allowed one hit, struck out six and walked two.
Gascho finished 3-for-4 to lead Stout’s 11-hit attack. Jake Burton went 2-for-2 with a triple and Harness went 2-for-3. Four other players chipped in one hit apiece.
“I don’t have anybody on my team who stands out as the star on this team, it’s a group effort all the way around and that group effort, I’m hoping, is going to take us to the championship,” Shawn Burton said.
Jansen went 3-for-3 for Salsbery. Burthay had no official bats, but he had the sacrifice fly in the first inning and he drew intentional walks in the third and fifth innings.
Vail suffered the loss.
