For the sixth year in a row and the ninth time over the last 10 seasons, Lone Jack has come away winners of the I-70 Conference Baseball Tournament. The Mules claimed the title on this occasion by beating St Paul Lutheran, 4-1 Thursday night at the Concordia Sports Complex, as heard on KMMO AM 1300.

In a low-scoring affair, Lone Jack was out-hit by the Saints three to two, but the winners certainly made the most of the best scoring opportunity they had. Tied 0-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the Mules sandwiched two walks around a sacrifice bunt and a throwing error, loading the bases with no one out. One hitter later, Luke Throgmorton stroked a single down the left field line, making it 2-0. That blow preceded Drew Sims’ base knock to right center, plating two more men which widened the gap to 4-0.

St Paul was blanked until the top of the seventh when a hit batsman, a single, a wild pitch and an RBI ground ball off the bat of Trent Beerman brought home Ethan McKeage, which finally put the Saints on the board in their 4-1 loss.

Luke Throgmorton fired the last five innings of the contest in relief of Blayze Marsh to earn the victory. Throgmorton surrendered the lone run on two hits while fanning four as the Mules improved to 16-5 overall. Walker Bodenstab took the loss for the Saints who fell to 11-3 on the season. Bodenstab pitched four innings and was touched for three runs despite not allowing a hit as he fanned seven batters and walked three. Jaydon Battista threw the final two frames, giving up one run on two hits while striking out five.

In Thursday’s third place game, Sweet Springs beat Concordia in baseball for the first time since 2019, snapping a streak of nine straight losses against their rivals as they blasted the Orioles, 13-3 in six innings. In addition to scoring 13 runs, the Greyhounds had 15 hits while stranding 13 runners.

Sweet Springs scored six times in the top of the first, enabling them to lead 6-1 after the opening stanza. The Greyhounds tacked on a run in the second, two during the third and another one in the fifth to build a 10-1 advantage for themselves. Concordia did send across a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth, making it 10-3 before three more runs by the Greyhounds in the sixth brought about the final score of 13-3.

Drayton Hampton fired a six-inning complete game as he allowed three runs on seven hits while striking out 10 and walking four, on route to the victory. Everyone who batted for Sweet Springs drove in at least one run. Jason Gonzalez and Ty Murphy both had three RBI for their side. Seven different people had hits and also scored runs for the winners. Jason Gonzalez provided three singles for the Greyhounds while six of his teammates added two base knocks apiece. In addition, Bryer Fowler scored three times on behalf of Sweet Springs with four other ‘Hounds denting the plate twice themselves.

For Concordia, seven batters had one hit each in a losing cause as Carson Droege tallied two of the Orioles’ three runs.

In Wellington’s 17-7 abbreviated, consolation game victory over Crest Ridge, the Cougars actually drew first blood, thanks to Owen Wyatt’s three-run homer during the opening half-inning. The Tigers however, responded in a hurry as they sent 16 men to the plate in the bottom of that frame and scored 13 times for a 13-3 lead. Wellington added four more in the second, widening it to 17-3 before the Cougars did attempt to make things respectable with a four-spot in the fourth as the scoring ended at 17-7.

Kingston Lopez was the only Wellington player with as many as two hits, while driving home three runs and scoring three times in the process. Besides the three RBI which Lopez was responsible for, Taten Kolkmeyer, and Archer Gann knocked home three runs of their own as Garrett Burec came up with two as well. Meanwhile, leadoff man Wyatt Miller reached base on four occasions as he, like Lopez, dented the plate
three times with two Tiger teammates tallying two runs each. Other than the three-run homer by Owen Wyatt, Crest Ridge’s offense was nearly non-existent as they had just two hits all day with Emery Corn adding an RBI single near the end.

Also Thursday in Concordia, Crest Ridge pipped Lone Jone in an extra frame to claim the I-70 Conference softball tournament title, 5-4.  In consolation action, Concordia blanked St Paul Lutheran 11-0 for the consolation title, while Wellington-Napoleon dominated Orrick 15-0 for seventh place.  The third place game between Sweet Springs and Santa Fe was delayed to Friday afternoon at 4 p.m.