The Chillicothe Hornets baseball team met the Benton Cardinals for the fourth time this season on Tuesday night, this one from Missouri Western in St. Joseph with a spot in the Class 4 state quarterfinals on the line. The Chillicothe Hornets entered 19-12 and winners of district 16 while Benton was 24-12 and district 15 champs. Chillicothe held a 2-1 series edge on the season against Benton entering this sectional matchup.
The Hornets began with a flying start, connecting on hits from each of their first four batters. Singles from Jack Marshall, Koby Wagers, Noah Rinehart and Howie Donoho resulted in runs from the Hornets two leadoff batters. Later in the inning with a 2-0 lead Cooper Robinson’s sacrifice fly scored Rinehart.
Koby Wagers pitched for Chillicothe and allowed just one hit in the first three innings. The Hornets maintained the 3-0 margin until the bottom of the 4th. After a pair of singles and a walk, Benton had bases loaded with no outs. Titan Helfery applied more pressure for the Cardinals with his single into left field which brought in the first Benton run and kept the bases loaded with no outs. Wagers was unfazed on the mount, forcing three consecutive infield fly balls in foul territory to escape the jam with a two run lead.
Chillicothe quickly extended the lead in the top of the 5th when Hubby Ralls hit a two RBI single that scored both Dane Ireland and Cooper Robinson. With Chillicothe ahead 5-1, Wagers went three up three down in both the 5th and 6th innings and the score was still 5-1 entering the bottom of the 7th.
Just two outs away from the first sectional title in program history, Wagers walked a batter to put one onboard for Benton. That would be the end of the night on the mound for Wagers who allowed just five hits and struck out six Cardinals. Noah Rinehart took over looking for the save, after giving up a double to Benton’s pitcher Chris Coy to score a run, Coy came home making it 5-3 Chillicothe with a runner on base and two outs. With the tying run up to the plate, Rinehart calmly executed his first strikeout on the night to clinch the win for Chillicothe.
The Hornets were able to celebrate their first sectional title in baseball on the same field where they had won district just last week, with a 5-3 win over MEC rival Benton. Chillicothe now has a school record 20 wins against just 12 losses and will host Pleasant Hill in the state quarterfinal on Thursday night from Shafer Park.
