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STATE CENTER — Kinnick Christensen hit a three-run homer and pitched a complete game on the mound during West Marshall’s 13-3 victory over Colfax-Mingo on July 13 during Class 2A District 13 quarterfinal action.
The Trojans hit a pair of three-run dingers in the game. Colfax-Mingo got within 4-3 in the fifth inning, but West Marshall plated three in the bottom of the fifth and six in the sixth to end the game early.
“I hate to have the season be over,” C-M baseball coach Brian Warrick said. “They are a pretty good team. We hit the ball hard at times. We just couldn’t find a lot of clutch hits.”
Brady Berkey was 1-for-1 with two walks, one run and one steal to lead Colfax-Mingo.
Nate Jones had a pair of hits and Cole Bracewell added one hit and two RBIs.
Kaden Davis hit an opposite field three-run homer off C-M starter Trystin Ross in the first inning to put third-seeded West Marshall in front for good.
Ross got out of a two-on, no-out situation in the second inning and sat down the Trojans in order in the third. West Marshall plated one in the fourth thanks in part to a fielding error.
Sixth-seeded Colfax-Mingo (6-10) got on the board in the third inning to trim its deficit to 3-1.
Zach Steenhoek singled with one out and then moved to second on a ground out by Ross. Bracewell’s RBI single drove in Steenhoek.
After West Marshall added one in the fourth to go up 4-1, C-M closed the gap in the top of the fifth.
Berkey walked and went to third on Ross’ one-out ground rule double to right field. Cole Bracewell’s RBI ground out scored Berkey and Ross sprinted home on a wild pitch.
“Brady got on base a lot, but we need to do a better job of moving him around and bringing him home,” Warrick said. “That was a problem, too.”
The Tigerhawks just couldn’t slow down the Trojan bats though.
West Marshall (12-5) had four hits and scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth. The big hit was a two-out, two-run single by Jeremy Sly.
Ross allowed a double, a walk and a bunt single in the sixth before being chased because of pitch limit.
Berkey relieved him and Christensen smacked a 2-0 pitch over the fence in left-center field to make it 10-3. Berkey only got two outs in the inning.
“They hit some deep balls on us. There were two homers but they had some other ones that hit gaps in the outfield, too,” Warrick said. “The bottom half of the lineup hit a lot of balls in the infield, but we had a hard time containing the top half of the lineup.”
West Marshall ended the game by mercy rule after cranking out two more hits, including a two-run walk-off double by Ryan Reyerson.
Ross took the loss on the mound, allowing seven runs — six earned — on nine hits with three strikeouts and one walk in five-plus innings.
Berkey surrendered four runs on four hits with one strikeout and one hit batter in 2/3 innings.
Ross, Steenhoek and Cael Bracewell all had one hit for the C-M offense. Ross and Steenhoek both scored a run.
West Marshall had 14 hits in the win. Davis finished with three hits, two runs and three RBIs.
Christensen added two hits, three runs and four RBIs. On the mound, he went all six innings and allowed three earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks.
The Trojans lost 3-2 to second-seeded Des Moines Christian in the semifinals.
Top-seeded Roland-Story fell 3-2 to South Hamilton in the other semifinal. South Hamilton edged PCM 8-7 in the first 2A District 13 quarterfinal on July 13.
Both quarterfinal games were scheduled to played on July 11 but rained and lightning washed out most of the innings and pushed both finishes to July 13.