Menu
SHS makes quick work of Kennett
Bulldogs smoke out Indians in five innings, 12-0
SIKESTON - The Sikeston Bulldogs baseball team posted a 12-0, five-inning win against Kennett on Wednesday at VFW Stadium.
It's the Bulldogs' fifth win this year that was stopped due to the mercy rule. It's also Sikeston's fifth shutout of the year.
The Bulldogs (11-1) blasted four home runs on a day in which the wind was blowing out to left field.
Blake DeWitt accounted for two of the home runs while Jacob Priday and Nathan Eaves each had one.
"They've got a really good ballclub," said Kennett head coach Bart McAtee. "They hit the ball really well, they jumped on us and it kind of snowballed from there. We made a few mistakes in the field and you can't do that against this team. They'll make you pay."
The Bulldogs plated four runs in the first inning and five more in the second to open up a 9-0 lead.
DeWitt got things started with a two-run shot in the bottom of the first that laser-beamed over the right field fence.
The very next batter, Priday, followed up with a solo home run over the left field fence.
Later in the inning, Cullen DeHart had an RBI-double to make it 4-0.
In the bottom of the second, the Indians (3-7) could've gotten out of a jam unscathed when Priday popped one up on the infield. But the first baseman misjudged it, allowing a run to score. A throwing error allowed another run to score to make it 6-0.
Eaves then connected on a two-run shot to make it 8-0.
The next batter, Scotty Keenan, then tripled over centerfielder Matt Thomas' head. Keenan scored when the Indians made a throwing error when trying to nail him at third.
The Bulldogs got three more runs in the bottom of the fourth highlighted by DeWitt's titanic blast over the street in right field.
After hitting zero home runs last year and just one as a freshman, DeWitt's two bombs on Wednesday marked his fifth and sixth of the year.
Priday has five home runs this year.
"We hit several balls pretty good," said Sikeston head coach Kevin Self. "Part of that I think is the wooden bats. With a wooden bat you know real quick when you don't hit it in a good spot. With an aluminum bat you've got a big sweet spot. I hope we can continue to hit like that. We need to refine our defense and get our pitching where it's supposed to be."
Overshadowed by the offensive fireworks was the gem thrown by sophomore lefty DeHart.
He threw the complete game shutout, allowing four hits and two walks. He struck out four.
"He's another young guy they've got that's going to be tough in the future," said McAtee. "He's pretty good right now and he's going to get a lot better. He shut us down pretty well."
Kennett starter Jonathan Winston threw three innings in taking the loss. He allowed 10 runs (five earned) off nine hits while striking out three and walking two.
Ryne Branum threw one inning of relief, allowing two runs, one hit and three walks.
"Everything today went our way," said Self. "We had the opportunity against Dexter and we didn't step on them. Today we got (Kennett) down, we stepped on them and took the air out of them early. When you hit the ball that hard, sometimes that happens. Today we hit it like we're capable of hitting."
Rhodes, DeWitt, Priday and DeHart each had two hits. Keenan was robbed of a hit in the first inning on a runner's interference.
The game was a far cry from the marathon last year in which the Bulldogs beat the Indians 7-6 in 10 innings in the district championship game.
McAtee is hoping for one more crack at the Bulldogs.
"I hope we see them again," said McAtee. "They're really tough. We're down for us a little bit this year. We can play better than we played today. Sikeston's really solid, we're going to have to play our 'A' game and they're going to have to be off a little bit for us to play with them. Today wasn't the case. They're going to win a lot of games and they're going to be hard to beat in our district."
Sikeston hosts Jackson today at 4 p.m. at VFW Stadium.
NOTES: The latest Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Poll was released on Wednesday and Sikeston was the new No. 1 team in Class 3. The Bulldogs moved up from their preseason ranking of No. 4.