By JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
FORT SCOTT — Larned pitcher Landon Erway threw a one-hit shutout and the Indians finished off Goodland 10-0 in Thursday’s winners bracket semifinals of the Class AA American Legion State Baseball Tournament. He threw a no-hitter against Ellis in Zone play last year.
Larned (16-11) needs one more victory to advance to the Class AA championship game for the first time since 2000. Larned advances into Friday’s 6 p.m. winners bracket final.
Erway spotted an effective changeup with a fastball and changeup. Erway had recorded 13 outs when Louie Ledesma singled in the fifth inning. Erway preserved his shutout by retiring Wence Hendrich and striking out Andy Wendell.
“I throw strikes and trust my defense when they put the ball in play,” Erway said. “I was throwing a good fastball and I got them to chase my curveball in the dirt a few times.”
Landon Erway struck out six batters and yielded no walks to work quickly in 90–degree heat.
“When Landon’s ball is sinking, he’s successful,” said Larned coach Chad Erway, Landon’s father.
Carson Smith scored Larned’s first run on a balk by pitcher Kelbey Smith. Larned scored four runs in the fourth inning and five times in the fifth inning for a run-rule victory.
Alex Barger ignited a four-run inning with a two-run double to score Johnathan Herter and Tyler Stelter after a hit batter and single. Mason Schartz’s single scored Barger. Evan Skelton’s single scored Schartz for a 5-0 lead.
Larned chased Kelbey Smith with a five-run fifth inning. Gage Skelton singled and scored on a wild pitch. Isiah Perez singled and Herter walked. Stelter’s single scored Perez and Barger’s groundout scored Herter for an 8-0 lead.
Stelter scored when catcher Evan Peter threw the ball away on Carson Smith’s steal. Schartz’s single drove home Carson Smith for a 10-0 lead. No. 7 hitter Barger drove in three runs and No. 9 batter Schartz drove home two runs. Coach Erway said Larned’s batters adjusted and started hitting early in the count to catch up to Kelbey Smith’s fastball.
“Our bottom half produced and that’s a good thing,” said coach Erway. “Those guys stepped up with good atb-bats and that was the difference.”
TROY-DONIPHAN COUNTY 5, FORT SCOTT 3
Troy-Doniphan County (31-2) advanced to the winners bracket final with a hard-fought 5-3 victory over Fort Scott. Nathan Gaarder delivered a bases-loaded sixth-inning triple that scored Luke Smith, Reid Greaser and Cutter Huss off pitcher Taylor Engstrom. Wyatt Huss, Luke Smith, Greaser and Cutter Huss walked to hand Doniphan County a recipe for the victory.
Doniphan County pitcher Brody Winder struck out 12 batters and shut out Fort Scott in the final four innings.
Fort Scott led 3-0 after three innings. Carter Young doubled home Kieran Houlihan after a double and scored on Winder’s wild pitch for a 2-0 lead after one inning. Taylor Engstrom singled home Kaleb DeLaTorre for a 3-0 lead after three innings.
Fort Scott starter Ryan Thomas worked into the fourth inning before Engstrom relieved him. Gaarder was hit by a pitch to force home Hunter Idol in the fifth inning. Doniphan County drew three walks and had two batters by pitches.
• RUSSELL 11, GOODLAND 3 — Russell’s Chase Prester drove in two runs in a nine-run third inning and pitched the final inning for an 11-3 victory over Goodland Friday in the American Legion Class AA State Tournament. Logan Braun worked four innings to earn the victory. Russell (16-9) plays at 8:30 p.m. Friday.
Logan Braun, Tanner Rome, Brandon Ridgley, Austin Dale, Cooper Pfannenstiel and Prester also drove home runs in the third inning. Braun scored on a wild pitch and Prester scored on an error.
Braun and Mason Beagley drove in fifth-inning runs for a run-rule victory.
Goodland pulled off a fourth-inning triple play when shortstop Nolan Deeds snared a line drive by Cooper Pfannenstiel, tagged second base and threw to third baseman Brandt Mull for three outs.
Goodland’s Mull and Andy Wendell drove in fourth-inning runs.
• RUSSELL 8, COLBY 0 — Russell lefthander Chase Prester threw a no-hitter to spark an 8-0 victory over Colby in an elimination game Thursday. Prester struck out four batters and walked four in five innings. Russell’s Mason Beagley capped a run-rule victory with a three-run homer that scored Prester and Tanner Rome.
Logan Braun ignited a five-run first inning by stealing home on a walk by Brandon Ridgley. Austin Dale ripped a three-run triple to score Tanner Rome, Ridgley and Cole Schmidtberger. Cooper Pfannenstiel singled home Dale for a 5-0 lead after Colby pitcher Rex Branum walked four batters.
• MARYSVILLE 16, IOLA 4 — Marysville scored seven second-inning runs and crushed Iola 16-4 with an eight-run fifth inning in an elimination game at the Class AA American State Baseball Tournament.
Jacob Stryker drilled a two-run triple to score C.J. Becker and Adam Lindhorst to ignite a 7-run inning. Tommy Brinegar followed with an RBI groundout for a 3-1 lead. Jayton Haggard, Hunter Warnick, Becker and Lindhorst added RBI base hits for a 7-1 lead. Warnick added an RBI groundout that scored Lohse for an 8-1 lead in the fourth inning.
Marysville scored eight times in the fifth inning. Haggard’s triple scored Kenworthy, Brinegar and Jacob Latta for a 12-4 lead. Warnick, Darrin Kieffer and Micah Kenworthy added RBI hits.
Iola’s Ethan Sigg forced home Dalyon Splane on a first-inning bases-loaded walk. Keanan Badders tripled home Splane and Vink after Vink’s RBI fourth-inning single drove home Calvin Delich.
LARNED 10, GOODLAND 0
LARNED AB R H BI
Evan Skelton 3 0 1 1
Gage Skelton 3 1 2 0
Landon Erway 3 0 0 0
Isiah Perez 3 1 1 0
Jon Herter 1 2 0 0
Tyler Stelter 3 2 2 1
Alex Barger 3 1 2 3
Carson Smith 2 2 1 0
Mason Schartz 2 1 2 2
TOTALS 23 10 11 7
GOODLAND AB R H BI
Nolan Deeds 1 0 0 0
Evan Peter 2 0 0 0
Kelbey Smith 2 0 0 0
Rafael Macias 1 0 0 0
Paul Diaz 2 0 0 0
Louie Ledesma 2 0 1 0
Brandt Mull 1 0 0 0
Wence Hendrich 2 0 0 0
Andy Wendell 1 0 0 0
Gabriel Biermann 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 15 0 1 0
Larned 001 45—10 11 1
Goodland 000 00 — 0 1 3
Erway and Stelter. Kelbey Smith, Deeds (5) and Peter. W—Erway. L—Smith. 2B—L, Barger. E—Peter 2, Mull, Herter. DP—Larned 1. SB—Carson Smith, Stelter, Schartz. CS—Macias, E. Skelton, G. Skelton. WP—K. Smith 2, Deeds. Balk—K. Smith. HP—Herter, Mull, Deeds, Macias. S—Schartz.
RUSSELL 11, GOODLAND 3
Goodland 000 30 — 3 4 3
Russell 009 02 — 11 11 1
Seeger, Diaz (3), Ledesma (4) and Peter. Braun, Prester (5) and Schmidtberger. W—Braun. L—Seeger. 2B—R, Ridgley.
DONIPHAN CO. 5, FORT SCOTT 3
DC 000 014 0 — 5 4 1
FS 201 000 0 — 3 5 0
Winder and Greaser. Thomas, Engstrom (4) and Houlihan. W—Winder. L--Engstrom. 2B—FS, Houlihan, Young.
RUSSELL 8, COLBY 0
Russell 500 30 — 8 5 0
Colby 000 00 — 0 0 1
Prester and Schmidtberger. Rex Branum, Hart (4) and Tucker Branum. W—Prester. L—Rex Branum. 3B—R, Dale. HR—R, Beagley.
MARSYVILLE 16, IOLA 4
Marysville 070 18 — 16 11 2
Iola 100 30 — 4 4 3
Brinegar and Becker. Vink, Greenwalt (4), Sufert (5) and Zimmerman. W—Brinegar. L—Vink. 2B—M, Lindhorst, Lohse, Kieffer; 2B, Iola, Sigg. 3B—M, Stryker, Haggard; Iola, Badders.
