Williams pitches Windsor into semifinal round

WINDSOR — Windsor’s Jon Williams and Stover’s Wes Mueller hooked up in a pitcher’s duel in opening round play of the Class 2, District 14, baseball tournament on Monday night.

Mueller struck out 14 batters, but Williams fanned 12 and his Windsor Greyhounds knocked off the Stover Bulldogs 3-1 to advance to the semifinals.

“He was dealing today,” Windsor coach Brad Forrest said of Williams. “My catcher came in after the third inning, he goes, ‘They’re not going to touch him.’ They didn’t. I mean, he was on. When they did hit the ball, we made plays.”

The Greyhounds got Williams a quick run in the top of the first.

Dillon Johnson reached on an error, worked his way to third base, and scored on an infield single by Corey Buford to make it 1-0.

Stover (8-9) mounted its only serious threat in the bottom of the first, loading the bases with two outs. Williams got a ground ball to end the inning and keep Windsor in front.

While Williams was mowing down Stover batters, Mueller was matching him pitch for pitch.

After surrendering a single to start the second, Mueller struck out the next six batters as he was in complete command.

Windsor (4-7) got to Mueller for another run in the fourth, once again taking advantage of Stover errors.

Ryan Hamilton grounded a single to right to score Buford, who had reached on an error, to make it 2-0.

Mueller reached base on an error in the sixth and worked his way to third with a pair of stolen bases.

He broke for home and scored when Seth Folsom drove a single to left, cutting the Windsor lead to 2-1.

The Greyhounds got an insurance run in the seventh without the benefit of a hit. Codi Moon was hit by a pitch, reached second on a throwing error and third on a wild pitch, and scored on another infield error.

“We capitalized. We had an opportunity and we capitalized,” said Forrest. “Especially that third run we pushed across. That was a big run. Standing over there next to the dugout, you could kind of feel the air come out of them a little bit when we scored that run.”

Williams worked a scoreless seventh to seal the win, striking out the final batter of the game.

Stover coach B. J. Adams saw another fine effort by Mueller go to waste as his team struggled in the field and with the bats.

Against “Cole Camp he had 15 and we lost, now he has 14 and we lose. Two costly errors, one throwing and one base running,” he said. “The Williams kid pitched a good game. I mean, we just couldn’t put the ball in play. When we did put it in play, they didn’t make mistakes. We just didn’t do it enough.”

Forrest was excited by the win and the chance to see his team advance in postseason play.

“We haven’t been back on the winning side at districts the last couple of years. I know last year we got ousted quick. It feels good to get back going again. It really does,” he said.

Windsor will face Cole Camp (12-2) in the semifinals at 4 p.m. today.

Cole Camp 10, Osceola 0

Tyler Rusk went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, and Corey Vance threw four one-hit innings Monday night at Cole Camp.

Vance struck out seven and walked no one in a  game called in the fifth innings because of the mercy rule.

Trenton Miller went 2-for-2 with two RBIs and three runs scored. Vance went 1-for-1 with three RBIs, and Garrett Gilbert went 1-for-2 with three runs scored.

Lincoln 12, Crest Ridge 11

The Lincoln Cardinals scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning Monday to win a first-round game at Windsor.

Crest Ridge stormed out to a 10-2 lead after two innings. The Cardinals scored five in the third, and Crest Ridge had one in the fifth to take an 11-7 lead into the final inning.

Earl Pierce (2-1) gave up one earned run on six hits with three strikeouts and one walk in five innings of relief.

Cabe Siegfried took the loss, allowing three earned runs on four hits with four strikeouts and two walks in two innings.

Steven Wischmeier went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and five RBIs.

Logan Treece went 3-for-6 with a double and the game-winning RBI.

Kevin Aery, Josiah Casey, Alec Crull and Richard Bonner had two hits apiece as part of Lincoln’s 13-hit attack.

Lincoln will face Tipton in the semifinals. Tipton beat St. Paul Lutheran 10-0 in Cole Camp.