South Callaway advances to Final Four

South Callaway sophomore third baseman Drake Davidson slides safely into second base in the bottom of the
first inning of the Bulldogs' Class 3 quarterfinal against Strafford on Wednesday night, May 24, 2017 in Mokane. Davidson's fly ball to right field was misplayed, allowing three runs to score, as second-ranked South Callaway went on to defeat Strafford 8-1 and will return to the Class 3 final four for the second straight year.
South Callaway sophomore third baseman Drake Davidson slides safely into second base in the bottom of the first inning of the Bulldogs' Class 3 quarterfinal against Strafford on Wednesday night, May 24, 2017 in Mokane. Davidson's fly ball to right field was misplayed, allowing three runs to score, as second-ranked South Callaway went on to defeat Strafford 8-1 and will return to the Class 3 final four for the second straight year.

MOKANE, Mo. - Peyton Leeper admitted he and his teammates didn't have the best batting practice session before second-ranked South Callaway's state quarterfinal clash with the Strafford Indians.

But the Bulldogs did enough to secure their return to the Class 3 Final Four.

The sophomore shortstop's bases-clearing double in the bottom of the fourth inning - one of only three South Callaway hits - broke the game open as the Bulldogs staved off Strafford 8-1 on Wednesday night.

"Awesome - I don't know too many adjectives other than 'awesome,'" South Callaway head coach Heath Lepper said. "They got a taste of it last year, and they're ready to go back and get a little bit more this year."

The Bulldogs (26-5) will face Knob Noster (20-5) in the second Class 3 semifinal at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 31, at Car Shield Field in O'Fallon. Knob Noster beat Mid-Buchanan 12-6 in their quarterfinal Wednesday night.

Strafford (19-7) racked up nine hits, but stranded 10 base runners. South Callaway made its low-hit total stick by cashing in on patient plate appearances and two costly miscues by the Indians.

Strafford starter Dillon Turner retired the first two Bulldogs he faced in the first before South Callaway's Graysan Peneston extended the inning with a single.

Landon Horstman and Austin Loucks followed by drawing back-to-back walks to load the bases. Dylan Lepper then coaxed a third consecutive walk to force home designated-runner Devin Borghardt for the game's first run.

One batter later, Drake Davidson's fly ball was misplayed by Strafford in right field and all three runners scored to put the Bulldogs up 4-0.

Strafford turned to Austin Tipton the next inning to minimize the damage. Using a submarine delivery, Tipton sat the Bulldogs down in order in the second and third inning.

"He was right-handed, so it was a little bit lower of a release point," Leeper said. "It's just tough to hit, tough to see and everything."

Tipton's performance allowed the Indians a bit of momentum. Elijah Perkins pushed the only Strafford run home on a grounder back to Peneston in the third to score Hunter Langston. Peneston and his defense stymied other such scoring efforts by the Indians, however, as the Bulldogs left a Strafford runner on in the third.

The Indians cobbled together a two-out rally in the fourth and had runners at second and third, before Peneston struck out Langston to extinguish the threat.

Peneston (8-2) - South Callaway's lone senior - notched a three-inning relief win in Monday's 6-5 sectional victory against Mountain Grove and was just as effective against Strafford. He surrendered the one earned run on eight hits, struck out six and walked two in six innings.

For Lepper's team, getting to make the trip back to O'Fallon is a big deal. The Bulldogs would like to come back with some heftier hardware after finishing fourth in Class 3 in 2016.

"It feels great," Leeper said. "Last year we didn't finish the way we wanted to, and this year we're going back to hopefully finish the way we want."