The Fulton Hornets were ousted from the 2010 Class 3 state tournament via a walk-off home run in the seventh inning. The 2011 team is going out in a similar way just a little sooner. St. Francis Borgia senior Mick Fox sent a 1-1 pitch from Hornets junior reliever Burke Echelmeier out of the ball park for a solo home run to help the No. 1 seed Knights beat the No. 5 seed Hornets 5-4 in the Class 3 District 8 quarterfinals on Monday night.
Fulton (13-11) looked primed to upset Borgia - No. 2 in Class 3 -Â with a big first inning. Junior left fielder Jake Abbott reached on a lead-off single but was picked off at first base for the first out. Senior second baseman Alex Thomas got to first on a catcher's interference and senior right fielder Nick Christensen drew a walk to put two on with two outs.
That's when freshman shortstop Dalton Horstmeier struck the first big blow of the game with a 3-run home run to right field off of Knights senior pitcher Kody Gardner to put the Hornets up 3-0 after one inning.