HARRISBURG, Mo. - The third-seeded New Bloomfield Wildcats flattened the No. 6 Fayette Falcons 12-2 in six innings in first-round play at the Class 2, District 7 Tournament on Saturday afternoon.
New Bloomfield (8-10) now moves on to meet No. 2 seed Harrisburg in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
The Wildcats were edged by the Bulldogs in a wild 15-14 outcome at New Bloomfield on April 10. New Bloomfield owned leads of 11-6 and 14-12 before Harrisburg rallied for two runs in the seventh inning to tie the game and force extra innings, then won it with a run in the ninth.
"It's win-or-go-home time, and they (players) know that," Wildcats head coach Justin Forsythe said. "The pressure isn't too big for us - we're going to play our baseball and we'll see what happens between the two white lines."
New Bloomfield asserted control at the outset against Fayette on Saturday, erupting for six runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Wildcats then produced two runs in the second and one in the fourth to widen their lead to 9-0.
After the Falcons scored both of their runs in the top of the sixth, New Bloomfield countered with three runs in their half of the inning to end the game on the mercy rule.
The Wildcats' 12-hit attack was fueled by the heart of their order. Senior right fielder Robert Manning - batting fifth - was 2-for-4 with a triple, a double, three runs batted in and four runs scored.
Senior left fielder Tommy Bedsworth, in the sixth spot, finished 3-for-4 with a double, three RBI and scored once. Sophomore first baseman Clayton Martin - New Bloomfield's cleanup hitter - went 1-for-3 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored.
Senior second baseman Zack Burton was 2-for-4 and scored twice for the Wildcats, while senior center fielder Evan Roddy finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
"We were picky and got the pitches we wanted," Forsythe said. "We hit the ball hard and were lucky to find some gaps, and we took advantage of some mistakes."
Bedsworth and senior shortstop Tyler Martin both had two stolen bases as New Bloomfield finished with nine.
Senior starter Johnny Elliott gave up just one hit over three scoreless innings to collect the victory for the Wildcats. Elliott (2-0) struck out three and walked two.
"Johnny threw strikes and got people out," Forsythe said. "He did his job."
Manning threw the final three innings in relief of Elliott, surrendering two runs - both unearned - on one hit.