MOKANE, Mo. - Three pitchers combined on a three-hit shutout as the No. 2 seed South Callaway Bulldogs ousted the No. 7 Steelville Cardinals 7-0 in the first round of the Class 3, District 9 Tournament on Saturday afternoon.
Senior Graysan Peneston also doubled twice and drove in three runs for South Callaway (22-5), ranked second in the state. The Bulldogs will play the winner of Saturday night's first-round matchup between No. 3 seed Cuba and No. 6 Bourbon in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Monday.
Junior starter Kaden Helsel did not allow any hits over three innings to log the victory for South Callaway on Saturday. Helsel (7-1) struck out six and walked two.
Peneston moved over from first base to relieve Helsel, giving up one hit in the next three innings, striking out three and issuing a walk. Junior Landon Horstman - who started in center field and then moved to first - pitched the seventh, working around two hits while striking out one.
The Bulldogs put up a run in the bottom of the first inning to grab a fast lead. Peneston doubled to right with two outs, stole third and scored when Horstman lined a single to left.
South Callaway increased its lead by tallying three more runs in the second. Sophomore third baseman Drake Davidson reached on an error to start the inning and advanced to second on freshman catcher Braden Lallier's sacrifice.
Helsel and sophomore shortstop Peyton Leeper then drew consecutive walks to load the bases. Peneston provided another double - this one to center - to score Davidson and Helsel, and Leeper raced home on the relay throw to make it 4-0.
The Bulldogs picked up another run in the third. Horstman led off with a double to right, went to third on junior second baseman Dylan Lepper's groundout to second and scored on Davidson's groundout to shortstop.
South Callaway sealed its victory with two runs in the sixth. Junior right fielder Josh Johnson was hit by a pitch to open the inning, moved to second on Lallier's sacrifice and came around to score on Helsel's double to center.
Helsel then stole third and scored when Peneston was safe on an error.
Peneston and Horstman both finished 2-for-4 as the Bulldogs totaled eight hits.