MOKANE - South Callaway senior third baseman Drake Davidson had four hits and drove in five runs as the state-ranked Bulldogs blew past Jamestown 10-0 in five innings Tuesday night.
Senior starter Austin Loucks and junior reliever Caleb Hall combined on a two-hit shutout for South Callaway, which remained unbeaten at 4-0. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 4 in Class 3 by the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association.
South Callaway started fast Tuesday night, putting up two runs in the bottom of the first inning and piling on four more runs in the second to build a 6-0 lead. The Bulldogs added two runs apiece in the fourth and fifth to end the game on the 10-run rule.
"We want to score first and score often to give our pitchers a cushion," South Callaway head coach Heath Lepper said. "Games tend to lean your way if you have the lead and it affords you the opportunity to take more chances."
Davidson went 4-for-4 with four singles, two stolen bases and scored a run as the Bulldogs collected nine hits. Senior shortstop Peyton Leeper - who has signed to play at NCAA Division I Southeast Missouri State - was 1-for-1 with a triple, an RBI, walked three times and scored three runs.
Senior right fielder Tyklen Salmons also finished 1-for-3 with an RBI for South Callaway. Junior second baseman Devin Borghardt went 0-for-1 but had an RBI and a run scored.
Loucks (1-0) surrendered only two hits over four innings to earn the win, striking out six and walking three.
"Austin threw a lot of strikes and got ahead of three-quarters of the batters," Lepper said.
The Bulldogs begin play in the Borgia/Union Tournament with a pair of games Friday. South Callaway faces host Borgia at 11:30 a.m. and Cape Girardeau Notre Dame at 2 p.m.
"The boys are taking care of the things they need to take care of," Lepper said. "They're looking forward to going up to the tournament and playing some stiff competition.
"If we can compete against those guys, we can compete against a lot of Class 3."