MOKANE - New Bloomfield senior third baseman Tyler Fennewald drove in two runs with a solo home run and a double as the top-seeded Wildcats downed No. 4 Russellville 5-1 in the Class 2, District 8 semifinals Wednesday night.
The semifinal games were moved to Mokane because of wet playing conditions at New Bloomfield. The Wildcats (17-7) - winners of six straight - will go back home to play for the District 8 title at 6 tonight.
New Bloomfield, last year's Class 2 runner-up, will clash with No. 3 seed Vienna in the championship after the Eagles edged No. 2 Linn 4-3 in Wednesday night's late semifinal. The Wildcats split their two meetings with Vienna during the regular season.
"The guys are hungry and still have goals to achieve," New Bloomfield head coach Justin Forsythe said. "They know what it's about and they've been there before. Their mindset is right.
"We're just going to play New Bloomfield baseball and put our nose in the dirt."
Fennewald went 2-for-3 to fuel the Wildcats' 10-hit attack Wednesday night. He doubled home senior shortstop Grant Nichols in the bottom of the first inning and then launched his solo shot to left with two outs in the third to make it 2-0.
Nichols - who also finished 2-for-3 - supplied an RBI double in the fourth as New Bloomfield scored its other three runs. Junior right fielder Tommy Bedsworth was 2-for-3, while junior designated hitter Robert Manning and freshman first baseman Clayton Martin were both 1-for-3 with a run scored.
Senior starter Clay Jensen gave up an earned run on seven hits to earn the complete-game win for the Wildcats. Jensen struck out four and walked one.
Boys' tennis
Fulton's Windsor qualifies for Class 1 state tournament
JEFFERSON CITY - Hornets sophomore Haydon Windsor advanced to the Class 1 state championships for the first time with his 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 singles victory over Columbia Independent's Josh Cohen at the Sectional 4 meet Wednesday.
Windsor (18-7) will move on to compete May 27-28 at the Class 1 tournament at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.
"Haydon is always a little bit mellow, but I think he was pretty excited," Fulton head coach Rob Fisher said.
Fisher noted that Windsor did a nice job of settling himself after bowing in the second set to Cohen.
"I thought he was pretty resilient in bouncing back and closing out the match in impressive fashion," Fisher said. "He just figured out what worked with his game plan - he was bringing the kid into the net and using passing shots."
College Women's golf
William Woods in sixth at NAIA championships
SAVANNAH, Ga. - After weather suspended play Tuesday, the top-ranked Lady Owls completed the first round Wednesday with a 311 total and sat in sixth place at the NAIA national championships.
William Woods University was five shots behind Keiser University and the University of the Cumberlands, which shared the team lead at 306 at Savannah Quarters Country Club. Coastal Georgia was in third place with a 308 and the University of South Carolina-Beaufort and Indiana Tech shared fourth place at 309.
Sophomore Katie Warren paced the Lady Owls individually and was in a four-way tie for 12th place with a 3-over par 75, four shots off the lead. Keiser's Elsa Westin was in first place with a 1-under 71.
William Woods senior Jodie Peacock was in a six-way tie for 16th with a 76. Sophomore Celia Mansour shot a 78 and was tied for 27th, while senior Myriam Hassan and sophomore Andrea Agniel were both tied for 71st with a pair of 82s.
Because of Tuesday's weather delay, the national championships have been reduced to 54 holes and continue with play today and Friday.
Women's tennis
William Woods advances to NAIA quarterfinals
MOBILE, Ala. - The No. 10 Lady Owls reached the quarterfinals of the NAIA national tournament by turning back No. 7 Westmont (California) College 5-3 on Wednesday afternoon.
William Woods University's quarterfinal match will be today, but the identity of the Lady Owls' opponent was not known.
Here are the singles and doubles results from William Woods' triumph over Westmont:
No. 1 singles: Lauren Stratman (WC) defeated freshman Karyna Sagalai (WWU), 6-0, 6-0; No. 2: Ines Costamagna (WC) def. freshman Chelsea Steward (WWU), 6-2, 6-3; No. 4: freshman Alba Salinas (WWU) def. Haley Strandness (WC), 7-6, 6-3; No. 5: freshman Felicia Cesar (WWU) def. Chloe Clement (WC), 6-1, 6-0; No. 6: freshman Julia Mulder (WWU) def. Fernanda Rivera (WC), 6-3, 6-4.
No. 1 doubles: Stratman/Lee (WC) def. Sagalai/freshman Paige Smith (WWU), 9-7; No. 2: Steward/Mulder (WWU) def. Costamagna/Strandness (WC), 8-3; No. 3: Cesar/Salinas (WWU) def. Rivera/Clement (WC), 8-4.
First-round play was suspended Tuesday, but the Lady Owls finally got started at the national tournament earlier Wednesday and blanked No. 23 Asbury (Kentucky) University 5-0h.
Here are the singles and doubles results from the victory:
No. 4 singles: Salinas (WWU) defeated Laura Ross (AU), 6-0, 6-0; No. 6: Mulder (WWU) def. Victoria Horseman (AU), 6-0, 6-0.
No. 1 doubles: Sagalai/Smith (WWU) def. Caitlin Conyers/Sarah Beth Alford (AU), 8-2; No. 2: Steward/Mulder (WWU) def. Alexandria LoPrinzi/Emily Ross (AU), 8-2; No. 3: Cesar/Salinas (WWU) def. Ross/Juleah Morehouse (AU), 8-2.
Baseball
Westminster drops opener in Division III tournament
SAUGET, Ill. - The Blue Jays could not match a pair of mammoth innings from Wisconsin-Whitewater.
The top-seeded Warhawks tallied four runs apiece in the fifth and eighth innings to pull away for an 11-4 victory over No. 6 Westminster College on Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Division III Central Regional at GCS Ballpark.
The Blue Jays (28-14) will now play No. 2 seed Wartburg (Iowa) College (33-12) in an elimination game at noon today. Wartburg was upset by No. 5 seed Rose-Hulman (Ind.) 7-2 in a first-round matchup Wednesday afternoon.
Westminster grabbed an early lead against Wisconsin-Whitewater (30-14) when it put up a run in the top of the second. Sophomore second baseman Blake Strebler reached on a fielder's choice, moved to second on junior designated hitter Connor Hager's two-out walk and scored on junior catcher Nolan Bax's single to right.
The Warhawks tied the game on catcher Dane Burman's solo home run to left in the bottom of the third and then opened up a 5-1 advantage behind their outburst in the fifth. Wisconsin-Whitewater added a run in the sixth, but the Blue Jays narrowed the gap by producing three runs in the seventh.
Bax was safe on a one-out error and sophomore shortstop Adam Mundle followed by drawing a walk. After senior left fielder Deion Hughes lined out to right, senior third baseman Tyler Branneky was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Junior first baseman Nick Cessna then singled to score Bax and Mundle.
Following a pitching change by the Warhawks, sophomore center fielder Nick Bohlmann reached on an error and Branneky raced home on the play to bring Westminster within 6-4. That would be as close as the Blue Jays would get and Wisconsin-Whitewater tacked on a run in its half of the seventh and then sealed the win with its breakout in the eighth.
Cessna went 2-for-5 with a double as the Blue Jays totalled eight hits. Bohlmann was also 2-for-4.
Westminster senior starter Collin Brinker surrendered seven runs, only three earned, on 12 hits over seven innings in being tagged with the loss. Brinker (9-3) - a North Callaway graduate - struck out three and issued two walks. The Blue Jays committed three errors.