The Drew Central Pirates got a solid performance from Junior pitcher Drew Burton and a seven run first inning to secure a second seed in the 3A-4 Regional Tournament to begin on Thursday, May 4, at Genoa Central.
Burton would start the contest by striking out the Dragon lead off batter. The next batter would ground out with Burton getting the final strikeout to end the inning.
Nate Cooper would lead things off for the Pirates by reaching first on an error followed by a steal of second base.
Wyatt Wood singled to right field that scored Cooper.
Consecutive singles by Burton and Jase Watt would load the bases with no outs for the Pirates.
Will Watson singled to left field to score Wood and Burton to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead.
Tyler Grant would be hit by a pitch in the next at bat with Tyler Hornaday connecting for a single to score Watt.
After recording the first two outs of the inning, Grant would score on a wild pitch followed by a single by Cooper to score Jacob Jones and Harnaday for a 7-0 lead.
DeWitt would score a run in the top of the fifth and another run in the top of the sixth to set up the 7-2 final securing the Pirates a second seed in the Regional Tournament.
Nate Cooper led the Pirates at the plate going 2 for 4 with two RBI and a run scored. Wyatt Wood was 1 for 1 with a run and an RBI, Drew Burton was 1 for 4 with a run but was responsible for striking out 15 batters pitching a complete game.
Jase Watt was 1 for 4 with a run, Will Watson went 1 for 4 with two RBI. and Tyler Hornaday was 1 for 3 with a run and an RBI.
The Pirates will now enter the 3A-4 Regional Tournament in Genoa Central to face Prescott on Thursday, May 4, at 12:30 pm.
If the Pirates win they will qualify for the 3A State Tournament and will continue play at regional on Friday at 12 pm and Saturday at 12 pm for the third place contest or 2:30 pm for the 3A-4 Regional Championship contest.
The 2023 3A State Championship Tournament will be held at Lincoln.
