Kennett's title defense continues with 12-2 win over Affton

Kennett's Reese Robinett high fives coach Aaron New as he rounds third after hitting a home run during the Class 4 Quarterfinal against Affton on Friday, May 27, 2022, in St. Louis.

DDD/Robert Augsdorfer

ST. LOUIS — Kennett's quest for a second straight state title continues.

Tanner Duncan struck out eight and Reese Robinett broke a scoreless tie in the third inning with a home run as the Indians beat Affton 12-2 in the MSHSAA Class 4 quarterfinal Friday.

"We've been here before and we've got the experience from last year," Kennett coach Aaron New said. "We know that we're going to be facing really good ballclubs from here on this time of year."

Kennett (25-4) will travel to Ozark to take on Logan-Rogersville on Wednesday.

Friday at Bayless High School, Duncan struck out eight in six innings, tossing five shutout innings.

"My fastball was really working for me," Duncan said.

New was glad to see Duncan back in form.

"He had kind of a rough start last time out, but I'm glad to see him bounce back like he did today,” New said. "We're going to need him to be at his best going forward."

The Indians gave Duncan plenty of run support, which started with a literal bang as Robinett went deep to right in the third.

"I got walked in my first at-bat and he threw me a hanging curveball in my second at-bat," Robinett said. "I took a big swing at it and it went over."

The next time Robinett stepped up to the plate, he got hit in the back on the first pitch.

"I don't know if their pitcher meant to do that or if it just got away from him," he said.

Kennett got two more runs in the fourth courtesy of the Gardner brothers as Matt Gardner drove in a run on a double and scored on a single by Trey Gardner.

In the fifth, the Indians took advantage of some miscues by Affton as three runs came in to score on errors as Kennett put five runs up in the frame. One run came in on a dropped third strike that could have ended the inning as Kennett took an 8-0 lead.

Affton finally got on the board in the sixth as Ronnie Willenbrink doubled to drive in a run and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Joe Scuzzo. That's all the Cougars could get against Duncan.

The Indians loaded up the bases in the home-half of the sixth and Matt Gardner nearly brought them all home, but the ball banged up against the fence. Only one crossed the plate with the runners tagging, however, Trey Gardner drove in two on a double and that ended the ballgame early.

Kennett has won nine straight and scored at least nine runs during each of its postseason games.

The semifinal against Logan-Rogersville (25-7) will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at US Ballpark in Ozark. The winner advances to the championship at 1 p.m. Thursday with the loser playing at 10 a.m. for third place.

The other semifinal features Southern Boone (32-2) and Marshall (12-17).