Charleston Fighting Squirrels book spot in regional semifinals, blister Bismarck (N.D.) 14-2

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com The Charleston Fighting Squirrels' coach Michael Minner talks to his players during a timeout in the first inning against Ultimate Baseball in the Senior Babe Ruth state championship Saturday, July 15, 2017 in Charleston, Missouri.

Fred Lynch

The Charleston Fighting Squirrels blistered Bismarck (N.D.) 14-2 in its final pool play game at the Midwest Plains Regional Sunday in Junction City, Kansas.

Charleston right-hander Ronin Rice threw a five-inning no-hitter. He allowed two unearned runs, struck out seven and walked four.

The Fighting Squirrels scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning, five runs in the second and seven runs in the third for its 14-run total.

Charleston leadoff hitter Cole Nichols finished 2-for-3 with a double, triple and three RBIs. Ty Householder went 2-for-2 with a pair of singles and one RBI and Braden Cox finished 3-for-3 with a pair of singles and a triple.

Wyatt Pratt was 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI singles, Trey McDaniel finished 3-for-3 with two RBI singles and an RBI double and Palmer Campbell had an RBI single.

Rice finished 2-for-2 with a pair of singles and one RBI batting out of the No. 9 hole.

Bismarck recorded its first run in the top of the third inning when Kyle Schatz and Nate Burhardmeyer reached base on consecutive one-out errors, and Schatz later scored from third base on an RBI groundout by Mark Simmons.

Bismarck tallied its final run in the top of the fifth inning. Schatz drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second base when Burhardmeyer walked. Schatz then stole third base and scored on a throwing error by catcher Bobby Wright.

The Fighting Squirrels finish pool play 3-0 and book a spot in the regional semifinals with Sunday night’s win.

Charleston (37-6) plays Wayne County in its regional semifinal Monday at 1:30 p.m. The winner plays in the regional championship Monday at 4 p.m.

WP — Ronin Rice. LP — Brad Willoughby. 2B — Cole Nichols (CH), Trey McDaniel (CH).3B — Nichols (CH), Braden Cox (CH). Multiple hits — Charleston: Nichols 2-3, Ty Householder 2-4, Cox 3-3, McDaniel 3-3, Rice 2-2.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Friday’s Scores

Buckley (Colo.) 3, St. Paul East (Minn.) 2

Cottonwood Valley (Kan.) 11, Bismarck (N.D.) 1

Wayne County (Mo.) 6, Liberal (Kan.) 0

Charleston (Mo.) 10, Junction City (Kan.) 0

Saturday’s Scores

Buckley 5, Wayne County 3

Charleston 7, Cottonwood Valley 5

Liberal vs. St. Paul East (postponed)

Junction City vs. Bismarck (postponed)

Sunday’s Scores

Liberal 7, St. Paul East 6

Bismarck 5, Junction City 1

Wayne County 10, St. Paul East 0

Charleston 14, Bismarck 2

Buckley 3, Liberal 1

Cottonwood Valley 11, Junction City 1

Monday’s Schedule

Buckley vs. Cottonwood Valley, 11 a.m.

Charleston vs. Wayne County, 1:30 p.m.

Championship, 4 p.m.