Sweep victory

Thursday could not have gone much better for Blue Springs South.
Needing a doubleheader sweep of William Chrisman to clinch a tie for the Suburban Big Seven title with rival Blue Springs, the Jaguars beat Chrisman 9-2 in the first game before pounding the Bears 21-1 in the nightcap.
“This was a nice way to end finish off the season,” said South coach Richard Wood, whose No. 9 was retired before the game – the only retired number in the history of the school (please see column). “We hit the ball pretty well. It was a good way to finish the season.”
In the first game, it wasn’t necessarily South’s hitting, but the ability of the Jaguars (20-3, 10-2) to take advantage of Chrisman mistakes.
The Bears (3-19, 0-11) committed four errors and walked nine batters total for the game.
South took advantage, blowing open a 4-2 lead with four runs in the fourth – almost all scoring because of errors.
“They’re already really tough,” Chrisman shortstop Eddie High said of South. “When you just give them runs like that, it makes them very tough.”
South jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Blaine Dalton and an error.
But Chrisman tied the game on an RBI single by Dalton Drummond and High’s two-out RBI double.
“We came back and showed we could go toe-to-toe with anyone in the state if we play hard,” Drummond said.
Then, South took over, as Derek Cox allowed no hits over the next three innings. Kellen Bartlett came on in relief and struck out all six hitters he faced to close out the game.
South took the lead for good, as two runs scored following a Chrisman error on a potential double play ball.
“I just tried to get back in and stay relaxed,” Cox said. “That (two-run inning) helped me relax. I know we have a great offense, and we’re going to get a lot of runs.”
South closed the scoring in the sixth on a solo home run by Riley Reynolds – his team-leading fifth at the time.
“I didn’t know if I hit it hard enough,” Reynolds said. “I thought it would get (blown back) by the wind. It felt good though.”
In the second game, South took control early, as Jeff Lusardi slugged a three-run home run to highlight a nine-run first inning, as the Jaguars blew out the Bears and officially clinched the share of the conference title.
Kirk Huismann belted a grand slam, while Reynolds notched a three-run double.
Nick Mullendore had Chrisman’s lone hit against South starter Joe Toomire – a solo home run. It was Toomire’s first start of the season.
“They don’t have a hole in their lineup,” Chrisman coach Justin Woods said. “We started walking people and couldn’t stop the bleeding. We had three errors in the first inning. That inning was the knockout blow and we couldn’t come back.”