Blue Springs Rod’s Sports Athletics second baseman Greg Wisner rapped five hits and scored the eventual winning run in the top of the 11th inning.
Andrew Cottle had two circus catches and slugged his second home run of the season.
And first-year player Tyler Barth cracked three hits and won his first game of the year on the mound in a wild 7-5, 11-inning Fifth District Tournament championship game victory over upstart Raytown Post 596 Thursday night at Hidden Valley Park.
But after the 3-hour, 40-minute marathon ended, all anyone was talking about was a bloop double by A’s cleanup man Matt McHenry and his eventual steal of home that helped the A’s win their eighth consecutive district crown.
McHenry, who had struck out with a man on third and just one out in the 10th inning, came to the plate in the top of the 11th with Wisner on third.
“I knew I had to do something,” McHenry said, “because I hadn’t done much offensively the entire game.”
With the Raytown infield pulled in for a possible play at the plate, McHenry dumped the ball a few feet behind second for an RBI double.
“Make it seem like I really ripped the ball,” joked McHenry, who went to third on a long fly ball out and scored on a dramatic steal of home when Raytown pitcher John Smith threw to second base to appeal McHenry leaving the bag too early.
“We really kind of cheated on that play,” A’s third base coach Jack Gillis said. “I heard them say they were going to appeal in their dugout, and I told Matt to be ready to head home if they threw it to second.”
An appeal must be made while the ball is live, and when Smith turned to throw to second, McHenry slid home with a huge insurance run.
“I’ll be honest with you,” said McHenry, who has been a part of the past three A’s district titles, “I didn’t know if this game was ever going to end – and it really didn’t bother me. The way we’ve turned it on and been playing the last couple of weeks, I wanted to keep on playing – as long as we won.”
Barth, a first-year A’s player, pitched scoreless 10th and 11th innings to pick up his first win of the season.
The 31-15 A’s will play the Oak Grove Bats at 2 p.m. Saturday in Sedalia, Mo., in Missouri Zone 2 Tournament action. The winner of that tournament advances to the Missouri American Legion State Championships July 30-Aug. 1 at Hidden Valley Park.
Raytown, which advanced to its first Fifth District Tournament championship game in team history, didn’t go down quietly.
After the A’s scored two runs in the top of the 11th, Smith drilled a one-out single over Wisner’s head at second base.
“We knew the next kid had hit the ball up the middle,” Wisner said of catcher Chase Kuehl, “so (shortstop Bret) Sutton and I were ready.”
Kuehl hit a line drive at Wisner who turned it into a 4-6-3 game-ending double play.
“When Sutton got the ball at second base, I just hoped and prayed for a good throw to first to get the double play,” Barth said. “It was just amazing how we won this game. We’re really coming together as a team.”
The A’s took a 2-0 lead in the first on a Jordan Martinez single, Wisner triple and Sutton sacrifice fly, but two A’s errors led to an unearned run in the bottom of the inning.
The defending champions made it 5-1 in the fourth on Kyle Seithel’s double, Dan McGonigle’s RBI double and Cottle’s two-run homer.
McGonigle had three hits in the game.
“The homer was nice, but I also struck out three times,” Cottle said. “I think the catches I made were bigger.”
The A’s left fielder dove near the foul line to rob Aaron Smith of extra bases in the second inning and then made an over-the-shoulder grab of a Smith bomb to center field to keep Raytown off the scoreboard.
Raytown scored four runs in the sixth on a two-run double by Marcus Douglas and a two-run homer by Vince Spilker.
“After Spilker hit the homer to tie the game,” McHenry said, “I told (center fielder) Jordan Martinez, ‘This is going to be a long night.’ ”
Neither team scored until the A’s pushed across the two runs in the top of the 11th.
Raytown wraps up one of its most memorable seasons with a 26-29 record.
FIFTH DISTRICT TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP LINESCORE
At Hidden Valley Park
Championship
BLUE SPRINGS ROD’S SPORTS ATHLETICS 7,
RAYTOWN POST 596 5 (11 innings)
A’s 200 300 000 02 — 7 13 3
Raytown 100 004 000 00 — 5 11 0
Reed, Sutton (7), Barth (9) and McGonigle; Lynch, Spilker (9), Smith (11) and Kuehl. W-Barth (1-0). L-Smith. HR: Cottle (2), Blue Springs A’s.
