Park Hills, Mo. (KFMO) – The final day of the MAAA Conference Tournament is set after a pair of semifinals were decided by pitching duels at West County High School Thursday night.
In the first semifinal top-seed Valle Catholic ace Wyatt Fallert battled 4-seed Farmington’s best arm Aiden Redmond. Both pitchers were poised to work deep into the game after two scoreless innings.
Farmington attacked first in the top of the third after Tatem Tinsley doubled to left, then Cooper Tripp singled to right. Tinsley and Tripp combined for five hits in the 3-0 victory. Tinsley was 2-for-3 with a run scored and RBI, while Tripp was 3-for-4 with a run scored. Trevor Sutherland’s RBI single scored Tinsley, and Tripp scored on a wild pitch.
The Knights added a run in the fourth after Tinsley brought home Rice, who led the inning off with a double.
Redmond struck out seven batters in 6.1 innings pitched. Ty Wampler got the two out save.
Fallert allowed all three runs through five innings and struck out one batter.
The second semifinal was a tight game between 2-West County and 6-Fredericktown. The Blackcats used a nine inning endurance performance to outlast 3-Ste. Genevieve to advance to the semifinal and it looked like they were prepared for another close game.
Brody Simily was on the hill for the Bulldogs and struck out four batters in the first inning, one of which reached on a wild pitch. He worked out of a bases loaded jam that transpired after Mason Proffer and Ethan Marler singled. Simily ended the threat striking out Brayden Homan looking.
West County put together a two out rally in the bottom of the first inning with three straight singles from Hudsen Dunlap, Julian Thebeau and Jaxon Campbell. Dunlap finished the game as the only player with two hits. Campbell had the lone RBI.
Both teams settled in after that and there would be no more scoring.
Simily struck out 11 total batters and allowed just three hits over six innings in the win. Dunlap collected the save. The loss went to Homan. He allowed the run on seven hits and struck out seven.
In the top of the seventh inning Blake Terry-Breakfield was hit by a pitch then stole second base all with two outs as the game’s tying run. Noah Brubacher stood in to keep the rally moving. He and Dunlap battled through 10 pitches before Dunlap blew a fastball by Brubacher to end the game.
2-West County will host 4-Farmington in the MAAA Championship Game Saturday at 3:00pm. 1-Valle Catholic faces 6-Fredericktown at 1:00pm for third place. Coverage on AM-1240 KFMO, the KFMO App, and kfmosports.com begins at 12:30pm.
