Webb City advances to district final
WILLARD, Mo. — Webb City's baseball team moved a step closer to its fifth straight district title with a 4-0 win over rival Carl Junction in their Class 5 District 6 semifinal Wednesday at Willard High School. With the win, the Cardinals (28-4) — the top-ranked Class 5 team in the state and the No.
2 seed in the tournament — will face Willard (29-8) — the second-ranked team in Class 5 and the No. 1 seed — for the district championship at 6 p. m.
Friday at Willard. The winner of that game moves on to host a Class 5 quarterfinal best-of-three series against the District 5 champion beginning May 29. In their only meeting this season, the Cardinals defeated Willard 5-3 at Missouri Southern State University’s Warren Turner Field.
Willard was able to overcome four errors and eek out a 3-2 win over fourth-seeded West Plains earlier Wednesday in the tourney’s other semifinal. The Cardinals stretched their win streak to 16 games with the win over CJ — the No. 6 team in Class 5, the third seed in the tournament and one of just four teams to have beaten Webb City this season.
The Bulldogs (27-10) won their season opener 2-0 against Webb City but would not be as fortunate Wednesday, as the Cardinals jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back. Webb starter Mason Young hurled a complete game shutout, giving up just three hits while striking out six and walking three. Mason Williams finished a perfect 4 for 4 at the plate, scoring twice, driving in one run and adding three stolen bases to his stats.