The South Central Cougars followed up their big upset win in the semifinals of the National Trail Conference Tournament with a 5-2 win over Windsor/Stew-Stras in the Championship game to cap off a big tournament run and claim their first title since 2013. The Cougars carried a lot of momentum into the game and got the scoring opened on the day when Ryker Dodson scored from third after he advanced on a single to right field by Aiden Strobel. WSS attempted to throw Dodson out as he advanced to third but the ball skirted away and into the WSS dugout which automatically gave Dodson the next base. That 1-0 South Central lead held until the bottom of third inning when the Hatchets tied the game up 1-1. The Hatchets took the lead one inning later in the bottom of the fourth on a line drive single going up 2-1 but the lead was short lived. Soth Central opened the fifth inning with a double by Sebastian Kruger and Eli Hiestand followed with a bunt single to put runners at the corners with no outs. Jordan Smith put down a bunt to single and score Kruger and tie the game at 2-2 while Hiestand moved up to second base. After the first out of the half inning, South Central pitcher Aiden Hoover helped himself out with a double to left field that scored Hiestand and gave the Cougars the lead back, 3-2. Keeping the rally going for South Central, Dodson doubled to left field as both Smith and Hoover scored and the Cougars lead was pushed out 5-2. Garret Shumate singled to again put runners at the corners for the Cougars with two outs but a fly out ended the inning. Hoover was able to get a fly out, a pop out and a strike out of the Hatchets in the bottom of the fifth to hold the South Central lead at three runs. Kruger led off the sixth inning with his second hit of the game, a single to right field, to get things started but a pair of strikeouts and a ground out held the Cougars scoreless in the inning. After WSS was sat down one, two, three in the bottom of the sixth, South Central was able to continuing making contact at the plate in the top of the seventh inning but hit right at the WSS fielders for a pair of groundouts and a fly out. The Cougars allowed one baserunner for the Hatchets in the bottom half of the inning but used two flyouts and a groundout to close out the game and the 5-2 win. In a cool moment during the trophy presentation, the Cougars were awarded the National Trail Conference Tournament trophy by NTC President and current South Central Middle School Principal Jamie Van Scyoc. South Central wraps up their fall season at 13-10
South Central Offense:
Aiden Hoover – 1-3, Double, R, RBI
Ryker Dodson – 1-4, Double, R, 2 RBI
Aiden Strobel – 1-4
Garret Shumate – 1-2
Sebastian Kruger – 2-3, Double, R
Eli Hiestand – 1-3, R
Jordan Smith – 1-2, BB, R, RBI
South Central Pitching:
Colton Tockstein – 1.2 IP, o R, 0 H, 4 BB, 3 K
Aiden Hoover – 5.1 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K
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