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New London, Keota move on
Tigers tame Pekin, Eagles knock out Danville in District doubleheader
KEOTA — Four teams entered and only two survived in a Class 1A District 11 doubleheader on Saturday night in Keota.
All part of the Substate 6 tournament, which will send one team to the state baseball tournament in Carroll, Saturday’s district openers saw both New London and Keota prevail and move forward in their postseason journeys.
New London and Pekin were up first, and a pitcher’s dual turned into a 3-0 Tiger victory. Keota held home field against Danville in Game 2, winning 4-1.
New London’s Gavin Menke-Bailey and Pekin’s Nolan Glick went toe-to-toe in the first game. Both pitchers traded scoreless innings early on, and only one half a frame saw any runs all night long.
All tied 0-0 after one-and-a-half innings, New London put two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the second, setting up Memphis Watson for the biggest hit of the night. Watson sent a two-out, two-run double to left-center field to break the scoreless tie.
“Someone got a hit and then someone else got a hit, and I put one out there,” Watson said. “That kid was dicing me up though, I thought he was going to strike me out, to be honest.”
Watson would add one more by scoring on a wild pitch a few pitches later, accounting for all runs scored in the ballgame.
“We needed him in a big spot there, and he came up clutch for us,” said New London head coach Jayden Flowers. “He's been a great hitter all year, so I trusted him.”
That was all Menke-Bailey needed. The Tiger junior struck out five Panthers over a complete-game seven innings, allowing just seven hits all game.
“I trust my team out there to make plays,” Menke-Bailey said. “My job is throw strikes. Just let them hit it.”
All of the second inning runs off Pekin’s Glick were unearned. JaeDon Wolver came in to pitch in relief and shut the Tiger offense down, but the Panther offense couldn’t capitalize.
New London’s Sullivan Barron did have a pair of hits on the day, going 2-for-3.
Keota took the field for Game 2, and it looked a lot like the contest before it. Another low-scoring affair was highlighted by a masterful pitching performance from Cole Kindred.
The Eagle senior threw the first five innings of the game for Keota. He struck out seven Danville batters and gave up just one earned runs, allowing only three hits and hitting one batter.
“My mindset when I go up there is just throw strikes, and that's what I did,” Kindred said. “The infield and outfield made plays tonight.”
The strong start allowed Keota to grab a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Danville scored once in the top of the fourth, but Keota put up one run in the fourth and one in the fifth to build a 4-1 lead.
Danville did threaten at the end of the game, putting two on with the tying run up to bat, but eighth-grader Blake Baker stepped up and finished off the save.
“That's his third save,” said Keota head coach Austin Waterhouse. “He's been out there before, so it's not anything new to him.”
Baker had a nice night for the Eagles all around. Along with throwing two shut out innings, he went 1-for-3 with two RBIs on offense.
“Blake is a great baseball player,” said Kindred. “We've got a lot of seniors out this year, but we've got a lot of good younger kids.”
Tanner Waterhouse went 2-for-3 with an RBI for Keota. Chase Sieren knocked in the team’s only other run.
“The past like five games have been high-scoring games,” said Coach Waterhouse. “This low scoring game with not very many errors is just nice to see from the team.”
Both New London and Keota will play in Tuesday night’s District semifinals. The Tigers (8-14) will play at No. 2 Burlington Notre Dame (26-3), while Keota (10-10) travels to Moravia (23-8). The winners of those two games will play on July 13 for the district title.
