Defending state baseball champion Bell City clobbers Gideon

BELL CITY, Mo. -- Bell City coach Justin Simpher wanted his baseball team to take full advantage of the opportunity of being the visiting team on the scoreboard in a Class 1 sectional against Gideon on Monday.

"We had to be the visiting team today," said Simpher, whose Cubs were playing on their home field. "So the message was to take advantage of the chance to swing it first, put some runs up early and set the tone for the rest of the game."

The Bell City lineup followed orders with a slew of runs early. The Cubs scored two runs in the first inning, five runs in the second and eight more runs in the third to build a 15-0 lead by the end of three innings of play.

"Whenever we knew we were going to be guests, we knew we needed to go out there and score early," Bell City starting pitcher Cole Nichols said. "It gives me more confidence on the mound when we get runs early."

Nichols and the Bell City relievers took care of the rest by limiting the Gideon lineup to two hits.

The end result was a 15-0 five-inning run-rule win for the defending state champions.

"We had to play perfect," Gideon coach Keenan Buchanan said. "That's the bottom line. We needed to play a perfect game to beat them, and didn't have it. We walked more than we normally walk and made a couple errors with runners on base. Plus, they hit the ball well. If you give them a couple walks and an error with the way they hit it, you are not going to be able to beat them. They are a complete team with good pitching, hitting and a good defensive infield, and I hope they go all the way."

The trouble started for the Bulldogs when Nichols drew a leadoff walk and No. 3 hitter Nate Finney was issued a one-out walk by Gideon starter Dalen Hutchison in the top of the first inning. Cleanup hitter Peyton Maddox and No. 5 hitter Bobby Wright followed with consecutive RBI singles to put Bell City on top 2-0.

"It's always nice when those first three guys can get on base and do some running," Simpher said. "Then, Peyton or Bobby are there to get a big hit to drive them in."

Bell City sent eight hitters to the plate for a second consecutive inning in the second frame. The Cubs scored three runs on two Gideon errors and two more runs scored on an RBI groundout by Maddox and an RBI single by No. 7 hitter Brandon Abner.

In the eight-run third, Nichols had an RBI double, No. 2 hitter Austin Hicks had an RBI single, Maddox had a two-run single, Wright had a two-run double and No. 9 hitter Taylor Ogden had a two-run single.

"We take two-strike approaches to make sure we don't get ourselves out," Nichols said. "We look to hit the ball hard when the count is in our favor, and [we] had several opportunities to do that today."

Gideon had at least one base runner in every inning with the exception of the second inning but stranded all seven runners that reached. Allen Earnheart had a leadoff single in the bottom of the first inning and No. 2 hitter Hutchison had a one-out single in the bottom of the second inning to account for Gideon's two hits.

The Bulldogs loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning after cleanup hitter Kason Lawrence drew a leadoff walk and No. 7 hitter Dawson Adams and No. 8 Ross Lindsey drew consecutive two-out walks. Bell City relief pitcher Maddox preserved the shutout when he struck out No. 9 hitter Gavin Sprouse to end the threat.

"We had runners on every inning," Buchanan said. "But we just never could get the hit we needed to drive anyone in. But we hadn't seen this kind of pitching all year. I thought Nichols pitched a good game, and even their relief pitchers did a good job."

Nichols collected the victory for Bell City on the hill. He allowed no runs, two hits and struck out seven.

"I felt OK," Nichols said. "My fastball wasn't coming out of my hands as well as it normally does, but I had good control of my curveball."

Nichols walked only one hitter in three innings.

"He's always around the plate and throwing strikes," Simpher said. "We knew he would be around the strike zone and make them put the ball in play."

Nichols, Hicks, Finney, Maddox, Wright and Ogden all recorded a pair of hits.

Maddox finished with a team-high four RBIs.

"I just go up there and swing," Maddox said. "I'm hitting four-hole and know what coach expects of me. Everyone getting on base ahead of you really helps your RBI total. The team really helped me out with that today."

Maddox pitched a scoreless fourth inning for Bell City. He allowed no hits, walked three and struck out two.

"It's always good when coach asks me to come in and throw some," Maddox said. "He told me to come in and get some work so I could be ready to possibly throw some innings the next game."

Wright pitched a scoreless fifth inning for Bell City. He allowed no hits, struck out one and walked one.

"We wanted some guys to get some work in, if possible," Simpher said. "It was nice our offense got some runs so we could keep all of our pitchers sharp for upcoming games."

Hutchison pitched the first 2 1/3 innings for Gideon (7-8). Caleb Buchanan pitched the rest of the way.

Bell City (21-3) plays at Bismarck in a Class 1 quarterfinal Wednesday. Bismarck (12-15) won at Dora 8-1 in its Class 1 sectional Monday. The time of Wednesday's game was not available at press deadline.

"They've obviously got a good team or they wouldn't be in the state quarterfinals," Simpher said. "We'll get on the phone and try to get some more info on them and get prepared for a good game up there."

Bell City 258 00 -- 15 13 0

Gideon 000 00 -- 0 2 3

WP -- Cole Nichols. LP -- Dalen Hutchison. 2B -- Nichols (BC), Bobby Wright (BC). Multiple hits -- Bell City: Nichols 2-2, Austin Hicks 2-5, Nate Finney 2-3, Peyton Maddox 2-4, Wright 2-2, Taylor Ogden 2-2.