Scott City baseball blanks Clearwater, returns to final four

PIEDMONT, Mo -- The Rams finished second at state last year and went into Wednesday's Class 3 quarterfinal with the mindset that they had unfinished business to take care of.

Scott City did the work with stellar defense from start to finish and knocked off Clearwater 3-0.

"It feels good to get back to where we want. We've got to finish the job and come home with a state title," Scott City pitcher Jordan Kluesner said. "When I got to the seventh inning, my heart started beating real fast. I've never been in a situation like this before."

In his shutout win, Kluesner struck out the side in the seventh inning and nine total. He gave up five singles and no walks.

The defense boosted him in the sixth when third baseman Caden Hillemann made a diving stop and throw to get the lead runner at second.

Clearwater's Ty Gooch (23) tries to break up the double play as Scott City second baseman Hunter Copeland throws to first during the MSHSAA Class 3 quarterfinals on Wednesday in Piedmont.

"That was a humongous play," Scott City coach Jim May said. "That probably kept them off the board and kept it from getting real tight in a hurry."

Had the ball squeaked through to left field, Clearwater's No. 3 hitter, Bryce Alcorn, would have stepped up to the plate representing the tying run with nobody out.

Kluesner got Alcorn to fly out to left, gave up a single, and ended the inning with a strikeout.

Scott City (22-7) committed one error to open the second inning but still faced the minimum in the frame after turning a double play.

Alcorn pitched for the Tigers and didn't give up a hit after the second inning.

Scott City pitcher Jordan Kluesner delivers to home as Clearwater's Tanner Wilkins (3) takes a secondary lead and Scott City first baseman Dakota Talley watches during the MSHSAA Class 3 quarterfinals on Wednesday in Piedmont.

"We wanted to come out aggressive. We knew we were facing a good pitcher," May said. "He did a really good job today. He's got a nasty slider and once he settled in, it was hard."

Clearwater (17-8) was as good as Scott City on defense with no errors and a double play of their own. The Rams, though, got three runs across in the first inning during the only offensive burst in the game.

Dylan Keller drew a one-out walk, and Braden Cox singled behind him. With two outs, Andrew Short doubled both of them in with the game's only extra-base hit. He took third on a passed ball and scored on Kluesner's single.

Hunter Copeland and Keller singled and were stranded in the second, and after that, Alcorn gave up a pair of walks for Scott City's only base runners.

"The big thing in the game was that we just didn't get off hitting our spots right off the bat," Clearwater coach Terry Luce said. "I think it was nerves and jitters. I was calling pitches and realized [Alcorn[ had slowed his motion down. So I quit calling pitches to speed him up and that was the difference in the ballgame."

Clearwater first baseman Ty Gooch keeps his foot on the bag just long enough to get the groundout against Scott City's Dylan Keller during the MSHSAA Class 3 quarterfinals on Wednesday in Piedmont.

Despite not feeling well throughout the game, Alcorn struck out nine against three walks and five hits.

"I felt good, pretty good in warmups, and then we came out here and I just got sick. The whole game I was sick to my stomach," Alcorn said. "I threw up a couple times in the dugout, and it wasn't nerves. I just got really ill at the wrong time."

Keller, Cox and Kluesner each reached base twice off a single and a walk.

After getting knocked out in the first round of the sate playoffs two years in a row, Scott City made it to the championship game last year. The Rams won three games by at least three runs to get there, then lost 3-2 in eight innings to Fatima.

They will face either Mountain Grove or Conway in the semifinals at 4:30 p.m. on June 1 at CarShield Field in O'Fallon, Missouri.

Scott City pitcher Jordan Kluesner celebrates after striking out the side in the seventh inning against Clearwater during the MSHSAA Class 3 quarterfinals on Wednesday in Piedmont.

With the win locked up, Kluesner prepped for his postgame TV interview by quoting Will Ferrell from Talledega Nights -- "I don't know what to do with my hands."

"All of these guys are loose," May said. "They wear coon skin caps and leather football helmets. They listen to Beastie Boys and dance all the way here. We don't get tight. That's not their personality, and I just let them be."

Clearwater 000 000 0 -- 3 5 1

Scott City 300 000 0 -- 0 5 0

WP -- Jordan Kluesner. LP -- Bryce Alcorn. 2B -- Drew Short (SC).