~ Saxony Lutheran continued its late-season offensive outbursts.

THAYER, Mo. -- Circle the sixth inning in the scorebook. Highlight it and put an asterisk next it.

The sixth inning belonged to Peter Winningham, and Wednesday's Class 1 sectional battle at Thayer belonged to Saxony Lutheran.

Winningham drove in three runs in the top of the sixth with a bases-loaded double that gave Saxony a five-run lead, and the junior pitcher then brought the Crusaders three outs closer to victory by retiring the side by himself in the bottom half of the inning.

Saxony, a second-year program playing in the state tournament for the first time, clobbered Thayer, a team that finished third in the state last year, 14-6 on Wednesday afternoon.

The Crusaders (14-6) will play Friday in the Class 1 quarterfinal round against another perennial power, Oran. Saxony lost a 9-4 decision in a meeting earlier this season.

But Saxony Lutheran is a little different team at the moment, having recorded three straight district wins and now a sectional victory by scoring in double figures in all four games.

On Wednesday, the Crusaders hammered out 15 hits, including six for extra bases. Freshman Chris Roth had three hits and a walk from the No. 2 hole, junior Kory Mueller had an RBI double and a home run to pace the attack, and Winningham drove in drove in five runs on two hits.

"I didn't expect our offense to do that good," Mueller said. "We expected a close game. Ever since the district tournament, we've picked it up and started hitting like that."

Mueller also was intentionally walked twice in the game. Both times, Winningham followed with hits -- a two-run single in the third inning and the bases-loaded double in the sixth.

That second hit turned a 7-5 lead into a 10-5 lead, and Saxony tacked on two more runs in the inning.

"That was pretty much when I realized we had a pretty good chance of walking away with this thing," Mueller said.

Winningham's double to right-center field came on a 3-2 fastball in the game's biggest at-bat. It followed a one-out single by Dustin Roth, a double by Chris Roth and then the walk to Mueller.

"I was very nervous actually for that at-bat," Winningham said. "That pitcher could throw some heat. I was ready for the fastball. and I was lucky enough to connect."

Bret Steffens followed with a triple that bounced past the left fielder and Casey Petzoldt added an RBI single for a 12-5 lead.

Winningham then stifled Thayer in the bottom half of the sixth, marking the first inning the Bobcats didn't have a baserunner or an answer to one of Saxony's scoring rallies with one of their own.

After No. 8 hitter Dustin Gaines was retired for the first time in the game on a soft liner to Winningham, Ben Martin drilled a line drive that hit Winningham's pitching arm and found its way into his glove.

"It was basically instinct on that one," Winningham said. "I was just very glad it didn't hit me in the face. Those line drives are scary for pitchers."

He then struck out Jacob Eckman to end the frame.

Winningham pitched 6 1/3 innings, yielding nine hits, four walks and striking out six. He allowed six runs, five earned.

"He just comes through every time," said Crusaders coach Lance Limbaugh, who was acting as coach with John Beaudean accompanying the school's Latin club on a trip to Europe. "He's been a good pitcher for us everytime we needed him."

Freshman Garrett Fritsche retired the final two batters for Saxony.

SAXONY LUTHERAN 14, THAYER 6

Saxony 004 305 2 -- 14 15 2

Thayer 021 200 1 -- 6 9 3

WP -- Peter Winningham, 7-1; LP -- Eric Williams. HR -- Kory Mueller (SL); 3B -- Bret Steffens (SL), Jacob Sims (T), Dustin Gaines (T); 2B -- Chris Roth (SL) 2, Mueller (SL), Peter Winnnigham (SL), Garrett Smith (T), Justin Brown (T). Multiple hits -- Saxony, Dustin Roth 2-5, C. Roth 3-4, Mueller 2-3, Winningham 2-5, Steffens 2-4, Casey Petzoldt 2-4, Ben Courtois 2-4; Thayer -- Brown 4-4, Gaines 2-4. Records -- Saxony 14-6.