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Hazelwood Central Baseball Run-Rules North County Classic
By Jim Wieners
High School Baseball Games are seven innings in length with a “Mercy Rule” ending the game after five innings (four and one half if the home team is leading) or later if the run margin is at least 10 runs.
Hazelwood Central apparently showed “no mercy” to three of the opponents in winning the McCluer (a.k.a. North County) Classic by at least 10 runs each, all three played at Central and all three games ended in the fifth inning. It is the second year in a row the Hawks won the Classic, their third since 2012. Hazelwood Central opened April 7 with an 11-1 win over University City then on April 8 the Hawks routed two North County opponents in whitewashing Trinity Catholic 14-0 and rolled over Lutheran North 19-6.
In the opener against eventual Consolation champion University City, which scored a run in the top of the first inning, the Hawks ended the game in the bottom of the fifth by scoring five runs. Senior Jarame Crawford and junior Anthony Douglas each scored three runs while junior Tavis Williams pitched a three-hitter.
Against Trinity Catholic the Hawks scored seven runs in the second inning while junior Nathan George pitched a three-hitter and struck out nine Titans in a four and one-half inning game. Junior Vashaun Anderson hit two triples, scored three runs and drove in three runs. Crawford scored three runs, senior Melchizedek Williams drove in six runs and junior James McKenzie had a triple and three runs batted in.
Against Lutheran North the Hawks scored seven in the second inning, added five in the fourth and six in the fifth. Melchizedek Williams drove in three runs at the plate and struck out eight Crusaders on the mound. Senior Dimitri Frank had two doubles, scored three times and drove in five runs.
LUTHERAN NORTH scored five runs against Hazelwood Central in the bottom of the five after trailing 19-1 and despite two home runs and four runs batted in from senior Lloyd Abernathy the game ended there. Before that the Crusaders shut out McCluer 7-0 as the Crusaders scored four runs in the first inning and added two in the second. Abernathy pitched a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts, junior Devin Ruffin drove in three runs while junior Tim Branneky scored three times.
Lutheran North opened the Classic at home April 7 with a 24-0 rout of North Tech, which ended after three and one-half innings, as the Crusaders scored 10 runs in the first inning and 13 more in the third against six North Tech pitchers. Branneky and freshman Craig McGee each drove in three runs, seniors Mark Mansfield and Jordan Sommerville each scored three times and sophomore Aaron Fackler pitched a two-hitter.
TRINITY CATHOLIC took third place as the sandwiched wins over Riverview Gardens (40-2) and McCluer (4-3) around the loss to Hazelwood Central. In the third-pace game April 8 against McCluer the Titans doubled their 2-0 lead with a two-run fifth but had to hold off a three-run seventh-inning rally by the Comets. The Titans allowed not hits through six innings and struck out 16 Comets including 10 from senior Sal Pellerito in four and a third innings while senior Jason Cotton drove in two Titan runs.
In an April 7 home rout over Riverview Gardens the Titans scored 10 runs each in the first and second innings and added 20 more in the third before the game was called in that inning. Junior Ephriam Todd scored five runs while driving in six, junior Marcus Golliday scored six runs and sophomore Cory Schonhoff scored four times while driving in four. Cotton and junior John Jackson each drove in three while sophomore Jimmy Dudley and juniors Darrion McGirt and Keyon Owens each scored three times. Dudley and junior Matt Gantner each allowed one Ram hit while pitching.
