The Jr. Bills cruised through the first two rounds of Districts, defeating Hazelwood Central and Francis Howell North en route to the championship game tonight. 

As the top ranked team in Class 6 District 3, SLUH pulled the eighth-seeded Hazelwood Central Hawks in the quarterfinals. Senior Jack DuMont toed the rubber for the Jr. Bills, and he turned in his fourth consecutive quality start. He tossed three innings, allowed no hits and struck out eight batters. DuMont has a 1.12 ERA over his last four appearances. Senior Johnny McArthur closed the deal with two innings and three strikeouts. 

There was plenty of run support behind the southpaw, as the Jr. Bills reached the ten-run mercy rule in five innings. The team had nine players contribute an RBI, the most in one game this season. Senior Tommy Etling led the team with a 3-for-3 night, and sophomore Charlie Isom-McCall contributed a triple, yet the play of the game came on the final pitch. Senior Liam Newbold entered the game as a pinch hitter, and he smacked the first pitch he saw to the left field wall. The left fielder completely misjudged where the ball was, and Newbold turned it into an inside the park home run to reach the mercy rule. He is the only player to have a home run each of the past two seasons. 

On to the semifinals, the Jr. Bills leaned on their ace sophomore Andrew DuMont to get the job done. He hurled five innings and allowed only three hits while striking out nine, putting the Jr. Bills in a phenomenal spot to win the game. 

“I threw the ball hard and let our guys make plays behind me,” DuMont said. 

It did not look like it would be a breeze from the get-go, as Howell North got the first two runners of the game on base, but senior Mikey Floretta chased down a deep fly ball in the gap and doubled off the runner on second base to end the threat. 

The offense was clicking as they hung six runs on the scoreboard. Senior Alex Shelton tallied an RBI in his third consecutive game, and Isom-McCall extended his hit streak to six games. Yet again, Guthrie led the way with a 2-for-3 night and another RBI. He also came in and slammed the door on the Knights, tossing the final 1.2 innings of the game, stranding two runners in the sixth and striking out four batters, adding to his unparalleled success down the stretch run of the season. 

“I wish I could say it’s been a new approach or mindset, but really it’s just been Slim Chickens I eat before each game,” said Guthrie. 

On the other side of the bracket, No. 3 De Smet was upset by No. 6 Hazelwood West 4-1, and No. 2 Francis Howell Central cruised past No. 7 Ritenour 12-2. Howell Central squeaked past Hazelwood West 4-3 in the semifinals to set up a 6 p.m. championship against the Jr. Bills tonight at SLUH. 

Junior Garret Shearer will get the nod on the mound for SLUH, and he will go up against his fellow Gamers teammate, the Spartans’ Brayden Rubel. He is a lefty sitting mid 80s with a 3.34 ERA, 8.44 K/7, and 6.27 BB/7. Shearer will look to rebound from his past two starts where he has yielded five runs in both games. 

“He’s going to have to trust all of his pitches tomorrow, and not just rely on the fastball,” pitching coach Erik Ruehl said. “Garret’s been a big time pitcher for us all year, so he just has to go out and throw strikes and trust his defense.” 

If the Jr. Bills win tonight, they will face the winner of Fort Zumwalt West and Francis Howell in the State Quarterfinals on May 28. The team thinks they have all the tools to find themselves in this Elite 8 matchup and beyond, but they are focused on taking it one game at a time. 

“We just have to play our game and take it one pitch at a time,” Shelton said. “We need to get the bats going early and rally behind Garret and the crowd.”