Winona Christian finished out the regular season with a three-game sweep of rival Carroll Academy.
Winona took game 1 of the series 13-6 on Tuesday and followed with a 7-6 walk-off win on Thursday. They finished off the series with a 16-13 win on Friday.
The Stars finish the regular season with a record of 8-14 and finished third in district play. They will take on Indianola in first-round action this week in the best-of-three series. Game 1 of the series will be Tuesday at Indianola while the series will return to Winona on Friday starting at 2 p.m. If the teams split the first two games, they will be play a deciding game 3 after game 2 on Friday.
Carroll finished with a 6-16 record and fourth in the district. They will play Greenville Christian in the first round. Game 1 will be Monday at Carroll with the remainder of the series being played on Friday at Greenville.
Winona Christian 13, Carroll 5
The Stars scored in each of the first six innings and took advantage of nine errors to take an eight-run win over the Rebels on Tuesday in Game 1 of the series.
Winona scored one in the first and three in the second and led 4-2 after two innings. The Stars continued to add to the lead, scoring two in the third and fifth and one the fourth. Carroll scored three in the fifth to cut the lead to 9-5. But Winona added four runs in sixth for the final margin.
The Stars had 13 hits in the contest, led by Hunter Land who was 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs while Will Irwin was 3-for-6. Parker Watkins was 2-for-5 with three RBIs while Karson McCaleb was 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Braxton Leach doubled and scored two runs while Austin Horne and Jace Osborne each scored two runs.
Carroll had nine hits in the contest as Jake Truitt, Reed Thomas and Reid Blaylock each had two hits apiece while Hayes White had a double and Parker Daves drove in two runs.
Irwin started on the mound for the Stars and pitched five innings and gave up five runs on eight hits and four walks to pick up the win. Cale Sproles pitched two scoreless innings to finish out for the Stars.
Blaylock pitched the first three innings for Carroll and took the loss, giving up seen runs on 10 hits. Daves itched the next 2 1/3 innings while C.J. McDonald pitched the last 1 2/3 innings.
Winona Christian 7, Carroll 6
The Stars got a walk-off win on Thursday on a hit batter to take game-two from the Rebels.
Carroll led 3-2 after four innings before Winona scored two in the fifth and sixth innings and led 6-3. The Rebels then scored three runs in the sixth to tie the game. Zach Bledsoe then doubled with one out and Carroll loaded the bases with two intentional walks before Jase Osborne with hit by a pitch to score the winning run.
Winona had 10 hits in the contest, led by Zach Bledsoe who was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Karson McCaleb was 2-for-3 with two runs scored while Brannon Hill, Hunter Land and Will Irwin also had doubles.
Carroll had nine hits as Hayden Hopkins was 2-for-2 with two runs scored while Reid Blaylock was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Parker Daves was 2-for-2 while Reed Thomas singled and scored twice.
Bledsoe pitched 6 1/3 innings for Winona and gave up six runs on seven hits and five walks while striking out five. Cale Sproles got the last two outs and picked up the win.
Hayes White pitched 3 1/3 innings for Carroll and gave up two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out five. Thomas pitched the last 3 1/3 innings and gave up five runs on four hits and five walks while striking out five.
Winona Christian 16, Carroll 13
The Stars scored the last six runs and pulled away with four runs in the seventh to take a three-run win over the Rebels on Friday to sweep the series.
Carroll led 5-3 after four innings before Winona scored seven runs in the fifth. But Carroll answered with eight runs in the bottom of the fifth to retake the lead at 13-10. But Winona scored two in the sixth and four in the seventh.
Winona had 12 hits and took advantage of seven errors and five hit batters. Brannon Hill was 3-for-3 with a double while Austin Horne was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and three RBIs. Karson McCaleb was 2-for-3 with three RBIs while Cale Sproles was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs. Hunter Land also doubled while Zach Bledsoe singled and had three RBIs.
The Rebels had 15 hits in the contest, led by Reid Blaylock, who was 4-for-5 with two RBIs while Rhett Blaylock was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. C.J. McDonald was 2-for-4 while Hayden Hopkins was 2-for-4 and scored two runs. Reece Jordan and Jake Truitt each had two RBIs while Reed Thomas and Hayes White each scored twice.
Sproles started for the Stars and pitched 2 1/3 innings and gave up four unearned runs on five hits while Braxton Leach pitched 1 2/3 innings and gave up five runs on four hits and two walks. Conner Goss came in and gave up four runs on two hits and four walks while Kaleb Varnes pitched the last three innings.
McDonald started and pitched four innings for the Rebels while Cole Beckwith, Parker Daves, Nick White and Pruitt all came in and pitched.
