Fort Scott 13's finish third; Pittsburg takes title

Cody McNeil pitches to an Independence batter during the second game of Saturday afternoon's play in the Kansas Babe Ruth 13-and-Under District Baseball Tournament at Dave Regan Stadium Saturday afternoon. McNeil allowed 2 hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out 2 in Fort Scott's 15-0 win over Independence. Frontenac defeated the locals in the next game, 17-6, to force Fort Scott to settle for third place. (Scott Nuzum/Tribune)

Fort Scott's 13-year-old baseball team finished third in the Babe Ruth District Tournament it hosted here over the weekend and is expected to advance to the State Tournament this week at Cottonwood Falls (verification pending).

Fort Scott's team played twice on Saturday at Dave Regan Stadium, beating Independence 15-0 in three innings before dropping a 17-6 verdict to Frontenac in the third-place game.

Pittsburg defeated Frontenac in Saturday's opener, the winners' bracket final, 18-8, then beat them agaiin, 21-6, in the championship game on Sunday.

The State Tournament begins Thursday with two games. The teams from District 5 -- champion Pittsburg and "wild-card" teams Frontenac and possibly Fort Scott -- will begin pool play Friday. The top two teams in each pool go on to single-elimination bracket play on Sunday.

Fort Scott 15, Independence 0.

There was no score after one inning. The locals scored 5 times on one hit, 3 walks and an error in the top of the second inning off Independence pitcher Majour Johnson, who was starting his third consecutive game. Fort Scott added 15 runs in the top of the third and the 15-after-3 version of the run rule kicked in after Indy was unable to score in the bottom of the third.

Fort Scott pitcher Cody McNeil allowed just 2 hits and didn't walk anyone as he pitched all three innings. He struck out 2 batters. Bot of the hits he allowed were 2-out triples -- one in the first, the other in the third. He got 6-3 groundouts to end both innings.

Andrew Reed won the WOW Award for Fort Scott, in part for his defense in left field and also for an inside-the-park 2-run home run he hit in the third inning. He was 2 for 2 for Fort Scott and scored 3 times. Cody Durossette, Lucas Harryman and Cole Hall each scored 3 runs. McNeil had 3 hits while Rhet Reed and Jacob DeLaTorre had 2 each. Reed drove in 3 runs while McNeil drove in 2.

McNeil, for his effort both pitching and at the plate, was the winner of Fort Scott's MVP Award for this game.

Josh Sutton was named MVP for Independence. Micah Dozier was Indy's WOW Award winner.

Frontenac 17, Fort Scott 6.

Frontenac scored twice in the top of the second but Fort Scott tied it in the bottom half of the inning. DeLaTorre, the catcher in this game, singled with one out. Courtesy runner Andrew Payne stole second and scored on Lucas Harryman's single to right. Harryman stole second and moved to third on a passed ball. Hunter Zubieta drew a walk and the runners moved up on a wild pitch with Harryman scoring.

Frontenac scored 3 in the fourth and 4 in the fifth to make it 14-2. Fort Scott scored 3 in the bottom of the fifth to prevent the 10-run rule from taking effect. Andrew Reed's triple scored Keenan Guilfoyle and Durossette and Reed scored when the left fielder misplayed the ball trying to get it back in.

Frontenac added 3 in the sixth while Fort Scott scored one.

Fort Scott had 7 hits in the game, two by Harryman who also scored twice. DeLaTorre was named MVP and Guilfoyle won the WOW Award for Fort Scott.

Trent Born was Frontenac's MVP and Jake Menghini was the WOW recipient.