By Scott Vanscoy (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
New Covenant Academy used a stellar defensive effort and the strong pitching performance of senior Ben Cannefax to defeat the Marionville Comets, 4-0, in the Class 2, District 11 semifinal on Monday night.
This sets up a battle between two of the top Class 2 teams in the area, Galena and New Covenant, for the District championship.
Cannefax held Marionville in check as he allowed just two hits in his 6 2/3 innings of work. He used his defense and his fast ball to limit the Comet base runners.
“Pretty solid pitching performance by our pitcher, Ben Cannefax,” said NCA coach John Hartley. “I think he had about a two-hitter. He’s thrown two or three no-hitters this year. He didn’t have much off-speed, he stayed mostly by spotting his fastball against them, and we played very solid defense behind him. That has been our norm all year and we just score enough runs to win.”
New Covenant scored its first run in the first inning when Noah Phipps led off with a single. The Warriors then sacrifice bunted him to second, something they are known for. Phipps scored on an error on the shortstop, giving NCA a 1-0 lead.
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New Covenant scored another unearned run in the bottom of the fourth on an error by the Comets. In the sixth inning, NCA scored two more runs, putting the Comets down four, giving the Warriors an insurmountable lead.
The defensive play of the night occurred when Comets’ Aaron Head reached on an error by C.J. Fernelius. Fernelius was attempting a throw to first when he tripped on one of the straps from his shin guard, putting Head at third base with two outs. On the next play, third baseman Ryan Carmack dove to his left, backhanded the ball and threw out the batter at first to end the sixth inning.
“It was a super play by Carmack at third,” said Hartley. “I know C.J. was almost embarrassed by the play at the plate but he got picked up by his teammate. That’s what baseball is all about.”
“The ball was hit right at me, and honestly it was just a reaction,” said Carmack. “I wasn’t sure how I did that. I was going to make that play for my team. Baseball is a crazy game.”
With Cannefax on cruise control, frustration began to build for the Comets as they struggled to mount any sort of offense.
“We didn’t hit the ball and he pitched it really well, that’s really all it came down to,” said Marionville coach Jason Grose. “We had a few chances, not very many to be honest, and they made some good plays. The few balls that we did hit hard, they made the play on.”
The rematch with Galena is something that New Covenant has been looking forward to. Earlier in the season the Warriors lost to the Bears, 8-6, in 10 innings at U.S. Ballpark in Ozark.
“It was about three hour’s worth of really good baseball,” said Hartley. “I expect, hopefully, the same thing tomorrow. We’ve got a good guy to go on the mound; I know they do, too. I think it will be one of the better Class 2 championship games around.”
Marionville 0 New Covenant 4
Marionville 000 000 0 — 0
NCA 100 102 x — 4
