Class 5 District 7 play begins Wednesday for Webb City, Carl Junction

May 14—Class 5 District 7 baseball play begins on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. from Belton High School in Belton, Missouri.

The first game of the day features No. 2 Carl Junction versus No. 7 McDonald County. The Bulldogs (16-16) topped the Mustangs (4-20) 10-0 in late March. CJ will look to do that again in the postseason.

The second game features top seed Webb City (23-7) against eighth-seeded Grandview (5-17) at 1:45 p.m. The Cardinals will look to continue their recent streak of five straight wins and outscoring opponents 48-4 during that stretch.

The toughest stretch for Webb City was in the first 20 days of April, when the team went 7-4. Prior to that, the team was 8-2, and since April 20, it is 8-1.

Now, the Cardinals will look to turn a five-game streak into an 11-game run and claim a Class 5 state championship.

A key factor in making that happen will be junior Luke Beverlin and his performance on the mound. The lefty is 8-0 on the season and features a 0.75 earned run average through 46 2/3 innings of work. He has struck out 65 batters and only walked nine.

Fellow pitcher and junior Landon Fletcher has retired 45 batters on strikes in 51 1/3 innings. His ERA is 1.50, and he has walked 10. Fletcher sports a 6-1 record this year.

Both Beverlin and Fletcher have started nine games this year.

Key offensive players have been Drew Vonder Haar and Shaun Hunt. Vonder Haar has a .471 batting average and a total of 41 hits — 17 of which are doubles. He's driven in 28 runs as well.

The senior actually dealt with some injury trouble in late April and early May but has since returned to the lineup and will be playing in the postseason.

Hunt is hitting .372 with 32 hits, 11 doubles and 26 RBIs.

More key pitchers are Payton Marshall and Brett Korth.

Marshall is 4-0 with a 2.12 ERA, 22 strikeouts and six free passes. The senior has 26 2/3 innings in two starts and 11 total appearances. Korth is 3-1 with a 1.66 ERA, 31 strikeouts and six walks. Another senior, Korth has appeared in 11 games and has two starts with a total of 21 innings.

These players are all batting .333 or better for the Cardinals: Mason Williams (.333), Christian Brock (.340), Shadrach Salazar (.348) and Andrew Young (.363).

Young leads that group with 33 hits. He also has 20 stolen bases. Salazar leads the four players in doubles with seven. He's driven in 21 runs as well. Brock has two triples, four home runs and 22 RBIs. Williams showcases an ability to reach base without a hit as he's drawn 19 walks on the season.