The Westminster baseball team captured the Class 4 District 4 Championship on their home field a mere 15 minutes following the girls soccer victory.
The Wildcats entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed after a strong regular season and received a first-round bye before opening district play in the semifinal round against the No. 4 seed Bayless Bronchos.
Bayless struck first with a run in the opening inning, but Westminster responded in dominant fashion in the bottom of the second. The Wildcats erupted for six runs in the frame and never looked back, cruising to a 6-2 victory.
Junior Grady Arnold delivered an outstanding performance on the mound, striking out 10 batters across 6.1 innings while allowing just two runs, only one earned. Junior Eli Boss closed out the final two outs in relief.Â
At the plate, Junior William Cassidy led the offense with two hits and two RBIs, while senior Owen Leingang added a three-run double during the decisive second inning. Senior Jack Hirtz, senior Kam McCole, and Arnold also collected hits in the win.
The district championship game featured a familiar matchup as Westminster faced conference rival and No. 2 seed Lutheran South.
The Wildcats once again relied on timely hitting and strong pitching to secure the title. Westminster broke through with a three-run third inning before adding an insurance run in the fourth to defeat the Lancers 4-1.
Freshman Mitch McAlister earned the win after allowing just one unearned run over four innings of work. Sophomore Logan Zenker shut the door with three scoreless innings of relief to earn the save, his 6th of the season, tying the program record for saves in a season set by Class of '22 Alumnus Jeremey Sheffield.
Offensively, senior Drew Messey collected two hits and an RBI, while senior AJ Stovall and Owen Leingang each drove in runs. Cassidy added another multi-hit performance as the Wildcats finished with seven hits in the championship victory.
The district championship marks Westminster's first since 2019 and sends the Wildcats into the Class 4 State Sectional round with momentum.
Westminster will now host Potosi in the Class 4 State Sectional on Tuesday, May 26 at 4:00 p.m. on the Westminster campus.
