Travis White delivered a dominant pitching performance and a clutch hit to lead Martensdale St. Marys past Kee in the 1A state baseball quarterfinals.
Travis White did it all for Martensdale St. Marys during its Class 1A Iowa high school baseball state quarterfinal game against Kee on July 21 at Merchants Park.
White threw a masterful three-hitter, and he drove in the game's first run in the bottom of the sixth inning to propel the No. 4 seed Blue Devils to a 2-0 victory over the No. 5 Hawks.
White broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth with a perfectly-timed RBI triple over the head of Kee center fielder Trey Cota. Colton Wight hit a leadoff single for MSM in the bottom of the sixth, and courtesy runner Brady Baker took second on a wild pitch and scored the eventual winning run when White sent one over Cota's head.
The Blue Devils added an insurance run when Jack Gavin hit an RBI double to left field.
Taylon Squire came in to close out the game for White in the top of the seventh. Squire worked around a leadoff walk with the aid of a double play by White at third base to complete the shutout and send MSM to the 1A state semifinals with a 31-5 record.
White tossed six innings of work as the winning pitcher. He struck out nine batters and only allowed three hits with no walks.
Kee's best chance at scoring came early. Jordan Cota led off the game by reaching on a dropped third strike and he eventually made his way to third. But White struck out Brayden Darling for the final out to get out of the jam.
Kee also left runners stranded at second during the top of the second and fourth innings.
Dalton Mudderman took the loss in relief for Kee after allowing two earned runs on five hits with six strikeouts and no walks in four innings. Jordan Cota gave up four hits with one strikeout and one walk in two innings as the starting pitcher for Kee, which finished its season 32-11.
White, Wight, Gavin and Jason Fugate each had two hits, and Squire finished with one for the Blue Devils.
MSM will take a 31-5 record into the 1A semifinals against No. 8 seed Hillcrest Academy, a 3-1 upset winner over No. 1 seed Remsen St. Mary's in the quarterfinals. MSM and Hillcrest Academy will play their semifinal game at 4:30 p.m. on July 23 at Carroll.
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: MSM advances to Iowa baseball state semifinals with win over Kee
Category: General Sports
