Fireballer

By Jake Singleton
The Journal Staff

As the weather got colder, Blue Springs South senior pitcher Kellen Bartlett got hotter.
With temperatures below 30 and a 15 mph eastern wind blowing over Legacy Park on Wednesday as the Jaguars faced Lee's Summit, South's senior fireballer brought the heat in the 11-0 win over the Tigers.
Bartlett struck out 14, hit one batter, walked another and gave up one hit in six innings of work to record the win and move South to a 4-0 start.
But Bartlett wasn't just hot on the mound.
After three scoreless innings, Bartlett fired up the Jaguar's offense in the top of the fourth inning as his RBI double scored South's Jeff Lusardi, who singled then advanced to second on a Tiger error, to give the Jaguars a 1-0 lead.
And while one run would have done it, South added more.
The Jaguars went up 3-0 in the fifth off two walks and an RBI double by South's Ross Taylor. After Lee's Summit head coach James Mellody choice to intentionally walk Lusardi to put runners on first and second with one out, he replaced starting freshman pitcher Corbin Berkstresser with Nick Martin to face Bartlett.
Three straight wild pitches by Martin allowed Taylor to score, making it 4-0 and a fourth ball put Bartlett on, giving South runners on first and third with one out.
Mellody again made a pitching changing, going to Matt Norris. But Norris didn't fare any better.
After getting South's Robbie Payton to fly out for the second out of the inning, Martin gave up a two out, RBI single to South's Danny McMartrey that put the Jaguars up 5-0 after five.
While Bartlett continued to mow down the Tigers at the plate, the Jaguars offense continued to stay hot.
South tacked on three more runs off three hits and a walk to take an 8-0 lead in the sixth inning. South's Logan Moon led off the sixth with a triple, Austin Rodriguez drove Moon in with an RBI single and Bartlett and Payton added RBI singles.
In the top of the seventh, the Tigers turned to their fourth pitcher, Shaun Lauderback. But the results were the same.
Lauderback walked the first three batters he faced, gave up a single to Riley Reynolds, then walked in a run with a free pass to Taylor, making it 9-0. Lusardi's sacrifice fly made it 10-0 as Bartlett, who went 3-4 with three RBI, finished South's scoring with an RBI single.
On Monday, South defeated Lee's Summit West 14-3 after trailing the Titans 3-0 going into the bottom of the second. The Jaguars cranked out 13 hits against West, including six doubles and two home runs.
Wildcats walk-off with win over Tigers
The Blue Springs baseball team walked off with a 5-4, eight-inning win over Lee's Summit on Monday.
After failing behind the Tigers 4-0 in the top of the third, the Wildcats tied the game 4-4 with two runs in the fifth and sixth innings. And after a scoreless seventh, Blue Springs' Chris Guffey ended the game in the eighth inning with a walk-off home run.