Correspondent photo / Lowell Spencer Springfield catcher Seandelle Gardner, left, tags out Heartland Christian’s Will Morgan at first base after a rundown Tuesday evening during their Division IV district semifinal matchup at Springfield High School.

NEW MIDDLETOWN — Both the sixth-seeded Heartland Christian Lions and the fifth-seeded Springfield Tigers baseball programs have enjoyed a lot of success in recent years. Both reached the district semifinals just one year ago and this year the two programs faced each other on the same stage with hopes of playing for another district title.

The Tigers were able to combine solid pitching, timely hitting, and sound defense to power them to a 6-2 victory over the Lions on Tuesday.

The victory advances the Tigers to the district championship Thursday night where they will face the Warren JFK Eagles. The first pitch is set for 5:00 PM.

“I think we played better today than we have in the past,” Tigers coach Terry Dobson stated. “We still haven’t reached our peak, and we are going to have to have that type of game in our next game. They’re (JFK) the best, period. If you want to win it all, you have to beat the best and they are the best right now.”

The Tigers, who improved to 14-9 on the season set the tone for the contest in the bottom of the first when they plated two runs. A hit batsman, two walks, and an RBI single staked them to a 2-0 lead after one inning.

Tigers’ junior pitcher Kolton Raurk pitched a four-hit complete game for the win. He struck out six batters and walked four. He also hit two batters and threw two wild pitches.

“In the beginning, I was a little bit off, but once I found it, I think I had things going,” Ruark said. “I walked way too many people today. But once I found my curveball, I think I was on it today for sure.”

The Lions, who close their season with a 10-14 record surrendered six walks in the contest, four of which eventually came around to score. They only surrendered four hits to the Tigers, three of which drove in Tiger base runners. The Lions also committed four errors in the game.

The Tigers executed small-ball baseball perfectly all night. They stole seven basses in the contest and executed a suicide bunt perfectly to score one of their runs.

“We practice all year,” Dobson said. “You have to be able to do it in order to win the close games. So, we practice it a lot.”

Lions starting pitcher, sophomore Seth Walker suffered the loss while tossing five innings and giving up five runs on only four hits. He struck out six Tiger batters while surrendering six walks. He also hit two batters.

Drew Walker worked one inning giving up one run on one hit.

After the Tigers had scored a third run in the bottom of the second inning, the Lions were able to get on the scoreboard in the top of the third. Jake Walker was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame and then advanced to second on a walk by Owen Bender. Drew Gault then lined a single to left on the second pitch he saw to chase Walker home and cut the deficit to 3-1.

However, the Tigers scored single runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to extend their advantage to 5-1. A suicide bunt by Seandelle Gardner scored Noah Troggio in the fourth, and a two-out single by Jackson Ensley brought home Parker Dobson in the fifth.

The Lions answered with a run in the top of the sixth when Drew Walker worked a one-out walk and then scored with two outs on a wide pitch. Unfortunately for the Lions, they were unable to get many clutch hits in the inning or the game.

“We made a couple of mistakes on defense, but it ended up that since we didn’t put any offense together it didn’t really affect the outcome. So, it was very disappointing for the seniors,” Franken remarked.

sports@vindy.com