MINFORD — The Minford Falcons were back in the Division III sectional final — defeating visiting West Union 11-0 in Tuesday’s D-III baseball sectional semifinal.
Junior Noah Martin and senior Branson Alley combined to throw a shutout three-hitter on the mound for the Falcons.
Martin got the start and the win, allowing two hits and striking out seven Dragon batters on 40 pitches.
Junior Aodhan Queen led the Falcons with a team-high three hits and team-high three runs scored.
Martin drove in a pair of Minford runs in the victory, as he and Carson Cronin had two hits apiece.
The Falcons finished with 10 hits, took advantage of eight Dragon errors while making none themselves, and scored at least two tallies in every inning.
Minford muscled for three first-inning runs and four fourth-inning markers, sandwiched around a pair of runs apiece in the second and third frames.
Minford, the No. 4-seed in the Southeast District, hosted No. 20-seed Southeastern in a D-III sectional final on Thursday.
The Falcons are the defending Division III Region 11 runner-up.
***
BOX SCORE
West Union 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 3 8
Minford 3 2 2 4 X — 11 10 0
Minford batting
JD Matiz 1-1, R, RBI
Cam Thacker 0-1, R
Carson Cronin 2-3, 2R, RBI
Adam Crank 0-2, RBI
Aodhan Queen 3-3, 3R, RBI
Mason Book 0-3, RBI
Noah Martin 2-3, R, 2RBI
Branson Alley 0-2, BB
Kyle Laxton 1-2, R
Cole Borland 1-1, 2R, RBI
Minford pitching
Noah Martin (M) 3IP, 2H, 0ER, 7K, 0BB (W)
Branson Alley (M) 2IP, 1H, 0ER, 3K, 1BB
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
