Buenemann is blankman
Howell pitcher tosses 2nd straight shutout
Parkway South saw runners thrown out at second, third and home and hit into two ground-ball double plays as well, as the Vikings stopped rallies and stopped the Patriots' season with a 2-0 win in a Class 4 quarterfinal at Ballwin Athletic Association.
"Coach always tells me to throw the ball to where they can hit the ball so we can let our defense work. I don't have overpowering stuff," Buenemann said. "I just have to throw the ball to where they can hit it and as you can see our defense is pretty good."Buenemann saw his streak of postseason games with a home run at the plate end at two Friday, but he started a new streak with his second consecutive complete-game shutout. The senior right-hander allowed eight hits and didn't walk a batter.
A week earlier, he shut out rival Howell North 8-0 for the district championship.
"Austin Buenemann was phenomenal," said Vikings coach Tony Perkins. "That's two outings in a row like that. When you talk about a guy gutting it out, pitching his tail off."
The play of Friday's game came with one out in the top of the third. Parkway South's Matt Weiss led off with a single and reached second base on Erik Omlid's sacrifice bunt. Patriots coach Adam Stahl pinch-ran Aaron Garcia for Omlid and pinch-hit with Connor Keenan in place of No. 9 hole hitter Danny Bell.
It looked like the move paid off when Keenan lined a single just right of second base and into center field. But Vikings center fielder Preston Aldridge fielded the ball and threw on a line to home plate to get Garcia, and catcher Nate Orf fired to second base where Keenan was caught trying to move up a bag, for an inning-ending double play.
"I didn't even think at all," Aldridge said. "I just picked it up and threw it home. He was barely on third, but I just picked it up and threw it home and then I just had confidence and I was hoping to get him out."
Perkins said the third-base umpire told him it was the best play he'd seen all season.
"It was awesome," Perkins said. "I had a pretty good idea Preston could throw the guy out and then I see the guy going to second, I'm thinking, 'Holy Cow, this is going to be two, we're going to be out of the inning.'"
The Vikings scored the only runs they would need in the first. Orf led off with a single versus Parkway South starter Kyle Cornell, James Allen walked, and Aldridge lined an RBI single to center field.
After a sacrifice bunt moved both runners up a bag, Perkins put on a squeeze play. Cornell's pitch sailed to the backstop and Allen scored without a play.
After the first, Cornell allowed just three more hits, and catcher Scott Sommerfeld helped out when he caught three runners on the basepaths, two on stolen base attempts and one on a snap throw to first base.
"I thought their pitcher settled in," Perkins said. 'When he gave up two I thought we'd take off. Usually when we get to them early like that we get some runs, but he settled in and pitched a whale of a game. He pitched 1 2/3 (innings) a couple days ago, that guy I have a lot of respect for him."
Cornell said he had an idea of what type of game it'd be after a conversation with Aldridge, who plays with him for the Rawlings Prospects in the summer.
"I talked to Preston earlier in the week and he told me the pitcher they were throwing had a .66 ERA so I had a feeling we were going to get low runs," Cornell said. "I felt good in my last outing, I felt I could keep them low. But not low enough."
The Patriots had a rally snuffed in the fourth when Justin Young singled and tried to go from first to third on Sommerfeld's base hit. This time, right fielder Tyler Schneider, who shared the No. 5 hole with designated hitter Kyle Behr, threw a strike to Allen at shortstop and Allen's relay nailed Young at third.
"That's what he (Perkins) calls on me for, he tells me, 'I need you out there.' Kyle Behr, he's a great hitter. That's kind of his thing," Schneider said. "Fielding's kind of my thing so I just kind of go out there and help the team the best that I can, do whatever I can to help us win."
The Patriots (16-7) had one last chance in the seventh when Matt Crowley led off with a single. But the next batter, Weis, grounded to second for a double play.
Buenemann got the next batter, Omlid, to chase strike three in the dirt, and Orf recorded the final out with a throw to first base.
The Vikings (23-3) advanced to face SLUH (20-6) in a Class 4 semifinal scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday at Meador Park in Springfield. SLUH beat Parkway Central 9-4 in 8 innings Friday.
For Francis Howell, it is the first berth in the semifinal round since the school's state championship in 2003.
"We kind of had the mentality to win state at the beginning of the year because we knew we had the talent," Buenemann said. "We just have to keep going."
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