Staley downs Lee’s Summit West 3-0 in Missouri 5 quarterfinal baseball game

Staley junior pitcher Hunter Swift entered the bottom of the seventh with a three-run lead and a no-hitter against Lee’s Summit West Sunday in a Missouri 5 quarterfinals at Staley High School.

Swift was aware of the no-hitter, but was more concerned with getting three more outs against a Titans team that advanced through the playoffs despite 16 losses.

Lee’s Summit West senior Ryan Kayhill showed that grit with a lead-off single. After Swift struck outthe next batter, senior Carson Pickard singled. Harrison Schnurbusch lofted a high fly ball to medium depth left field for the second out.

Swift got the next batter to fly out to Jack Duffy, sealing Staley’s 3-0 victory and sending the Falcons, 26-4 to the Missouri 5 state tournament where they will play Eureka, 24-4, at 4:30 p.m. Friday at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O’Fallon, Mo.

“This is incredible,” Swift said of making state. “I am a junior so everything is first time for me. It is an amazing feeling.”

Staley scored all its runs in the top of the fourth. Senior Jacob Pfender got a one-out walk. Junior catcher Sean Cooley followed with a single, putting runners on first and second. On the play, Lee’s Summit West left fielder Tyler James re-injured his hamstring and had to leave the game.

The first run scored on a single by junior Ross Messina between third and shortstop, scoring Pfender.

“I was trying to put solid contact on the ball and give our team a lead because I knew Hunter Swift was going to lock it down,” Messina said.

No. 9 hitter, Matthew Ludwig laid down a perfect bunt to load the bases. Conrad McMahon knocked in the second run on a fielder’s choice and the third run came in on a throwing error on the play.

“That took some pressure off,” Staley coach David Wilson said. “We have played really good defense all year long. I just felt once we got some runs, it let our guys be aggressive.

“When our guys make plays behind our pitcher, it gives us confidence to go out and throw and I thought our catcher was outstanding.”

That one small burst of runs was all Swift needed in a tasty pitching duel with senior Austin Taylor. Swift finished with six strikeouts. Taylor also had six strikeouts.

The Titans, though, believed they still had a chance to win going into their last at-bat.

“We have had those innings when we scored more than three runs,” Kayhill said. “We would never give up on ourselves.”

This story was originally published May 31, 2015 at 8:50 PM with the headline "Staley downs Lee’s Summit West 3-0 in Missouri 5 quarterfinal baseball game."