Class 1A

District 13: Lenox @ CAM 7:00pm (ON KJAN w/ Chris Parks)
District 14: Stanton @ St. Albert 7:00pm
District 15: Ar-We-Va @ Coon Rapids-Bayard 7:00pm
District 16: Kingsley-Pierson @ Akron-Westfield 7:00pm

Class 2A

District 3: Alta/Aurelia @ Kuemper Catholic 7:00pm
District 15: West Central Valley @ Tri-Center 7:00pm
District 16: Clarinda @ Treynor 7:00pm

The Creston Panthers scored 2 runs in the top of the 1st and 7th innings to defeat the Atlantic Trojans 4-2 on Friday night in Glenwood in Class 3A District 16 Semifinal play.

The Panthers opened the game with 2 runs on 4 hits in the first inning with Brandon McDowell and Cody Crawford crossing the plate. The Trojans answered back with an RBI Single by Noah Bruckner in the bottom of the first and an RBI double by Phoenix Shadden in the second to tie the game up at 2.

Both teams would stall out from the third to the sixth with Atlantic missing more opportunities during that stretch, leaving 5 runners on base those innings. The biggest missed opportunity was the sixth when the Trojans got two on with no outs and came up empty in the inning.

Creston then scored 2 in the top of the 7th with 2 hits and aided by two errors and a walk from the Trojans. The big play for the Panthers came when Cody Crawford hit a grounder to the left field gap and Trojan shortstop Chase McLaren came across to snag the ball and had to make a tough throw attempt to third for a force out try. The throw got away to the fence allowing two runners to come home for the Panthers.  Those proved to be the deciding runs as the Trojans couldn’t get anything going in the bottom of the 7th.

Kadon Hulett pitched 6 strong innings for the Creston win with 7 strikeouts and allowing 2 runs on 6 hits with 1 walk. Dustin Merritt came in to close in the 7th for the Panthers and got his 3rd save of the season. Chase Mullenix took the loss for Atlantic allowing 4 runs on 6 hits with 4 strikeouts and 2 walks.

Atlantic ends the season at 12-20. Creston improved to 14-19 and will now face Denison-Schleswig in the district final on Monday in Glenwood.  The Monarchs beat Glenwood 2-1 in the second game of the night Friday.

Class 3A District Semifinals

Substate 8, District 16

Creston 4, Atlantic 2
Denison-Schleswig 2, Glenwood 1

Substate 8, District 15

Greene County 7 , ADM, Adel 4
Harlan 10 , Carroll 0 (5 innings)

Class 4A Substate First Round

Substate 8

Waukee 10 , Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson 0 (6 innings)
Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 3 , Ames 2 (8 innings)
Urbandale 4 , Lewis Central 3 (9 innings)

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Josh Bell hit a three-run homer off Seung Hwan Oh with one out in the ninth inning to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 5-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.

Adam Frazier led off the bottom of the ninth with a double and Oh intentionally walked Andrew McCutchen with one out. Bell, a rookie, stepped in and sent a pitch from Oh (1-5) into the seats in left field for the first game-ending hit of his career. The Pirates have won six of seven.

Bell finished 2 for 3 with four RBIs. His 17 home runs lead the Pirates.

Felipe Rivero (4-2) earned the win after retiring the Cardinals on seven pitches in the top of the ninth.

Frazier added three hits for Pittsburgh, and Gregory Polanco had two hits and an RBI.

Jedd Gyorko hit a two-run homer in the first inning for the Cardinals.