The California Pintos and Russellville Indians ended their regular season Thursday in a matchup against each other. Despite the loss of one of their players, Russellville controlled the game from start to finish, defeating California 9-2 to end the regular season 23-8. California s ended the regular season 13-11.
Russellville Indians baseball rode a six-game winning streak into their Thursday night contest against the defending Class 1 state champion St. Elizabeth Hornets. St. Elizabeth took Russellville into extra innings and came on top 5-4 in eight innings.
On Thursday night at Legion Sports Complex in Jefferson City, Russellville Indians baseball squared off against the Fatima Comets. The game came down to the seventh inning, where Russellville third baseman Chris Seaver hit a walk-off single to give the Indians a 5-4 victory.
This one just means a little more.
The Russellville Indians and the Fatima Comets are Show-Me Conference rivals. So not only was Thursday’s game the opener in pool play for the Jays Baseball Classic, the schools decided it also would count for their conference meeting this season.
They battled to the very last pitch like you knew conference rivals would.
When Monday’s Class 2 state semifinal game ended against Plattsburg, Russellville senior Isaiah Kauffman thought his high school career might be over. And there was still a state championship game to be played. Kauffman was involved in a big collision on a play at first base, leaving the game in the fourth inning of Russellville’s 3-2 victory in eight innings against Plattsburg.