Hawks advance to Region 9 title game

ELDON — Mason Sanders needed 10 pitches to get through the top of the first inning of Tuesday’s Class 2A District 9 semifinal.
It provided a lift for the Central Lee right-hander, and his teammates carried on with the same energy.
The Hawks advanced to the district final with a 10-0 win in six innings over Pella Christian.
Central Lee (17-4), which extended its winning streak to 10 games, moved on to Saturday’s final at 7 p.m. in Donnellson against Albia, who upset Cardinal 11-5 in Tuesday's nightcap.
Sanders allowed just one hit over 5 ⅔ innings, striking out seven. But it was the way he flew through the first inning that was the perfect start to the night.
Sanders struck out Dean De Ronde to start the game, retired Logan Gallaher on a soft line drive to second baseman Carver Hayes, then struck out Ben Van Wyngarden on four pitches to end the inning.
“Absolutely necessary to have an inning like that,” Sanders said. “Setting the tone, you need to do that for your team. Anybody that gets out there, you have to set the tone like that.”
“I think it's really big,” Central Lee coach Shane Weirather said. “You know, if you're going to get to a good pitcher like Mason, you probably have to get him early before he settles down, and there was none of that. He was ready right off the bat. That's really big when you're the home team and you get the 1-2-3 right away.”

The lone hit for Pella Christian (4-29) came on Blake Gallaher’s single with two outs in the fourth inning.
Central Lee opened the scoring with a run in the second inning. Sanders led off the inning with a double and scored on Carter Ellingboe’s two-out single.
Blake Davis’ two-run home run in the third inning increased the lead to 3-0, then the Hawks got two more runs in the fourth on Brett Cook’s RBI single and Ward Fraise’s double that scored Cook.
“The more runs we score, the more relaxed I can be on the mound,” Sanders said. “The bats have been hot. We've been good in the field, we've been practicing like we should be, so I came in with a good feeling about this game.”
“They were a 4-28 team but came from a pretty good conference,” Weirather said. “They're a pretty good team for that kind of record. So it's always nice to get a couple runs and have a little lead, and then you put a little pressure on them, and then just keep adding on.”
The Hawks got a run in the fifth inning, then closed the game on the 10-run rule with four runs in the sixth.
Weirather took Sanders out of the game after throwing 86 pitches, which allows him to be available in Saturday’s game.
“Not that he’s definitely pitching on Saturday, but it’s nice to have options,” Weirather said.
“It’s a great morale booster for the guys to get this one,” Sanders said. “We want to keep it going.”