Midwest Classic Tournament Recap

Westminster vs De Smet

3/28/17

WCA 10 DES 8

Dominic Cusumano: 3-5, RBI

DJ Stewart: 3-3, 2RBI, 2B

Jimmy Obertop: 2-3, 2RBI, 2B

 

Matt Ottsen: 3INP, 2H, 2ER, 5K

 

Westminster vs Francis Howell

3/29/17

 

WCA 1 FH 0

 

Kevin Graham: 1-2, 1R

Nathaniel Sems: 2-3, 2B

DJ Stewart: 1-3

 

DJ Stewart: 7INP, 3H, 0ER, 7K

 

Westminster vs Francis Howell Central

3/31/17

 

WCA 10 FHC 9

 

Connor Dolan: 2-4, 2RBI, 2B

Weston Schad: 2-4, 3RBI, 2B

Dominic Cusumano: 2-2, 2B

 

Michael Kolb: 4INP, 4H, 4ER

 

Westminster vs Vianney

4/1/17

 

WCA 0 VNY 3

 

Jimmy Obertop: 1-2

Josh Pottebaum: 1-2

Logan Sells: 1-2

 

Matt Ottsen: 5INP, 4H, 2ER, 3K

 

Westminster vs De Smet

4/1/17

 

WCA 9 DES 4

 

Dominic Cusumano: 2-5, 2RBI

Jimmy Obertop: 2-4, 3B

Josh Pottebaum: 1-4, 2RBI
Connor Dolan: 3INP, 3H, 4ER, 2K

The Westminster varsity baseball team continued its stellar start to the season with a third place finish in the 20th annual Midwest Classic. As the only class four team in the tournament, the Wildcats more than proved that they belong after dispatching several big-time class five schools, including defending class five state champion, Francis Howell. In the first game of the tournament, Westminster defeated De Smet in a back-and-forth, high-scoring 10-8 affair behind Jimmy Obertop’s clutch two-run double and Matt Ottsen’s three innings of relief pitching. The Wildcats proceeded to then knock off Francis Howell for the first time in Westminster history, winning 1-0 as DJ Stewart spun his second consecutive complete game. Stewart struck out three Howell hitters in a row with the tying run on third base and the winning run on second in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure the victory. In the quarterfinals, the Wildcats trailed Francis Howell Central by a run heading into the top of the seventh inning, but roared back with four runs behind Connor Dolan’s two RBI double and Logan Sells’ two RBI single to regain the lead. In the bottom of the inning, Westminster held on for the 10-9 win with Kevin Graham getting his first save of the season. The Wildcats faced the Vianney Griffins in the semi-finals and were shut down by Vianney starting pitcher and Mizzou commit, Luke Mann, scratching out just three hits and striking out eleven times. Wildcat starter, Matt Ottsen, pitched five innings allowing just three hits and two earned runs, but Wildcats were unable to get anything going offensively as they fell 3-0 to Vianney for the first loss of the season. In the third-place game, the Wildcats bounced back and rallied from an early deficit to defeat De Smet again 9-4 as Connor Dolan pitched a solid three innings and a slew of relievers from the bullpen helped to shut down the Spartans. The third-place finish for the Wildcats was the second best finish by any Westminster team in the history of the Midwest Classic as the Cats improved to 12-1 on the season.