BASEBALL: Ewing runs over Elverado in Regional championship

Elverado had just four base runners in Monday's Class S Baseball Regional championship in Whittington and couldn't overcome a dominant performance by Ewing's starting pitcher, as the Falcons were eliminated 8-0.

The Warriors out-hit the Falcons 7-0 and Elverado didn't get a runner past second base. Ewing advances on to Saturday's state tournament in Coulterville where they will meet New Hope in the 11:30 a.m. quarterfinal match-up.

While no Falcon recorded a hit, Chase Buser (0-1, BB) and Braden Wright (0-1, BB) each drew walks and Joey Iaccino (0-1, HBP) and Alex Garcia (0-0, HBP) reached base after being hit with a pitch.

"I thought our starter Hunter (McRoy) did a great job today," said Elverado coach Jim Kowzan. "The first inning could have gotten out of hand quick, but he was able to settle down and keep us in the game."

"The fourth inning was tough. I felt the play where Caden (Robinson) was ran over and the runner ruled safe really took a little out of us, but when you break the game down, we just didn't hit. Hats off to Ewing's starter, by far the best pitcher we have seen all year."

Kowzan is assisted by Eli Fennell and Ethan Keller. Elverado finished the 2015 junior high baseball season with a record of 10-11 overall.

The Falcons' roster also includes James Floyd, Clayton Tripp-Reams, Landon Buser, Tanner Shread, Max Valerius, Zach Absher, Trystan Wyatt, Reid Funk, Dawson White, Caden Robinson and Dalton Poole.

"I thought for a very young team - we start four 6th graders and three 5th graders - that we over-achieved a little this year," Kowzan added. "Hopefully we can build on this year, it was a great group of kids to be around."