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By Curtis Duncan
Coming into district play this week, the Northwest-House Springs baseball squad was looking for some respect. Thanks to a healthy lineup and a strong hitting attack, the Lions are still going strong in postseason play. Sixth-seeded Northwest banged out 12 hits en route to a 12-6 victory over De Soto in a Class 4A, District 2 first round game at Northwest on Tuesday afternoon.
Northwest (9-11) advances to face Eureka at Eureka tomorrow in a semifinal game. De Soto ended its season with a 10-10 slate.
"I thought it was a good game," said Northwest coach Greg Fortner. "We're the number six seed going into this district, and we thought that was kind of a slap in the face. We didn't have a great record, but we're back healthy again, and now we're finally hitting the ball and getting some pitching to go with it."
Northwest scored two runs in the top half of the first inning to break on top. Chad Lembach singled home a run with two out, and Dave Klahs grounded out to drive in another run and give the Lions a 2-0 lead.
De Soto responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning, knotting the game at 2-2.
In the top of the third, the Lions went back in front, as Klahs ripped a two-run homer for a 4-2 Northwest advantage.
The Lions stretched the lead to 5-2 when Derek Duree led off with a double and scored on Brian Reitz's infield groundout. Duree was two for three with a pair of doubles, an RBI, and two runs scored.
It was the fifth inning that proved pivotal for the Lions; Northwest pushed across four runs in the top of the fifth. Derek Weber doubled to start the frame, and Jimmy Daffron singled home Weber. Daffron then stole second, and Klahs walked, putting runners at second and third. Lembach sacrificed to bring home Daffron, and Jim McCummiskey grounded out to bring in another run.
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