Lassiter advances to baseball semifinals

“My pitching wasn’t there, obviously, but I picked myself up with the bat,’’ said Stephens, who reached base in all 10 of his plate appearances, once by error. “It all evened out in the end.’’

In Game 1, Lassiter led 8-0 after two innings, getting five in the first off Luella starter Kendal Hill (7-4).

But Stephens, who pitched a shutout in his previous outing against No. 1-ranked Parkview, struggled with his control, walking three and hitting two. Chase Scott hit a three-run homer against him in Luella’s six-run third.

In the sixth, Luella scored five more off reliever Parker Shank and took a 12-9 lead as Ryan Marsh and Cody Powell hit homers. Eric Pape also contributed to Luella's four homers in the first game.

But Luella failed to hold its edge. Powell, who had pitched well since the second inning, began to tire and walked two of three. He was relieved by closer Julius Gaines, who had made several brilliant defensive plays at shortstop. Gaines gave up a walk, a single and then a sacrifice fly by Reed Anthes that scored Nelson Ward with the tying run.

That brought up Stephens, who hit his game-winner to the opposite field in right. He has 12 homers on the season, and this was the third time he had hit two in a game. Lassiter’s Mitch Shelby got the win with an inning of perfect relief in the top half of the inning.

‘’That’s hard to come back from,’’ said Luella coach Andy Cooper. “The ball just squeaked out [near the 315-foot sign]. It was very deflating for us.’’

In Game 2, Lassiter went up 8-0 early again, and Ross Riddle pitched a four-hit complete game to secure it.

For the series, Lassiter's Anthes was 5-for-9, and Ward (3-for-6) and Cody Johnson (5-for-8) hit home runs.