Lose with Chance Nagy on the mound?

Not a, um, chance.

Nagy was masterful, striking out 11 and retiring 13 consecutive batters at one point as the Moniteau baseball team ousted Cranberry, 9-3, Tuesday night at Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park in the District 9 Class 2A quarterfinals.

“Recently I've felt my arm is stronger and I've thrown a little harder,” said Nagy, who did have extra velocity on his moving fastball against the Berries. “It's been a week since I've thrown last and I was in a groove today.”

Nagy isn't quite sure why his fastball suddenly has some extra zip.

The senior right-hander also has gone much deeper in games as of late, including against Cranberry Tuesday.

Nagy went 6 2/3 innings for the win. The only thing that forced him from the mound was his pitch count.

“Everything felt good. Everything was working,” Nagy said. “I had to find a different grip (for the curveball) and I think I finally got it back.

“I'm not too sure why I have more velocity,” Nagy added. “I know at the beginning of the year I was only able to go a few innings. That's kind of how it has always been for me since I started throwing in high school.”

But now, Nagy has turned into a workhorse.

He was against Cranberry. Even in the first inning when he gave up back to back doubles to Trevor Gladin and Tyle Comiske to fall behind 1-0, he showed his dominance, striking out the side.

Cranberry (4-8) didn't get much else off of Nagy after that. The Berries didn't collect another hit until the top of the sixth.

Meanwhile, Moniteau's offense gave Nagy plenty of breathing room.

The Warriors (15-5) responded after falling behind 1-0 with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. The big hit was a two-run single by Tyler McFadden.

Moniteau tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the third inning, taking advantage of two of the five Cranberry errors, to take a 6-1 lead.

“It was real big,” said senior Hunter Fitzingo of the offensive outburst in the first. “We knew we had to come in here and put the bat on the ball early and get into their heads. When they scored that run, we didn't let it get to us. We jumped on them early.”

The Warriors weren't done, scoring single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth.

“Our offense all-around was good today,” Fitzingo said. “We kept going up there with the same mindset and our base running was aggressive and smart.”

Cranberry scored two runs off Nagy in the sixth, but Nagy got two quick outs in the seventh. He had a chance to finish the game, but walked his last batter and was forced from the game at 103 pitches.

Brandon Carson relieved Nagy and threw one pitch to get a groundout to end the game.

“That's just how it works,” Nagy said, smiling.

Moniteau will play rival Karns City at 6 p.m. Thursday at Pullman Park in the semifinals.

Fitzingo said he will be on the mound.

“I've been dreaming about this the whole time,” Fitzingo said. “We need to get prepared for that and come at them with all we got.”

Cranberry 100 002 0 — 3 6 5

Moniteau 303 111 x — 9 8 0

W: Chance Nagy 6.2IP (11K, 2BB). L: Trevor Gladin 3.1IP (5K, 2BB).

Cranberry (4-8): Gladin 2B 1B RBI, Tyler Comiske 2B 1B RBI, Hunter O'Neil 2B RBI, Kenny Lavrich 1B

Moniteau (15-5): Hunter Fitzingo 3-1B RBI, Chance Nagy 1B RBI, Gage Neal 2-1B RBI, Tyler McFadden 1B 2-RBI, Mason Mershimer 1B RBI

Thursday: Moniteau vs. Karns City in District 9 2A semifinals, at Pullman Park, 6 p.m.