CHERRY TWP — Cruz Eshenbaugh finally broke through against Karns City — with a lot of help from his friends.

Moniteau's senior left-hander allowed three runs and five hits in six innings Tuesday as the Warriors defeated KC, 11-5, in a first-round District 9 Class AA baseball playoff game.

Eshenbaugh threw 98 pitches — 62 for strikes. Nick Morrow pitched the seventh.

"He pitched a very steady game," Moniteau coach Ross Martin said. "Getting an early lead was important for him. It helped him relax out there."

Moniteau scored three times in the bottom of the first inning, aided by an outfield throwing error. Karns City committed eight errors, helping the Warriors to score six unearned runs.

"We knew this was going to be a tough battle for us," Karns City coach Tom Stewart said. "We made it too easy for them."

The Warriors banged out 11 hits and scored in bunches, getting three runs in the first, four in the fourth and three in the sixth inning.

Freshman Tony Campbell delivered a two-out RBI single to end the first-inning scoring for the Warriors.

The Gremlins closed the gap to 3-2 by nicking Eshenbaugh for single runs in the second and third frames. Trevor Williams had a run-scoring single in the second and Cameron Turner delivered a two-out RBI double in the third.

"It takes me a couple of innings to get comfortable working from the full wind-up," Eshenbaugh said. "Once I got loose, I was OK. All I wanted to do was throw strikes and keep the ball down.

"It's always great beating Karns City. This is the first time I've ever pitched and beat them."

Turner is known for keeping his pitches down as well, which is why Stewart opted to start him over ace hurler Saxon Parker.

"Saxon was away the past couple of days and I figured we'd get a lot of ground balls with Cameron pitching and we could convert some double plays," Stewart said. "We got the ground balls. We didn't finish the plays."

Against Eshenbaugh, Karns City's first three hitters in the batting order were a combined 0-for-8 with five strikeouts.

By contrast, Moniteau's first three hitters — Adam Cousins, Tyler Drzemiecki and Eshenbaugh — were a combined 7-for-12 with six runs scored.

The Warriors broke the game open with a four-run fourth inning. Campbell tripled to deep left to plate Travis Shaffer and scored on Morrow's bunt single. Cousins and Drzemiecki produced two-out singles to cap the rally.

"I loved the way we hit with runners in scoring position and two outs today," Martin said. "But as well as we did today, we're going to have to play twice this good to beat Redbank Valley."

Moniteau, which committed four errors Tuesday, plays at top-seeded Redbank Thursday.

With the lost, Karns City bids farewell to three seniors: Andy Double, Ben McLay and Trevor Williams.

"We've got a good core of players coming back next year, including our top two pitchers," Stewart said. "Getting Brett Green back healthy at catcher will be a big boost, too."

Karns City 011 001 2—5 6 8Moniteau 300 413 x—11 11 4Cameron Turner (L, 2 K, 1 BB), Saxon Parker (5, 2 K, 0 BB) and Joe King; Cruz Eshenbaugh (W, 9 K, 2 BB). Nick Morrow (7, 2 K, 1 BB) and Joe Stiner

Karns City (8-10): Saxon Parker 3B RBI, Cameron Turner 2-2B 2-RBI, Cody Williams 1B, Cody Zabicki RBI, Trevor Williams 2-1B RBI

Moniteau (8-7): Adam Cousins 2B 2-1B 3-R, Tyler Drzemiecki 2-1B 2-RBI, Cruz Eshenbaugh 2B 1B RBI 2-R, Zane Slater RBI, Travis Shaffer 1B 3-R, Tony Campbell 1B 3B 2-RBI, Nick Morrow 1B

Thursday: District 9 Class AA playoffs, Moniteau at Redbank Valley