The District 9 baseball playoffs are more than a week away.

Moniteau looks ready right now.

Gage Neal took a no-hitter deep into the fifth inning and every player in Moniteau's lineup reached base in a 9-3 victory over Keystone Friday at Michelle Krill Memorial Field at Historic Pullman Park.

“We want to be aggressive at the plate and on the bases,” right fielder Mason Mershimer said. “That's the way we want our whole lineup to be.”

The Warriors stole five bases in the game.

Neal was the only batter in the Warrior lineup not to get a hit Friday, but he more than made up for that on the mound. He struck out 10 in five innings and the only hit he allowed was a two-out single to Jayden Blazosky in the fifth.

Neal walked the leadoff batter in the sixth, prompting Moniteau coach Ross Martin to replace him with Luke Pry. Pry finished the game.

Neal walked consecutive hitters in the fourth before walking a batter each in the fifth and sixth.

“I was getting a little tired,” he admitted. “I was hoping to pitch a little longer, but my pitch count was getting up there.

“It was disappointing seeing that ball go up the middle (Blazosky's single). I knew I hadn't allowed anything up until that point.”

Neal got the run support early. Hunter Fitzingo walked and Chance Nagy doubled to left to begin Moniteau's first inning. It appeared they would be stranded at third and second, however.

But with two outs, Tyler McFadden drilled a hard ground ball off the pitcher for a run-scoring infield single. Mershimer followed with a two-run single to center for a 3-0 lead.

Fitzingo produced a run-scoring double in the second and Mershimer hit a sacrifice fly in the third. Mershimer added a second sacrifice fly during a three-run Warrior fifth.

“Those (sacrifice flies) are important at-bats,” Mershimer said. “You have to score runs to win.”

In the meantime, Keystone (4-11) was struggling against Neal.

“He was throwing a nasty curve and our guys were having trouble with it,” Keystone coach J.P. Samay say. “That kid had our hitters guessing. He pitched an excellent game.”

Neal called the outing “my best game of the season so far. My off-speed stuff was working today.”

Mershimer had four RBI on the day. McFadden had three singles and scored three runs. Jared Lominski had a pair of hits, including a solo home run well over the 385-foot sign in left-center.

The blast was Lominski's third at Pullman Park this season.

“Moniteau has an outstanding baseball program,” Samay said. “They're the model we're trying to catch up to.

“They have a great feeder system there. We don't have much of a youth baseball program in Knox and that makes a difference.”

Keystone 000 002 1 — 3 6 1

Moniteau 311 031 x — 9 12 0

W: Gage Neal 5IP (10K, 4BB). L: Troy Johnson 2IP (1K, 1BB).

Keystone (4-11): Jayden Blazosky 1B, Dawson Steele 1B, Brooks LaVan 1B, Tye Elder 1B RBI, Andy Lauer 1B, Connor Exley 2B 2-RBI

Moniteau (11-3): Hunter Fitzingo 2B RBI, Chance Nagy 2B, Jared Lominski HR 1B, Tyler McFadden 3-1B 3-R RBI, Mason Mershimer 1B 4-RBI, Jakub Ohman 2B, Tanner Williams 1B, Lee DeMatteis 2B 1B RBI

Tuesday: Forest at Moniteau