ShawneeDispatch.com

Kansas City, Kan. — The Spring Hill Broncos defeated St. James Academy, 1-0, Saturday evening to capture the championship in the first annual Butch Foster Memorial Baseball Classic.

The Broncos won three games in three days at CommunityAmerica Ballpark to earn the title.

In the championship game, there was little offense. Spring Hill senior pitcher Cody Lillich gave up singles in the first two innings, but was able to pick off both runners.

"We didn't make adjustments, we even talked about (it) before the game that he (Lillich) has a good move," Thunder coach Brian Bucklin said. "That has been a big teaching point this year for us as coaches : to be good baseball players you have to make adjustments within the game."

At one point late in the game, St. James freshman pitcher Adam Burns retired nine batters in a row to hold the Broncos at bay. However, in the top of the sixth he gave up back-to-back singles, the second of which nailed him in the leg and rolled out of anybody's reach in the infield. With runners on first and second with two outs, Burns threw two wild pitches. The second allowed Spring Hill's Ryan Bontrager to score and gave the Broncos a 1-0 lead.

"We called for a curve ball in the dirt and it got by our catcher. We executed the pitch, we just didn't execute the whole play," Bucklin said about the wild pitches. "Overall I've got to tip my hat to Adam Burns; he came out and threw strikes. On this stage, for a freshman, that is great to see."

Lillich, the other half of this pitcher's duel, retired nine in a row himself until Burns led off the bottom of the sixth with a solid single. But like the previous two runners for the Thunder, Burns was picked off by the big lefty.

Lillich faced the top of St. James' batting order in the bottom of the seventh and had little trouble shutting the Thunder down to seal the victory - a complete game shutout.

The Thunder narrowly avoided slipping into the loser's bracket on day one of the tournament. They claimed a 7-1 victory over Perry-Lecompton on Thursday, but they trailed 1-0 entering the bottom of the fifth inning.

After allowing an early run, St. James pitcher John Huber kept the Kaws off the board and kept his team in the game.

Chase Jackson reached base on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the fifth and Ryan Cantrell earned a walk. Then Otis Miller hit a single that plated both runners for a 2-1 lead.

The Thunder added five more runs in the sixth for the decisive cushion.

St. James had no trouble knocking off Bonner Springs 6-0 in the semifinals on Friday. Pitcher Jake Decelles threw a five-hitter against Bonner Springs.

The Thunder scored five runs in the second inning thanks to four walks and three errors. They tagged on another run in the fourth inning, and Bonner Springs never threatened.

St. James (9-3) was scheduled to play St. Thomas Aquinas in a doubleheader Tuesday afternoon. Results were not available by press time.