Kaskaskia College dropped their first game in the Junior College World Series Saturday afternoon.  The number nine ranked Blue Devils fell to the fifth ranked Midland, Texas Chaparrals 12-2 in five innings at Sam Suplizio Field in Grand Junction, Colorado.  

Midland scored seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to bring the contest to an early close. Midland out hit Kaskaskia in the game 15-4.  The Blue Devils also had four errors in the game. 

Jason Zgardowski received the complete game win for Midland.  Nick Gardewine took the loss for Kaskaskia.  He worked four innings, allowing nine hits and giving up five earned runs.  He struck out five and walked three.  

Both teams had entered their first game in the World Series with long winning streaks.  Kaskaskia had won 15 in a row and Midland College 14 in a row.   

Kaskaskia College is still alive in the double elimination tournament and will play Palm Beach State in a game at 11 Sunday morning.  Palm Beach was defeated 6-4 in their first round game by Central Alabama Community College.  You'll be able to hear the Kaskaskia College game live on WJBD-FM 100.1 beginning with pre-game action around 10:40 Sunday morning.  

The South Central Cougars were one out away from ending the top of the sixth inning when the Windsor/Stew-Stras Blue Devils scored all three of their runs to take a 3-1 lead, a score that would hold up as the final in the Class 1A Cumberland Sectional Championship Saturday.

Cougars sophomore starter Dylan Peters had worked out of a few jams earlier in the game, including a bases-loaded one-out scenario in the second. But back-to-back singles from the eight-nine batters brought up the top of the order. Two hit batters, a walk, and a wild pitch later and South Central's 1-0 lead was gone. Shawn Meyer relieved Peters in the sixth and finished the game.

South Central Head Coach Curt Jones talked about the outing from his starting pitcher.

"He hadn't been in this spot ever, and he had very limited innings. I guess you could say I rolled the dice or had a gut feeling about him today. I just felt like if he could throw strikes, he'd give us a chance, and he did."

Peters finished with five strikeouts, walking three, allowing eight hits in five-and-two-thirds innings.

The Cougars took a lead in the second inning when Austin Schwarm laced a one-out double into the gap. Dylan Smith's RBI single put South Central up 1-0, and it looked like Peters and the defense would hold off the Blue Devil bats. And they did, until Windsor was down to its final four outs.

Christian Vonderheide tossed a complete game for the Blue Devils, striking out ten while scattering four hits. Jones talked about the impressive right hander his batters had to face.

"He was really good, and we expected him to be. His curveball was really good. We weren't going to hit that. He made pitches when he had to. We hit the ball really good, but good pitching stops good hitting."

Jones summarized his final message to his team after the game.

"You talk to your young guys and tell them what a great experience this is, so I talked to them. But my seniors...I have nine seniors and seven of them are starters. It's a hard group to lose. Since they walked in the door Day 1 they were a special group. I'm just so proud of how hard they worked to get to this point and able to even compete in a game like this."

The Cougars end their season 11-15.

Salem junior Tyler Jourdan placed second in the pole vault at the 2013 IHSA Class 2A State Track and Field Meet.

Jourdan cleared fifteen feet but was once again unable to tie the SCHS record of 15’3”, which was the mark cleared by eventual state champion Tyler Ginger from Olympia Stanford.

Jourdan will be back for his senior year next spring with a few new goals.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Adrian Gonzalez homered and drove in three runs, Mark Ellis lined a go-ahead double in the sixth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated St. Louis 5-3 on Saturday to snap the Cardinals' three-game winning streak.

The last-place Dodgers, who had lost five of seven, blew a two-run lead before Ellis' two-out hit off Seth Maness (3-1) scored Carl Crawford from first base to make it 4-3.

Paco Rodriguez (1-2) earned his first major league victory, getting three outs on 10 pitches. Brandon League worked the ninth to earn his 10th save in 12 chances.

The NL Central-leading Cardinals tied the game at 3 on David Freese's broken-bat RBI double and Pete Kozma's infield single in the sixth. Nick Punto made a diving stop behind third base, but he couldn't throw out Kozma. 

CINCINNATI (AP) - Travis Wood's impressive streak of quality starts ended with another disappointment against his former team.

This one stung a little bit more.

Todd Frazier drove in a pair of runs with a sacrifice fly and a single off Wood, and the Cincinnati Reds used another big inning to beat the Cubs 5-2 on Saturday, sending Chicago to its season-high sixth straight loss.
 
The Cubs are last in the NL Central at 18-30, a season-worst 12 games under .500. They have their longest losing streak since they dropped seven straight last September. And they can't find a way to beat the Reds, who have won 16 of the last 18 games in their series. 

"This team has some big boys, veterans out on the field, and their pitching is some of the best in baseball," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. "It's tough to score on them. We're in all the games, but you can't add on or score on their bullpen."

They've run into a team off to its best start since 1995. The Reds have won 13 of their last 16 overall, surging to 31-18. 

Cincinnati scored four times in the sixth off Wood (4-3), who fell to 0-2 in four career starts against his former team.  "It's not tougher to pitch against them," Wood said. "It's tougher to take when they beat you like that." 

Homer Bailey (3-3) gave up a pair of runs in six innings to a lineup that rarely has a big inning. Aroldis Chapman had a perfect ninth for his 12th save in 14 chances, hitting 100 mph with one pitch that sailed to the backstop.  

The Reds won the first two games of the series in front of sell-out crowds. The Reds are 19-5 against the Cubs over the last two seasons, including 7-1 this year.  

Cincinnati won the series opener 7-4 on Friday with a five-run fourth inning that featured Ryan Hanigan's three-run homer. The catcher doubled home a run during Cincinnati's four-run sixth inning on Saturday.

The Reds didn't need any homers to pull away. Instead, they sent nine batters to the plate to stop Wood's impressive streak. The left-hander had nine quality starts to open the season, the best such streak by a Cubs pitcher since Mordecai Brown had 11 in 1908, the last time they won the World Series.

"I lost it there in the sixth," Wood said. "I didn't get away from the game plan. As good as I was feeling, I kind of got out of whack."

Frazier's RBI single tied it at 2, and the Reds pulled off a suicide squeeze to take the lead. Brandon Phillips was on third when Derrick Robinson swung at the first pitch but failed to put the ball in play, then got the sign for the bunt.   "I'm not crazy about it," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "It's taking a heck of a chance. A lot of bad stuff can happen. He executed it perfectly. Brandon left on time."

The run put Bailey in line for the win. Hanigan's double made it 4-2, and Cesar Izturis drove him home with a pinch-hit single.

Phillips had a single that extended his streak to 12 games. Joey Votto went 0 for 3, ending his season-best streak at 12 games.

Anthony Rizzo snapped an 0-for-22 slump with an RBI double in the second inning, slapping his hands when he reached second base. Rizzo scored on Alfonso Soriano's single for a 2-0 lead.

The Reds traded Wood to the Cubs in December 2011 as part of a package for reliever Sean Marshall, who went on the disabled list with a sore shoulder before the start of the series. The 26-year-old Wood finished last season strong and had kept it up. He couldn't beat his former team, falling to 0-2 in four starts against the Reds.

The Reds got a scare in the second inning when right fielder Jay Bruce and center fielder Shin-Soo Choo banged shoulders and fell to the warning track while chasing Welington Castillo's fly ball. Choo caught it and held on, and neither player was hurt.

NOTES: Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto makes his second start since returning from the DL in the series finale Sunday. He'll face Matt Garza, also making his second start since returning from the DL. Rizzo singled to center in the fifth, but Choo threw him out as he tried to stretch it to a double. Rizzo then doubled in the eighth. The Reds had homered in each of their last nine games. The Cubs ended their streak of four straight games with an error.