O'FALLON, Mo. - A big blast and a big pitching effort have the South Callaway Bulldogs lined up for a big opportunity.
Peyton Leeper's three-run home run highlighted South Callaway's eight-run eruption in the second inning and Kaden Helsel hurled a three-hit shutout as the Bulldogs blew past Knob Noster 10-0 in five innings in the Class 3 semifinals Wednesday night.
Second-ranked South Callaway (27-5) - which took fourth place in Class 3 last year - will now get the chance to claim a state title when it clashes with the Valley Park Eagles (24-2) at 1:30 this afternoon at CarShield Field. Valley Park clipped West County 5-4 on a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning in Wednesday's first semifinal.
The Bulldogs will be seeking their first state championship since winning a Class 2 title in 2012.
South Callaway punished Knob Noster (20-6) with all of the scoring it would need in the bottom of the second Wednesday night. Austin Loucks was hit by a pitch to open the inning and went to second when Landon Horstman singled up the middle.
Dylan Lepper then singled through the right side to load the bases. Drake Davidson followed by poking a single up the middle, scoring Loucks to put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard.
Tyklen Salmons delivered South Callaway's fourth straight single in the inning, bringing in Horstman to make it 2-0. After Braden Lallier's sacrifice fly scored Lepper, Helsel stretched the Bulldogs' edge to 4-0 when his double to left-center chased home Davidson.
Following a pitching change by the Panthers, Leeper crushed an 0-2 pitch over the fence in left to score Helsel and Salmons. Graysan Peneston then drew a walk and scored two batters later on Lepper's two-out single to center to make it 8-0.
South Callaway tacked on another run in the fourth. Peneston and Loucks coaxed consecutive walks to lead off the inning, with Peneston moving to third when Horstman grounded into a fielder's choice.
Horstman then stole second and Peneston was able to score on the play on a throwing error to widen the Bulldogs' advantage to 9-0.
South Callaway then finished off Knob Noster with a run in the fifth to secure its spot in today's state championship game. Lallier reached on a one-out error, Helsel was intentionally walked and Leeper drew a walk to fill the bases.
Peneston then reached on the last of the Panthers' five errors, allowing Lallier to race home with the run to punctuate the Bulldogs' decisive victory.
Lepper and Salmons were both 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored as South Callaway accumulated nine hits. Leeper finished 1-for-2 with his three RBI and a run scored, while Helsel was 1-for-3 with an RBI and scored once.
On the mound, Helsel mastered Knob Noster in raising his season record to 9-1. He struck out nine, walked none and hit a batter.