Lindbergh Golf and Mehlville Baseball Face Off for Athlete of the Week

The Affton baseball team was coming off an offensive explosion entering Thursday's non-conference contest against Mehlville.

The Cougars defeated McCluer South-Berkeley 29-3 Wednesday, scoring nine runs in the first inning, nine more in the second and eight in the third in the four-inning game.

Affton should have saved some runs for Thursday, as it went from scoring 29 runs to being shut out by the Panthers.

Senior southpaw Aaron Onkle pitched five scoreless innings as the Panthers defeated Affton 10-0 in six innings.

"That was the longest outing in Aaron's career," Mehlville coach Tim Ode said. "We have used him in several different scenarios although he has not pitched that much. He had one other start, against Parkway South, which he did not fare as well."

Onkle fared well Thursday as he allowed just three hits, while walking two and striking out six.

"Aaron was really dominant the entire game," Ode said. "He threw strikes and he did a good job of changing speeds."

Mehlville has been struggling with the bats lately, but it broke out for a game as Avery Anderson led the way with three hits, a walk, two runs scored and a stolen base.

"We have been pitching and playing defense as well as any team around," Ode said. "We just have not been scoring many runs."

That was shown the next two days as Mehlville scored just one run in 16 innings against Eureka. The Panthers fell to the Wildcats 3-1 in nine innings Friday and then lost 1-0 Saturday.

"I think we have the pitching depth to win the district tournament," Ode said. "It is just going to depend on how we hit the ball."

The district tournament starts this weekend for the area teams.

Mehlville is seeded fourth in the Class 4, District 4 Tournament that is hosted by Seckman. The Panthers will have an early wake-up call Saturday as they open the tournament with a game against fifth-seeded Fox Saturday at 9:30 a.m. The Panthers were scheduled to end their regular season with two games against Fox, one Monday and one Tuesday.

All teams enter district play with a 0-0 record and that is good news for Oakville, which entered the week on an 11-game losing streak. The Tigers are seeded eighth and will have to open against top-seeded Festus Saturday at 5 p.m.

Windsor and Seckman are seeded second and third in the district, which will have its championship game Wednesday at 4:15 p.m.

Lindbergh is the No. 2 seed in the Class 4, District 3 Tournament that is hosted by Rockwood Summit.

The Flyers, who scored 29 runs in a sweep of Northwest last week, will open against St. Mary's Saturday at 1 p.m.

Vianney is the top seed in District 3, which will play its title game Tuesday night at 7:00.

Affton is seeded third in the Class 3, District 3 Tournament that is hosted by Lutheran South.

The host Lancers and Hancock receive first round byes in the six-team district. Affton opens against Imagine Friday at 4:30. The title game is scheduled for Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.

Vollayball

All four area volleyball teams are playing extremely well at this juncture of the season.

Affton entered the week with a 12-game winning streak and is 22-4 overall. Lindbergh has won six straight and is 15-9. The Flyers are 5-1 in the Suburban West. They are tied for second and a game behind Lafayette. The Flyers have their regular season finale Tuesday at Lafayette.

. The Tigers are 13-10-3 while Mehlville is 14-7. The two teams will meet again in the first round of districts 5:15 p.m. Friday at Northwest High School. 

Golf

A pair of Lindbergh golfers will be headed to southwest Missouri to play in the state tournament.

Justin Stacer finished seventh in the Class 4, Section 1 Tournament at Crown Pointe. Stacer shot a 78. Teammate Drew Ervin was a shot behind at 79, which was good for 10th place.

The state golf tournament will be played May 14-15 at Silo Ridge in Bolivar.

Athlete of the Week

Stacer is one candidate for the Patch Athlete of the Week. The others are Onkle and Mehlville volleyball's Eric Hoyer. The senior had nine kills in a and led the team .

Congratulations to Lauren Fussell, who won by more than 40 votes.