Made in the shade: Needles rolls in championship games

The best place to be on a blazing hot day is in the shade.

That's where Needles (Calif.) pitcher Matt McAndrews spent his Saturday morning as he watched Whittell and The Meadows battle it out in a scorching losers' bracket final.

Whittell advanced to the final by winning the slugfest, but any glory was short-lived. McAndrews tossed a two-hitter to help the Mustangs rout the Warriors 12-2 in five innings to win the Class 2A state baseball title at Mountain View Christian.

The state title was the second straight for Needles.

"I really didn't feel any adrenaline until the last inning," said McAndrews, a freshman, who struck out 10 in the first four innings. "For the first four innings, I was fine."

His teammates sent a message right off the bat. Leadoff hitter Stevie Kidd blasted a home run over the fence in left-center, and the Mustangs quickly collected four more hits to take a 5-0 first-inning lead.

Any doubt about the outcome was put to rest in the fourth, when Needles posted six more runs in an inning capped by Bobby Stahel's towering two-run homer to left.

Kidd, Stahel and Darra Russell each had two of the Mustangs' nine hits.

• Whittell 15, The Meadows 6 -- The Warriors compiled 15 hits to win and move into the title game.

Whittell scored five runs in the first inning and five in the fourth. Brian Fahey went 3-for-4 for The Meadows.

SOFTBALL

• Needles 12, Lincoln County 2 -- Lexi Baldwin tossed a four-hitter to help the Mustangs roll to their third consecutive state crown with a six-inning win in the Class 2A title game.

Baldwin, a senior, also went 4-for-5 with an RBI.

Needles, which rested as Lincoln County beat Pershing County 3-2 in the morning's losers' bracket semifinal, scored four runs in the first inning.

Alex Chandler went 3-for-4 with four RBIs for Needles.