Noah Rinehart’s bat, pitching arm propel Chillicothe High School baseball to big victory over Benton

(CHILLICOTHE, MO) - In a matchup of two top 10 teams in Class 4, the #3 Chillicothe High School baseball team defeated #6 Benton on Tuesday, 2-0.

It was a game filled with defense and solid pitching throughout. Chillicothe seniors Dane Ireland and Noah Rinehart combined to throw 8 strikeouts, (5 came from Rinehart). The pair only allowed 2 hits and no runs the entire game. For Benton, junior Boston Cook pitched 6 innings and had 2 strikeouts, 6 hits and 2 runs given up.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth, with runners on second and third, Rinehart smacked a ball into right field that drove in both runners for the only points of the game. Rinehart finished 1-for-3 at the plate with 2 RBI.

"I knew I was looking fastball early and I was just trying to hit something hard early in the count. (Cook) had been starting us off fastballs the whole game. I knew what I was looking for. I got the pitch I wanted and capitalized on it, trusting my hands," said Rinehart. "We're back better than ever. I think this year we're coming out hot. We're feeling good. We're all wanting to be here. Everything's clicking, we've been all playing together our whole lives, so it feels good to get back out here and do it for one last ride."

"I got to watch (Rinehart) at the state tournament last year. He did the same thing, when we had to have a hit when we had to have a strike or a strikeout, he got it for us," said Chillicothe head coach Troy Figg. "He's a senior, he's a leader. When he's on the mound and he's in control like he was today, it's about as good as you can get."

Chillicothe improves to 9-1 on the season and next plays at Winnetonka on Wednesday, April 8th at 4:30 pm. Benton drops to 7-4 and plays at Richmond on Thursday, April 9th at 4:30 pm.