The Dewar Dragon varsity baseball team checked the first item off their postseason list last Thursday at Wiley Ryal Park in Dewar.

The Dragons captured the Class A district championship last Thursday with three shutout wins over two opponents in the 3-team district baseball tournament.

The Dewar squad began their 2023 postseason with a 20-0 thrashing of the Liberty (Mounds) Tigers, ending Liberty’s season after the Tigers fell to Davenport by a 10-5 margin in last Thursday’s opening contest.

The Dragons sent the Davenport Bulldogs, who are coached by former Preston baseball standout Brett Case, home for the season with back-to-back shutout wins of 12-0 and 8-0, respectively, to capture the Class A district title.

The Dewar squad will begin Phase 2 in their bid for a third-straight state tournament appearance this Thursday at the Class A regional tournament at Wiley Ryal Park in Dewar. The Dragons will begin the 4-team regional tournament Thursday at 11 a.m. against unranked Fletcher. Thursday’s other opening-round game at Dewar will take place at 1:30 p.m. and will pit 13th-ranked Okarche against 20th-ranked Drummond.

The two opening- round winners will go to battle in a winner’s bracket game Thursday at 4 p.m. while the opening- round losers will square off in an elimination game Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

The loser’s bracket finals will take place Friday at 4 p.m. with the championship game being held Friday at 6:30 p.m.

An ‘if necessary’ championship game is scheduled to take place Saturday at 2 p.m.

In order for the Dragons to earn their third-straight state tournament trip, they will need to win threestraight games this weekend.

In last Thursday’s playoff opener against Liberty (Mounds), the Dragons began the scoring with two runs in the top of the first, then added two in the second, 13 in the third, and three in the fourth for the 20-0 decision.

The Dewar offense was led by the duo of Zack Mullen (2 for 2, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs) and Tryton Mack (2 for 2, 2 singles, 4 RBIs) with two hits apiece.

The other three Dragon base hits in the playoff opener came on singles by Jeron Brison and Christian Cargola and a double by Jonathan Wilson. Wilson drove in two runs in the contest, while Brison had 3 RBIs against Liberty (Mounds).

Aidan Tomlinson went the distance on the mound for the Dragons to earn the pitching win. Tomlinson struck out 11 and walked four while allowing just one base hit in four shutout innings of work.

In last Thursday’s first meeting with Davenport, the Dragons did most of their scoring in the top of the first, erupting for eight runs in the inning. The Dewar squad added two in the second and two in the third to complete the 12-0, shutout, win.

Zack Mullen struck out six in three no-hit innings on the mound for Dewar.

Aidan Tomlinson led the Dragon offensive attack in the run-rule win, going 3 for 3 with a single, double, home run, and 3 RBIs.

Other Dewar batters with multiple hits against Davenport were Mullen (2 for 2, double, home run, 3 RBIs), Christian Cargola (2 for 2, 2 singles), and Skelly Taylor (2 for 2, 2 singles, 3 RBIs) with two hits each.

The other three Dewar base hits against Davenport came on RBI singles by Jeron Brison and Jonathan Wilson and an RBI double by Jaden Maxwell.

In last Thursday’s district championship against Davenport, the Dragons got the scoring started with a run in the bottom of the first. The Dewar squad added a run in the second and three in each of the third and fourth innings for an 8-0 advantage.

The Dragon defense kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard in the top of the fifth to put the finishing touches on the shutout run-rule win and award Dewar the Class A district championship.

The duo of Skelly Taylor and Zack Mullen combined for a 5-inning nohit shutout. Taylor worked the first two innings, striking out two and walking two, while Mullen struck out six in three shutout innings of relief, earning his second pitching win of the tournament.

Mullen was the top hitter for the Dragons in the district title game with a 2-run home run.

The other three Dewar base hits in the contest came on a single by Jonathan Wilson and RBI doubles by Taylor and Jaden Maxwell. — Class A District Tournament First Game

Dewar 20, Liberty 0

Dewar – 2 – 2 – 13 – 3 20 – 7 – 0 Liberty-0-0-0-0 0-1-2 WP: Aidan Tomlinson LP: Trent Thompson HR: None — Second Game

Dewar 12, Davenport 0

Dewar: 8 – 2 – 2 12 – 12 – 0 Davenport:0-0-0 0-0-2 WP: Zack Mullen LP: Bryson Dingham HR: Dewar: Zack Mullen, Aidan Tomlinson — Championship

Dewar 8, Davenport 0

Davenport:0-0-0-0-0 0-0-2 Dewar: 1-1-3-3-x 8-4-1 WP: Zack Mullen LP: Colt Metcalf HR: Dewar: Zack Mullen