CHARITON — The Central Lee High School baseball team used staunch pitching and timely hitting to post a workmanlike 3-0 win over Wilton in a Class 2A district semifinal game Tuesday at Chariton High School.

Central Lee (19-4) advances to a district final to play sixth-ranked Chariton (23-6) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Chariton High School.

Wilton, which knocked out Winfield-Mount Union/Columbus on Monday, ends the season with a 17-12 record.

Senior Chase Johnson and sophomore Blake Davis combined on a two-hitter for the Hawks.

“We pitched really good,” Central Lee coach Shane Weirather said. “They both did a really good job and we were able to keep the pitch count down on both so we can bring them back Saturday. They only allowed two hits against a team that plays in a really good conference and plays really good competition. That speaks really well not only of us, but shows well for our conference.”

Johnson started and threw 4 2/3 innings. He allowed two hits and walked none.

He did not allow a hit until there was one out in the fourth inning. A second hit with two outs did not score a run. He recorded his fourth strikeout then an error allowed a base runner.

Davis relived Johnson at that point and struck out the final out of the inning. Davis pitched the final 2 1/3 innings, allowing no hits and no walks. He faced seven batters and got seven outs, four by strikeout.

Central Lee scored first when Johnson led off the second inning with a hit then stole second. He scored when an error was made on Caedon Newton’s batted ball.

Bo Herdrich led off the bottom of the fourth with a double and Hawks teammate Gage Van Ausdall singled him home for a 2-0 lead. 

Ward Fraise led off the fifth inning with a single and went to second on a ground out, then third on a second ground out, then stayed at third while teammates Herdrich and Calfee walked. A new pitcher came in for Wilton and balked, scoring Fraise. A walk to load the bases was irrelevant after a ground out to end the inning.

The Hawks had seven hits.

Central Lee drew three walks and only struck out three times as a team.

“That has been a big point of emphasis late in the season is cutting down the number of strikeouts,” Weirather said. “Some of the hardest contact we had were outs. We put the ball in play and put the pressure on their defense. Cadeon Newton had a big at bat where he had two strikes and he put the ball in play and got on base. That was a big play.”

Despite being charged with three fielding errors, Weirather was impressed with the Hawks’ overall defensive approach.

“Brett Cook made two great catches out in left field,” Weirather said. “He ran down a ball in foul territory for an out and had to go back on another ball with runners on first and second. Those were big catches by Brett out there.”

The Hawks face a big game Saturday. Chariton defeated Louisa-Muscatine 10-2 to advance. The No. 6 Chargers and the Hawks have not met in recent memory.

Each team has 152 runs batted in this season. Many stats are close between the two teams.

The winner will play Tuesday against the winner of Cardinal (16-10) and Interstate 35 (20-8) for a state tournament berth.