By Brian Gosset
X – @gosset41
X – @gmsportsmedia1
Notre Dame bound Finley Montgomery allowed 3 hits and struck out 11 batters as Denton Guyer beat Keller 4-1 in Game 1 of their Class 6A D2 regional semifinal series on Wednesday night at Carroll.
Game 2 is set for 6 pm Thursday at Carroll.
The Wildcats (33-2), who won their 9th straight game, scored 2 in the bottom of the 1st inning. Freshman OG Green hit an RBI single that drove in Addison Joyner.
Guyer extended the lead to 2-0 when Madison Joyner scored on a passed ball.
Keller (26-11-1) had a chance at scoring in the top of the 1st. Cambree Cribbs hit a lead off single and Sydona Meiser drew a 1-out walk. Montgomery kept the Indians off the board until the 3rd.
Cribbs singled again and Guyer intentionally walked Meiser to put 2 on and 2 outs. Landry Beaman battled Montgomery on an 8-pitch at-bat and hit a 2-2 pitch to center that drove in Cribbs to cut the deficit to 2-1. It snapped Montgomery’s scoreless streak as the senior hurler hadn’t allowed a run for 38 1/3 straight innings and 7 consecutive games.
Annaleeia Martinez drove in Cali Parham with an RBI double to right field to push the Guyer lead back to two, 3-1 in the bottom half of the 3rd.
Following Beaman’s single, Montgomery retired the final 13 Indians in a row to close out the game. She added an RBI double in the 6th that scored Chloe O’Brien to make it 4-1. Montgomery hit a 3-1 pitch and the ball nearly went out for a 2-run home run, but it just came up short while bouncing off the right field wall.
The Indians threw out 2 pitchers in the game with freshman Calliee Cribbs starting and Avery Lawton coming in during the 3rd. Cribbs allowed 2 runs on 5 hits in 2 1/3 innings while Lawton allowed 1 run on 4 hits in 3 2/3 innings. Both pitchers finished with 2 strikeouts.
Cambree Cribbs had 2 of Keller’s 3 hits while Madison Joyner and O’Brien led the Guyer bats with 2 hits apiece.
Guyer and Keller matched up in the regional finals during the 2023 and 2024 seasons with both series going 3 games. The Wildcats won both times to earn a spot in the state semifinals.
Guyer won District 5-6A while Keller ended the regular season 4th place in District 4-6A.
