Junior Brandon Schmidt's single drove in two of the Chiefs' six first-inning runs en route to the I-70 Conference Tournament title. (Chris Allen/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge]

ALMA -- The Santa Fe baseball team is three-fourths of the way from avenging the four losses hung on it during the basketball season by Concordia.

The Chiefs didn't let the visitor's three long balls upset them on the way to winning their first I-70 Conference Tournament championship Saturday at Alma -- the first time since 2005 the title game was played -- with a slow-moving 17-7, six-inning victory.

And the Orioles, who beat the Chiefs for the fourth time of the hoops season in the district finals, are in the same baseball district as Santa Fe -- a MSHSAA Class 1 Championships qualifier a year ago.

The final score was as lopsided as the Chiefs' previous two wins over Concordia, 18-2 and 9-0, but this contest was more competitive. Both teams stumbled frequently on defense, but the Orioles' 10 errors for nine unearned runs took them out of the game.

The boots occurred during the bottom of the first inning, when Santa Fe scored six runs.

Junior Ben Catlett and sophomore Hunter Rolf began the rally with singles. The only other hits were a two-run single by junior Brandon Schmidt, followed by junior Logan Kirchhoff's double -- those runners coming in on a wild pitch and error.

The Chiefs were even more generous defensively in the top of the second, three flubs yielding two runs without a hit. However, the Orioles earned their three third-inning runs, closing their deficit to 7-5, on freshman Drew Smith's solo homer and a two-run shot by sophomore J.R. Langkrahr.

However, Concordia (6-6) was never to get through an inning in the field without an error, or a run surrendered. Juniors Max Capps and Taylor Wesley singled and scored in the third, without a hit behind them and the Chiefs' two runs in both the fourth and fifth frames were of the cheap variety.

Junior Kevin Sartin's two-run blast in the sixth appeared to make the game go the distance, but Santa Fe got what it needed for a quick exit during its next at-bat. Catlett doubled and was plated on Rolf's single.

Three-time all-state senior Kenzie Thorp, even with a runner on first base and no outs, was given his third intentional pass of the game -- and eighth of the season, equalling the state record set in '97 by Albert Pujols at Fort Osage. Pujols' mark was over 28 games, not 10.

Rolf and Thorp pulled off a double-steal, with a grounder and sophomore Matt Lovercamp's single bringing in both runners. Lovercamp swiped two bases and crossed with the game-ending run on the shortstop's sixth miscue of the game. The MSHSAA Records Book does not include the category of Individual Single Game Errors.

Rolf had three RBIs and, with his .615 average, is challenging Thorp (.625) for the team batting title. Lovercamp got the win in only his second start, having earlier held St. Paul to one earned run in five innings.

Third-ranked Santa Fe (10-0) showed it can win when not playing its best, but may not be able to do the same Monday when it heads to Carrollton -- a Class 2 playoff team last year.