After providing Benton with a glimmer of hope, Travis Smither didn’t miss a chance to help his own cause.

Savannah’s starting pitcher beat out a potential inning-ending double play in the top of the sixth during Monday’s Class 3 District 16 semifinal. The simple fielder’s choice gave Smither his second RBI but jump-started a three-run, two-out rally that re-established Savannah’s cushion.

The Savages never trailed and held on for a 6-4 victory at Phil Welch Stadium to knock out the defending state champions. Smither earned the win on the mound and possibly on the bases, running out the routine ground ball in the sixth.

“I try to hustle every ball out I can,” Smither said. “You’ve got your team on the line. You’ve got to do everything you can.

“Every play makes a difference in the game, especially when you lose one game and you’re done for the season.”

Savannah (14-10) beat Benton for the first time in four tries this season. The loss left Benton one win shy of its fourth straight 20-win season at 19-3 and kept the Cardinals out of the district title game for the first time since 2004.

Since a district semifinal loss to Platte County that year, Benton went 91-10 — including a state title last year — but has now missed the postseason twice in that span.

“You never want it to end. You just want to keep playing,” senior shortstop Zack Colwell said. “We set our goals high. We expected to win; we expected to repeat.

“It just stinks we don’t have another year. This is it for us.”

The Cardinals came undone in the top of the sixth.

Savannah put runners on first and third with one out when Smither came to bat against starter Jake Kretzer, who earned the win in last year’s state title game with a complete game two-hitter. Smither sent Kretzer’s 3-0 offering bouncing harmlessly back to the pitcher, who turned to look Michael Scanlan back to third.

After the brief hesitation, Kretzer turned and threw to second for a force out, but Colwell’s relay throw to first wasn’t in time. Scanlan scored, and after a Colwell error, Travis Partridge singled to plate Smither for a 5-2 lead.

It proved to be Kretzer’s final batter.

Second baseman Jeff Lawrence followed with a simple pop fly just in front of the mound against reliever Austin Garton. A miscommunication between the new pitcher and catcher Scott Hedden allowed the ball to drop and score the Savages’ final run.

“We wanted to score early and score often,” said Savannah coach Erich Bodenhausen, who leads the Savages to the district title game for the first time in his eight years.

“But I thought as long as we stayed ahead and didn’t have to play from behind, we were in a good spot. My guys made plays. When we needed to make plays, we made them.”

Benton had the 20th win in its sites after five innings.

The Cardinals plated two runs in the bottom of the fifth on Ryan Pinson’s two-out RBI triple into the right-field corner. Suddenly trailing just 3-2, senior Johnny Coy came up with a chance to tie it but struck out for a second time against Smither, leaving the tying run 90 feet away.

Smither (3-2) stranded runners in scoring position in the second, fourth and fifth, avoiding Benton’s big inning. The Cardinals managed just five hits against the right-hander.

“We’ve seen him before,” Colwell said. “I have no idea what it is. I wish I knew.”

Benton chased Smither in the bottom of the sixth inning after a single and two walks loaded the bases, and the Cardinals got two runs on Eli Relford’s pinch-hit single off of Partridge. But a double play and a groundout ended that threat.

And after a one-out walk from Pinson in the seventh, Partridge picked him off of first. Coy, who finished 1-for-4, followed with a single only to watch Kretzer pop out to second.

All told, Benton’s season-ending formula included two errors leading to two unearned runs, three runners stranded in scoring position and a runner picked off first with the potential tying run at the plate in the seventh.

“We teach our kids it’s OK to make mistakes,” Benton coach Mike Musser said. “Everybody does. Just make sure if and when you do, you give 100 percent. Our kids always give 100 percent.

“There wasn’t one thing here or one thing there that cost us this game. Savannah played good baseball today, and they scored two more runs than us.”

Kretzer took the loss, allowing all six runs — two of them unearned — while striking out just four. He also had three of Benton’s seven hits off of Smither and Partridge.

Savannah’s Lee McFadden led the way offensively for the Savages with two hits, going 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored.

Kearney 7, Platte County 2

Five of the Bulldogs’ seven hits went for extra bases, and a 6-0 lead after three innings held up.

Kearney goes to the district championship game for a second straight year after chasing Platte County starter Cameron Kuhn in the second inning.

Kuhn gave up four runs in 1 2/3 innings, including a two-run first.

Kearney’s Kyle Evans led off with a double, and Tanner Funk used another double with one out to send Evans home. Funk later stole third and scored on a wild pitch.

Evans plated another run in the second with an RBI double, and Alex Klonowski drove him in on a single.

Evans, also the starting pitcher, went 3-for-3 with two doubles, a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored. He also earned the win, giving up two runs in six innings.

Platte County scored both of its runs in the bottom of the sixth, including one on Brett Slobodzian’s RBI single. The Pirates had just four hits, including triples from Jeff Cline and Reed Martens.

Assistant sports editor Ross Martin can be reached at rossmartin@npgco.com