Any other year, a Gasconade Valley Conference (GVC) title would have likely been on the line.

Monday night at Vienna City Park, the only thing up for grabs between the visiting Belle Tigers and host Vienna Eagles was Maries County baseball bragging rights for a year.

Wrapping up a GVC title last Monday with a senior-night victory over Steelville, Belle looked to end their regular season on a winning note before hosting the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 3, District 8 Baseball Tournament at Tiger Field starting tomorrow (Thursday).

Aided by a six-run top of the third inning and a five-run top of the seventh inning, Belle left Western Maries County with a 13-2 victory over Vienna.

Hank Stratman did plenty of damage both with his arm and his bat.

Going 4-5 in the game, Stratman hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning along with a grand slam in the top of the seventh inning helping him amass six runs batted in (RBI), four hits and three runs scored.

On the bump, he also pitched six strong inning allowing an unearned run on four hits and three walks to go with 12 strikeouts.

Belle could have easily had more than Stratman’s home run in the top of the first.

Eagle starting pitcher Waylon Lenning worked around a single and two walks leaving two Tigers stranded and limiting the damage to one run.

Lenning looked to help his own cause with a two-out walk in the bottom half of the first but was left stranded after an inning-ending ground out.

Keeping Belle off the board in the top of the second inning, Vienna had another chance to get on the board in the bottom half of the second.

Troy Wulff led off with a single before Hunter Schwartze laid down a sacrifice bunt moving him to second base.

Dylan Long then delivered a two-out single putting two Eagles on base before a strikeout ended the inning.

Seeing 11 batters go to the plate in the top of the third inning, Belle added six runs to their lead on four hits, three walks and a RBI sacrifice fly off the bat of Hunter Wulff.

Gage Terrill singled to lead off the top of the third before scoring on a Stratman RBI double after Garrett Gehlert walked on five pitches.

Luke Rohrer walked to load the bases for Cameron Rehmert who also walked forcing in Gehlert.

Ryder Butler then reached on a fielder’s choice allowing Stratman to score before Cooper Durbin delivered the big blow of the inning with a two-RBI single bumping Belle’s lead to 7-0 entering the bottom of the third inning.

Zach Via reached on an error to lead off the bottom of the third for the Eagles.

He later scored on a two-out RBI single off the bat of Wyatt Wulff getting Vienna on the board and leaving them trailing 7-1 after three innings.

Zach Via held Belle scoreless in his final frame of work during the top of the fourth inning leading to another Vienna scoring threat in the bottom half of the fourth.

Brett Welschmeyer and Schwartze drew consecutive walks to start the inning before three straight strikeouts left them stranded.

Belle tacked on another run in the top of the fifth when Hunter Wulff hit a solo home run to left field giving the visiting Tigers an 8-1 lead.

Vienna nearly got that run back in the bottom of the fifth.

Wyatt Wulff reached on an error before his brother Troy doubled to center field only to see Wyatt gunned down at the plate trying to score for the third out of the inning.

After a scoreless sixth inning, Stratman’s aforementioned grand slam highlighted a five-run top of the seventh inning moving Belle’s lead into double digits at 13-1 entering the bottom of the seventh inning.

Mason Via was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning before he scored the final run for the Eagles on a Wyatt Wulff RBI sacrifice fly.

Lenning took the loss for the Eagles pitching two innings while allowing four runs on four hits and three walks to go with two strikeouts.

Last week, Belle dropped a 3-2 decision at St. Elizabeth on Tuesday, May 6 against the Hornets before also falling to Capital City’s Cavaliers on the road in Jefferson City 9-2.

That Capital City game was originally scheduled as a home game but moved due to wet field conditions.

Rohrer had a team-leading two hits against the Hornets while he also had three hits at Capital City.

Third-seeded Belle will open district tournament play tomorrow (Thursday) at Tiger Field against the sixth-seeded Bourbon Warhawks with a 3 p.m., first pitch.

A Tiger win would earn them a third shot at Hermann’s Bearcats in the district semifinals on Monday, May 19 at 5:15 p.m.

Playing three games last week, Vienna squeaked out a 2-1 victory on the road at Linn back on Monday, May 5 before dropping a 4-3 road decision last Wednesday at New Haven.

Seeing more green the next day, Vienna also fell 5-2 on the road against Iberia’s Rangers in a Highway 42 baseball showdown.

Mason Via had both RBIs in the Eagle loss at Iberia while Alex Zimmer had a team-high two hits at New Haven.

At Linn, Vienna broke a 1-1 tie with a run in the top of the sixth inning.

Vienna and Linn will square off yet again tomorrow (Thursday) in first-round action at the MSHSAA Class 2, District 8 Tournament at Russellville High School with a 6 p.m., first pitch.