Dunklin County's Dustin Hunter follows through on a pitch in the second inning of the Dodgers' 10-0 win over Cape on Wednesday. Hunter tossed six scoreless innings while striking out seven. Photo by Brandon Higgins [Click to enlarge]

The Dunklin County Dodgers clinched a No. 1 seed in the upcoming District XIV tournament with a 10-0 win over Cape Girardeau on Wednesday night in Senath.

The No. 1 seed means that the Dodgers (32-15, 4-2 District XIV) will play their first game in the district tournament Tuesday at 8 p.m. in Jackson.

Dunklin County's Dustin Hunter made his presence known in the six-inning, mercy rule shortened contest, hurling a complete-game, three-hit shutout while walking two and striking out seven. The Mineral Area College signee relied on well-placed fastballs and a dominating breaking ball to stymie Cape's hitters.

Dunklin County's Garrett Stockton takes a secondary lead in the second inning of the Dodgers' 10-0 victory over Cape. Photo by Brandon Higgins [Click to enlarge]

"I think his breaking ball was his pitch today," said Dunklin County manager Jamie Johnson. "His command was good, and he didn't pitch his way into trouble a lot; he kind of pitched his way out. His fastball didn't have the pop that it usually does, but his curveball was really sharp and he was throwing it for strikes."

Hunter was able to pitch himself out of a few jams throughout the game by recording key strikeouts with runners in scoring position.

"That's very important; as a matter of fact, it's critical to have someone who can get you a strikeout and pitch out of trouble," Johnson said. "Dustin has done that all year, and that's why he's been successful."

The Dodgers scored their 10 runs on 12 hits, but Johnson still thought his team was capable of swinging the bat better.

"I didn't think we hit the baseball well today," Johnson said. "I think we hit a lot of balls in the right places, but we didn't hit very many balls with authority. Hopefully, we'll come alive in the district tournament."

Dunklin County got on the board with two runs in the first inning as a result of four consecutive Cape errors. The Dodgers scored their two runs without recording a hit.

In the second inning, Dunklin County tacked on another run when Bo Smith scored on Garrett Stockton's fielder's choice, making the score 3-0.

The Dodgers came alive in the third inning, bashing five hits to pour on four more runs to make the score 7-0. After Dylan Stockton was retired, five consecutive Dodgers reached base. The inning was capped off by Heath Horvath's two-run single to left field.

Dunklin County put up two more runs in the fourth when Smith walked, took third on an error and scored on Kaleb Canoy's single. Canoy stole second and was plated on Horvath's second RBI single of the day.

In the sixth inning, Austin Jackson singled with two outs and scored on Canoy's single to end the game via the 10-run rule.

Horvath led Dunklin County offensively with two hits and three RBIs. Canoy recorded three hits and drove in a pair, and Jackson and Smith each had two hits and two RBIs. Hunter, Aaron Booker and Aaron McCaig also had hits for Dunklin County.