Savannah coach Erich Bodenhausen turned to his catcher, Lee McFadden, and asked if he should stick with pitcher Travis Partridge for the seventh inning of the Class 3 District 16 championship game.

“Coach just asked me if he still had it, if he was too tired,” McFadden said. “I knew how much (Partridge) wanted it, and that he’d do whatever he could to finish it. So I said yeah.”

Partridge gave up a single to the first batter but made up for it with a subsequent pick-off at first. He then struck out the next batter and ended the game by inducing a pop-out.

The complete-game, seven-hit pitching performance propelled Savannah to a 7-6 victory against Kearney at Phil Welch Staium, earning the Savages’ first district crown since 1999.

“(Partridge) has gotten better every game,” Bodenhausen said. “And, by far, this was his best game. The stage, the way he finished. He just showed again how much heart he has.”

Partridge walked just one batter and had three strikeouts.

And his Savage teammates provided plenty of offense.

Savannah consistently put the ball in play against Kearney starter Jake Hai, who struggled with control early.

Hai walked two and gave up three singles against Savannah’s first five batters. That gave the Savages’ a 3-0 first-inning lead.

“(Hai) was missing his pitches a little in the first inning,” Bodenhausen said, “and we were hitting on our own terms.”

Savannah leaned on McFadden’s bat during the next couple of innings.

In the second, McFadden powered a triple into deep right field, which plated Chase Crane. Then in the fourth, McFadden drove a fastball to the opposite field for a double and another RBI, part of a two-run inning for the Savages.

It added up to 6-3 advantage for Savannah entering the fifth.

“We were aggressive at the plate,” McFadden said. “We just jumped on (Hai) every chance we had.”

Kearney started a rally in the sixth inning.

The Bulldogs had two men on when right fielder Dylan Cole hit into what should have been a decent double-play ball. Instead, the tag at second got muffed. A runner scored, cutting the Savages’ lead to two.

Kearney had two men on, two outs to go and pinch hitter Ethan Olson at the plate.

Instead of panicking, the Savages had a quick conference at the mound and settled down.

“No, I wasn’t rattled at all,” Partridge said. “I knew everyone would step up.”

Partrdige got the next two batters to line out, giving up just one more run on a sacrifice play. It preserved a one-run Savannah lead going into the final inning.

“After (the error), I stepped out and said, ‘Hey, that doesn’t matter. Just put it in the past, and let’s get this done,’” McFadden said. “All year, that’s the way we played. We didn’t let things get to us.”

Along with beating third-seeded Kearney (15-11), Savannah — 12-10 entering the district tournament — also knocked off last year’s Class 3 state champion, Benton, during its district title run. The Savages now stand at 15-10 and boast their first district title in Bodenhausen’s eight years as coach.

“I guess it’s as simple as we started believing in ourselves,” McFadden said. “It’s contagious, and it just keeps building.”

And the Savages get one more chance to keep building something special on Tuesday when they host Harrisonville (13-9) in the Class 3 sectional.

Sports Editor Scott Pummell can be reached at scottp@npgco.com