Go big or go home.

That was the mentality last Thursday night for Bryce Gehlert’s Belle Tiger baseball team going into the championship game of the Stoutland Spring Classic against their Highway 28 rivals to the west in Dixon’s Bulldogs.

Getting the ball on the pitching mound, senior Clayton Shockley got the start for Belle’s Tigers looking for their third win over a four-day span.

Pitching six innings of shutout baseball while allowing no hits, Shockley had to be lifted in the seventh inning for Garrett Gehlert due to reaching the 105-pitch limit set by the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) for senior pitchers.

Given a 3-0 lead in the top of the seventh inning, Gehlert pitched around a pair of singles before inducing a game-ending ground out giving Belle championship hardware from the Stoutland Tournament.

Working around an error in the top of the first inning, Shockley helped his own cause at the plate during the bottom half of the frame.

Gehlert led the game off with a walk before stealing second and taking third base on a Blake Henry ground out.

Shockley then delivered a two-out RBI double giving Belle a 1-0 lead after one inning.

Allowing only three walks over the next five innings, Shockley pitched around a pair of errors in the top of the sixth inning to keep Dixon off the board and Belle on top 1-0.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, Hank Stratman reached on a dropped third strike before scoring on a Shockley RBI double doubling Belle’s lead to 2-0.

Shockley quickly came around to score on a Luke Rohrer RBI ground out pushing Belle’s lead to 3-0.

A Cooper Durbin two-out walk went for not as Belle entered the seventh inning with a pair of insurance runs.

Belle also had a scoring chance in the bottom of the second inning when Durbin reached on a one-out single before Hunter Wulff was hit by a pitch.

Shockley also had a fourth-inning lead off single go for not while recording 14 strikeouts during his six innings of work on the pitching rubber.

Semifinal action last Wednesday at Stoutland saw Belle take on Plato’s Eagles.

Leading 6-0 after three innings, Belle tacked on three runs in the top of the sixth and six more in the top of the seventh inning to post a 15-0 shutout advancing them to the tournament championship game.

Blake Henry pitched a complete game two-hit shutout allowing only two walks to go with 12 strikeouts.

Durbin and Stratman each had two hits to lead the Tigers at the plate.

One of Stratman’s hit was a two-run home run accounting for both runs in the top half of the first inning for Belle.

He also scored three runs and drove in four more.

Hit by a pitch twice and walked twice, Henry scored a team-high four runs.

Also recording base hits for Belle against Plato were Ruger Schlottog, Gehlert and Shockley.

Last Monday in opening-round action at Stoutland against Laquey, Belle trailed 5-2 after two innings before plating seven runs over the next three frames of their 10-7 victory.

Out hitting the Hornets 8-3, All 10 Belle Tigers that had a plate appearance scored one run in Brice Robertson, Gage Newton, Gehlert, Henry, Stratman, Shockley, Rohrer, Schlottog and Wulff.

Rained out last night (Tuesday) against Iberia, Belle is scheduled to return to action today (Wednesday) against Dixon at Tiger Field with a 5 p.m., first pitch.