June 2, 2008                        Check Out previous Blogs

The Final Four baseball games in Springfield had something for everyone...booming bats...outstanding pitching...web gems...late inning rallies...weather considerations...large screaming crowds...

Four exciting days of baseball from Meador Park in Springfield, MO had something for everyone.

Dominance...Scott City Rams were only the 2nd team to 10 run BOTH opponents as they marched to the Class 2 Championship by whipping Hallsville 10-0 and Barstow 13-3. All-State player, Ryan Modglin was 4 of 6 from the plate, with 2 doubles and 3 RBI's. ON the bump, he pitched a 5 inning 2 hitter in the semifinals.

Perfection...the unbeaten Santa-Fe Chiefs trailed 2-0 after 5 innings of the semifinal tilt against the New Haven Shamrocks. Suddenly, the bats came alive and 6 runs crossed the plate as the Chiefs won the semifinal by the same score as the other class 1 semifinal game 7-4. The Chiefs jumped on Stoutland in the opening inning for two runs and never trailed as they rode the strong pitching of Taylor Wesley (6-0) and 15 hits to a convincing 12-7 win to close their season at 20-0!

The Class 3 semifinals were complete opposites. The St Dominic Crusador trailed Notre Dame (Cape Gir) 8-6 after 5 innings. Each team was banging the ball around the park. But baby...what a top of the 6th...the Crusadors scored 19 runs!  In a half inning that was between 45 min and an hour, the Crusadors sent 23 batters to the plate, saw one player, Will Mulligan hit two 2-Run HR, saw 10 hits  that included Mulligan's 2 HR, a triple and two doubles !  WOW ! Alex Larkin had 7 rbi's for the game, Troy Schulte 6 ribbies and Will Mulligan 5. Meanwhile in the other class 3 semi, Chance Sossamon of Webb City  was twirling a 2 hitter as he led the Cardinals to a 14-3 victory over the Boonville Pirates. Sossamon was a key player in the 2006 Webb City State Championship.

There was real excitement leading up to this Championship game. Due to the weather, the game time was pushed back from 1pm to 4pm. The press box was split--some liked the State Champs of 2005 and 2006 (Webb City) and others the red hot bats of St Dominic. It really didn't take long to see what was going to unfold..the first four Crusador batters hit safely and St Dominic scored three times in the top half of the first ! Kyle Kiely, who had pitched an inning on Friday and actually was the winning pitcher, kept mowing down the Cardinals. Meanwhile, St Dom scored single tallies in the 2nd and 3rd innings to boost the lead.  When it was all said and done, the Crusadors were carrying the first place trophy off the field as the scoreboard read 8-0 - St Dom. Thus, Kiely joins a long list of hurlers who won both the semifinal and championship for their team. Frank Bauman (Central-St Louis) actually did it in two consecutive years! In a very unusual announcement, Coach Steve Pfund announced to his squad during the post-game final Coaches homily of the year that he was moving to Lutheran South next year to coach baseball and football.

In Class 4 action, two St. Louis teams tangled (OK...I'm counting St Charles county as a St. Louis team)--Francis Howell and St. Louis U. High. The Vikings opened the scoring with 2 runs in the 2nd. The Jr Bills erupted for 5 runs in the 3rd inning on 3 hits, 2 walks and an error. Trailing 5-2, the Vikings plated 4 runs in the 4th on the strength of a 3-run HR from Preston Aldgridge to make it 6-5 Howell.  Pitcher Austin Buenemann went "park" for a 2 run blast to widen the gap to 8-5 which was the final score.

The Ozark Tigers fell behind 3-0 after 2 innings as their ace pitcher, Ethan Mather surrendered 6 hits in those 2 innings to the Oak Park Northmen. STill trailing 2-0 entering the 5th inning, the Tigers pounded out 6 hits and scored five times to take a 5-2 lead. Meanwhile, Mather found his "stuff"on the mound. He gave up only 2 hits after the 2nd inning and struck out 13 batters. Ozark coasted to a 7-3 win.

The Class 4 Championship was a classic. The spectators filled all the seats behind home plate, were highly energized, really alive. Francis Howell scored 2 runs in the top half of the opening inning when Kyle Behr drove home both runners with an opposite field single. Ozark had the lead-off batter on base with one out when Derek Harwell hit a long fly to right center field. CF Preston Aldridge made the catch, then hit the turf clutching his leg. He had pulled a hamstring ! Ozark pushed across a run a batter later to make it 2-1 after 1 inning.  NO ONE else scored until the bottom of the 6th when Ozark bunched together 4 hits and crossed the plate twice. Matt Jordan went the distance for the new Class 4 Champions as he scattered 6 hits.

It was a great week and it's been a GREAT year on High School sports. Prepcasts has really enjoyed being a part of your life as you listen to your high school heroes each week. We have bigger and better plans for 08-09-- stay with www.prepcasts.com.

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