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By Pat Dailey (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
HOLLISTER — Given the fanfare that usually surrounds him, Aurora pitcher Wyatt Sparks relates it’s been refreshing to be somewhat anonymous since he had his shoulder-length hair shaved off a little over a week ago.
“I’ve always had long hair, but felt like cutting it off because as it was getting hot, it was getting annoying,” Sparks said. “Most people haven’t even noticed me now.”
Of course, everyone notices Sparks when he steps to the mound. One of the best pitchers southwest Missouri has seen in recent years, the senior right-hander added to his legacy with a 15-strikeout performance in Aurora’s 9-2 win over Springfield Catholic in Tuesday’s Class 4 District 11 championship game.
Sparks had a no-hitter through 5.2 innings and posted at least two strikeouts in every inning, as the Houn’ Dawgs (27-1) recorded their fourth straight District title in dominant fashion.
“I love starts like this and I love starting against Catholic,” Sparks said. “They always put good swings on the ball, so it makes me really competitive.”
Sparks, a Missouri State signee, faced off against Catholic shortstop Will Duff, a Vanderbilt commit, for a matchup that was about as good as it gets in the Ozarks. Sparks hit Duff with a pitch in the first inning and retired him on a groundout back to the mound in the fourth, before Duff rocketed a two-run home run in the sixth.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
“I gave it everything I got against every batter. But it’s really nice to get to go against kids like him who are going off to college,” Sparks said.
“Those are two big-time college commitments and it was fun to watch them go at it,” Catholic coach Courtney Spitz said. “It was quite a spectator moment. One wins half the time and half the time the other wins.”
Spitz couldn’t help but wonder if the Sparks-Duff duel could have been even more interesting had Duff been on the mound, as well. Duff threw seven innings in the Irish’s 8-1 semifinal win over second-seeded Hollister Monday. As the third seed, Catholic also played in the first round Saturday.
“If we would have been a two seed, instead of a three, maybe it could have worked out differently for us,” Spitz said. “(Sparks-Duff) would be the ideal matchup for us. But I’m proud of our guys for getting to the championship game. This was the moment they wanted. It just didn’t go our way this year, but we’ll be ready for next year.”
Sparks’ strong outing surprised no one.
“We expect him to give us a near-perfect game every time out and that’s what he expects out of himself,” Aurora coach James Huffman said. “That’s what we got of him again today. He was extremely focused. He knows how much we rely on him and is able to shoulder that load.
“He has uncanny composure for an 18 year-old. He lives for situations like this.”
“I felt like I was on,” Sparks said. “All my pitches were working well.”
“He can throw three pitches and they are all plus-pitches,” Spitz said. “He’s in the low- to mid-90s, has a really good curve ball to go with it and is throwing a changeup, too. When he’s throwing 93-95 mph, you can’t always bank on being there when a curve ball comes. When he can mix it up and control his pitches the way he does, he’s as good as it gets.”
Aurora gave Sparks a cushion almost immediately, scoring six runs in the second innings and three in the third.
Thanks to four walks, a hit batsmen and one Catholic throwing error, the Houn’ Dawgs needed just three hits to plate six runs in the second.
“They executed better than us,” Spitz said.
“Whenever you jump on a team early, sometimes they will fall apart,” said Aurora’s Austin Erickson, who was 4-for-4. “They didn’t handle it as well as they could have. We continued to capitalize.”
Erickson, Sparks and Ryan Cline each had an RBI-single in the second,
In the third, Erickson singled and Jay Lee belted a two-run home run
It was Lee’s first career homer.
“I haven’t been hitting the ball good lately,” Lee said. “I haven’t been happy about it at all. I hit in the cage a little bit last night and today I hit a lot before the game. I guess that got me prepared.”
Lee almost didn’t know how to react to his homer.
“I knew off the bat it was going to be a good hit,” he said. “But my first thought was I was going to get a triple out of it. When I got to second base and kind of slowed down and saw the guys in the dugout running out. I was like, ‘What?’ I couldn’t believe it.”
Aurora advances to Sectionals and will travel to Nevada.
Catholic 000 002 0 – 2
Aurora 063 000 x – 9
WP – Sparks. LP – Ruhlman. HR – Lee.¬¬
