By Brock Sisney (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
AURORA — The Hollister Tigers earned their first district title in baseball since 2006 with a 2-1 victory Thursday evening over Big 8 Conference East Division rival Aurora.
The Tigers’ effort was highlighted by senior pitcher Landon Richards coming out on top in his pitchers’ duel against Aurora’s Trey Mulholland, sophomore Malachi Henry coming on in the seventh and earning the save after letting two Houn Dawgs on base, and sophomore right fielder Blake Russell’s highlight reel caliber extra base hit denying sliding catch down the line in the seventh.
Hollister scored single runs in the second and third, and held off Aurora in the late innings to come away Class 4, District 11 champions.
“He’s been doing that lately,” Hollister head coach Trent Oxenreider said of Richards. “We played Aurora back earlier in the season and he struggled a little bit, and they did a really good job (Aurora beat Hollister 5-0 on Apr. 13). He’s just grinded since that day and had pinpoint focus and everything. He’s pretty special when he’s in the zone.
“That’s huge when we don’t score runs early, we did in the second and third but not in bunches and so for him to just keep it there, throwing up zeroes and letting us have a chance to grind away. That’s what we’ve talked about all year, just give yourself a chance in the end.”
Richards went the first 4 2/3 without surrendering a hit and recorded seven strikeouts, but he started tiring in the fifth and sixth. He gutted it out in the fifth and sixth, though, and left with the lead in his team’s favor.
Henry retired the first two in the seventh, then Aaron Fisher and Jaesik Friggle reached base with the heart of the Houn Dawg order coming up. Henry, after walking Friggle with every ball sailing high out of the zone, threw a key first-pitch strike against Hayze Hoffman and got Hoffman to fly out to center to end the game.
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“He’s a kid that hasn’t pitched much for us,” Oxenreider said. “We saw him being probably our No. 3 coming in the year, then he was shut down Day 1 with some arm issues. He got all cleared and healthy, and not a lot of people have seen him. He’s usually got a really good curveball, but today we just made some really big plays behind him in the end.”
Big plays mainly in the form of Russell’s sensational catch in right that denied Aurora’s Dalton Cline a possible double, a play that’s reflective of Russell’s distinctive nickname.
“His nickname is ‘Highway Squirrel’ because he’s faster than all get out,” Oxenreider said. “It’s a crazy thing, but we expect to make some of those. I know that’s crazy, because that’s a big-time play in a big-time spot and that changes that whole inning. He’s a big-time athlete.”
Offensively, Richards belted a pair of doubles in his first two at-bats, his first to deep right and his second to the opposite field. Henry drove home the first run with a bases loaded walk and Colby Teaster’s RBI single brought home Richards after his second double.
Hollister, No. 8 overall in the latest Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association rankings, improved to 23-5 overall on the season and the Tigers host District 12 winner Seneca (16-11) on Tuesday.
The Tigers’ four seniors — Richards, Teaster, Konner Hatfield, and Cole Jones — etched their names into the Hollister history books.
“It’s huge,” Oxenreider said. “We grinded away. Two years ago, as sophomores, all those kids started and we lost a heartbreaker 6-3 to Catholic (for a district title), and we haven’t forgotten about it. We wanted another shot at it and we’ve worked super hard, we’ve went through adversity, we’ve gotten better, we’ve not played good, we’ve found ways to win, and it’s been a whirlwind. Those four have been solid all year and nothing makes me more happy for those four to accomplish this.”
Aurora, who started the season with 10 straight wins out of the gate, finished 17-8 overall and the Houn Dawgs lost five of their final seven, four of them against larger schools Marshfield, Lebanon, Carthage, and Webb City.
Junior pitcher Mulholland went the distance and quieted Hollister the last four innings, leaving the door open for a potential Houn Dawg rally. Mulholland finished with four strikeouts, two of them in the seventh.
Junior shortstop Friggle broke up Richards’ no-hitter with a RBI single in the fifth and he displayed his defensive capabilities at short on at least three occasions Thursday, both from deep in the hole and on the run.
Carson Barr, Clayton Reed, Tony Martinez, and Cline, who were freshmen when Aurora won a repeat state baseball title in 2018, played their final high school games.
