By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
BRANSON — With Willard pitcher Kade Biellier in a bit of a bind for the first time Thursday, his batterymate, Kadyn McMain, approached the mound.
Almost instantly, Biellier broke into a wide smile.
Biellier went on to escape a two-on, one-out, seventh-inning jam and finish off Branson for a 3-0 Willard COC victory.
“We were talking about The Masters, F1 (auto racing) and March Madness brackets,” Biellier said of his pep talk of sorts from McMain. “It kind of picked me up. I was getting a little wild and it calmed down.”
“Our guys are super-driven and honestly sometimes take baseball a little too seriously,” Willard coach Scott McGee said. “Kade has worked year-round on this for a long time. So, sometimes it’s good for all of them to relax and realize, ‘Hey, we’re getting to enjoy the game right now and there’s more than just this one moment.’ It’s good they were able to find a way to relax and get us out of the game.”
The left-handed throwing Biellier entered the game with 1.65 ERA over 17 innings in his three starts. He shut out the Pirates on three hits, one walk and 11 strikeouts.
With his slider being his out-pitch, he fanned seven of the last 11 batters he faced.
All this on a day in which he was disappointed his velocity topped out in the mid-80s.
“This off-season, I really got after it and was up to 90 mph a couple times,” said Biellier, who now has 36 strikeouts on the season. “I’m trying to pick it back up. But when (my velocity) is down, I just have to throw strikes.”
“He looked phenomenal,” McMain said. “I can’t wait to see what he’s going to look like later in the season.”
Interestingly, Biellier is bound for Drury, but not necessarily as a pitcher.
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“I’m listed as a two-way (prospect),” Biellier said. “At first, they just wanted me as a hitter. But I’m a really late bloomer (as a pitcher). I’ve picked up a lot, so I might get some time there.”
“Right now, he’s going as a position player,” McGee said. “He’s come out of nowhere as a pitcher. He was 77-79 mph last year. He’ll be tough, if they do decide to pitch him. I think he’s got a bright future as a pitcher, if Drury decides to have him go that way.”
Willard (8-3) led 1-0 in the second inning on an RBI-single by its ninth-place hitter, third baseman Jacob Hearon.
The Tigers made it 3-0 in the third on a two-run double by McMain.
“I was sitting curve ball because (Branson starting pitcher Collin Ross) started me out with a curve in my first AB,” McMain said.
Ross kept Willard relatively in check with a good chunk of off-speed pitches that were clocked in the low-60s.
McMain is proud of the progress he has made adjusting to different speeds from pitchers.
“This time last year, I was actually bad at it. It was something I focused on in the off-season,” he said. “We’ve been seeing pitching anywhere from 84-92 mph. People tend to slow down their bat speed against slower dudes. We felt as long as we focused on keeping our bat speed up, we’d be all right.”
Branson (8-3) blanked the defending Class 5 state champs over the final four innings.
“I was very happy with how our pitchers threw,” Pirates coach Kirk Harryman said. “I know (Willard) can swing the bat. All three of our guys who went in made some big pitches to keep it close.”
Branson managed just one hit through six innings. In the seventh, Carter Jenkins doubled and Andrew Bristol reached on an infield single.
Jenkins, who entered the game with a .630 batting mark, was 1-for-3.
“We’ve got some guys who are swinging the bat well,” Harryman said. “Carter is doing a good job. Our at-bats today got better. I’m happy how we’re progressing offensively because it was a concern we had coming into the season. I believe we’re getting better.
“Early on today, we were timid against (Biellier’s) fast ball when we probably should have been more aggressive,” Harryman added. “We’ll learn from it and go back to work tomorrow.”
