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By Tyler F. Thompson (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The mood and mindset in the Springfield Catholic (8-6) dugout never wavered.
Whether the game was scoreless, or the Irish was down 2-0 early to the visiting Hollister Tigers, the pulse was the same as the Irish emerged with the 3-2 win.
Ben Smith was the bulldog Irish fans have come to know, and Logan Ripper delivered the bases loaded, game-winning RBI single as the Irish walked it off Tuesday evening at home.
Catholic’s Colton Galligos and Cole Leonhart each drove in a run in the bottom of the second and answering the call by Hollister’s Clay Kemp and Hunter Jones one half inning earlier.
First, Smith: 7 innings pitched, 1 run on one hit, and 12 Ks.
Not a bad day’s work.
“He was fantastic,” Catholic head coach Courtney Spitz said of Smith. “He was just in the zone. That is probably one of his best performances this year.”
Leaders come in all forms, but Smith takes the cake, Spitz said.
“He goes about his work in an intense way and understands his plan as a pitcher. He is just such a competitor. He is not afraid of any moment. He is the kid you want on the mound in a pressure situation.”
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Smith mixed his arsenal, getting ahead with the curveball and changing speeds in all points of the zone.
Of late, the message from Spitz to his hurlers has been simple: be competitive.
“Be competitive in the zone,” he said. “Too many times this year we gave opposing teams too many free bases with walks and hit-by-pitches. He had zero walks and 12 strikeouts.”
The tilt marked yet another game in which the Irish battled a state-ranked team.
Hollister (11-4) is the 6th-ranked club in Class 4 and the Irish sit No. 1 in Class 3.
“It is a quality conference,” Spitz said of playing in the Big 8. “Hollister has always done things well and are well-coached. They throw strikes and don’t beat themselves. We knew it would be a battle.”
The ball didn’t carry outside of three or four hits — a credit to the storm system that rolled through the Ozarks.
The Irish finished with nine hits and two errors.
“Kind of a soft hit day,” Spitz said. “I thought the ball would fly a bit more today, but both teams had some bloop hits.”
For Ripper, who stepped to the dish with the pond full of ducks, said he simply was looking to make contact.
Ripper wasted little time as he connected for the game-winning RBI single on the very first pitch he saw from Kemp.
“On that at-bat, I just wanted to get up there and basically hit something … just something. Even if it was a fly ball. Just something out of the infield. It got through, which I am happy about.”
Ripper did just that — ripping a screamer down the third-base line for the win.
Added Ripper: “It did the job.”
For the Tigers, Luke Calovich took the loss.
Catholic: Ripper: 1-4; C. Schoen: 2-2, 1 run; J.Schoen: 2-4, 1 run; Galligos: 1-3, 1 RBI; Leonhart: 1-4, 2B, RBI.
