By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
One swing proved to be the difference in Thursday’s Class 6 District 6 championship at Joplin High School.
Kickapoo junior Cael McCarville belted a grand slam over the left field fence in the first inning and the Chiefs earned a statement win with a 5-3 victory against Nixa for the school’s first district title in four years.
“It was a 2-0 count and I’d had two balls in the dirt so I was just sitting on something to hit,” McCarville said. “Got a pitch to hit and drove it.”
“It’s a pretty good feeling rounding the bases,” he said. “We try not to get too high, it’s just 4-0 against a great team. They can come back any time so we wanted to keep adding runs.”
Kickapoo (27-7) did add some insurance an inning later when Anderson Underwood homered to right-center field, but the Chiefs only had two other hits in the game while relying on pitching and defense to knock off the second ranked and top-seeded Eagles.
Senior starter Cross Kubik kept Nixa in control for six innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out two. Evan Vienhage closed it out with two strikeouts in the seventh.
“Going into the season we thought our defense would be our strongest part of the game, that and base running,” Kickapoo coach Jason Howser said. “That kind of rang true today. Cross just battled, that’s who he is. If you know his story, it’s what he’s done all of his life.”
“We felt very comfortable walking in to play them today with him on the mound and our defense behind him,” he said. “We got a great early start and that really propelled us as well.”
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“They’re a great team,” Kubik said. “We didn’t get to play them in the regular season so it was great to get to compete against them. I was super excited for this game.
“It means the world,” he said. “We’re not done yet, though. I’m excited for the next couple games. I’ll live in the moment for now. It feels amazing.”
Kickapoo drew seven walks in the game and also had a hit batter. The Chiefs had six baserunners in the first inning while recording just one hit, McCarville’s slam. And after the second inning, Kickapoo didn’t really threaten again, only advancing a runner to second one time in the final five innings.
But Nixa (32-3) could never get much going offensively against Kubik and the Kickapoo defense.
The Eagles had a runner caught stealing second in the second inning right before Ryan Retone singled to center. In the fourth, Jackson Edwards singled and pinch runner Collin Ussery found himself at third after a wild pitch and a fly out. He tried to score on a fly out to right but was thrown out at home on a terrific throw and tag.
Samuel Russo tripled to score a run in the fifth after Wyatt Vincent singled on the infield. But Russo was stranded there on a fly out.
Nixa made the most noise in the bottom of the seventh. John Gholson led off with a home run to left, then Caeden Cloud doubled down the line. Vincent later singled to put runners at the corners, and one run scored on a fielder’s choice.
“A lot of grit and hard work from that group right there,” Howser said. “It was very impressive how they went about their business all year, out of season and in season as well. Never giving up on the goal they set for themselves. I’m extremely proud of them.”
McCarville was 2-for-4 with 4 RBIs and a run scored, Underwood was 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI, and Brian Wamsher was 1-for-2 with a walk. Noah Wilkinson, Cole Murrell and Jalen Brandon each drew two walks.
For Nixa, Vincent was 2-for-3 with a run scored and Russo drove in two. Rylan Evans came on in relief in the first inning and tossed 4.2 innings with five strikeouts and one earned run.
