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By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
OZARK – When Springfield Catholic coach Courtney Spitz began to deliberate which of his pitchers should start Wednesday night’s Class 3 semifinal, Ben Smith wasn’t his first choice.
The Mizzou commit was certainly qualified – he had just thrown a no-hitter against second-ranked Fair Grove in the state quarterfinals – but there was much more to consider.
If Smith threw more than 30 pitches in the semifinals – as starters typically do – the junior would need at least one day of rest before he could return to the mound. And so Spitz was faced with what was – in all likelihood – the most important pitching decision he could make this season.
Could Spitz trust that another starter would get the job done against unranked Valley Park in the semifinals, leaving his ace available for Thursday’s title clash against a state-ranked opponent? Or should he start Catholic’s best pitcher on Wednesday at US Ballpark to maximize the team’s chances of reaching the title game, even if that meant Smith would not be able to pitch in it?
The coach went back and forth between Smith and fellow junior Coleman Morrison, another future Mizzou Tiger, before choosing Smith on Monday. Smith responded with another gem, striking out 11 and allowing just two hits as Catholic cruised to a 11-0 run-rule win in five innings.
The top-ranked Fightin’ Irish (18-10) advanced to their first state championship game since 2014. They will face 10th-ranked Father Tolton Regional Catholic (17-3) at 7 p.m. Thursday at US Ballpark for the title.
Morrison will start the championship game, Spitz said, a reversal of the original planned rotation.
“I bounced back and forth, to be honest with you,” Spitz said. “Originally, I had Coleman in my mind ready to go (against Valley Park) and then just not knowing much about teams at this point of the year, where you don’t just get a lot of reports. You can see some statistical stuff, but you don’t know who these teams have played. Maybe they’re playing their hottest baseball of the year. I just feel very strongly that when it’s a single-elimination style – as far as getting to a championship game – you’ve got to go with your best available at that given time. That’s what we did.”
Smith rewarded the Irish with his third straight shutout of the postseason.
He struck out 14 and allowed one hit as the Fightin’ Irish beat Clever to win their third straight district title. On Thursday, he fanned 11 in the no-hitter that sent the Fightin’ Irish to the Final Four.
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Add those to Wednesday’s totals and he’s now struck out 36 batters in 18 postseason innings, while surrendering just three hits. He finished the year with a 7-2 record and 1.14 earned run average and needed just 57 pitches in his final outing, carving through a potent Valley Park lineup that featured six starters who were batting above .400 at the start of the state tournament.
“He’s just a workhorse,” Spitz said. “And he’s so consistent. Every time he goes out there, he fills up the zone with three pitches. That’s why we threw him today. We knew Valley Park, they’re a good hitting team. They’ve got several guys hitting over .400, a couple guys hitting over .500 and for us to go out there and put our best foot forward, that’s what it was all about.”
Catholic scored its 11 runs on just six hits, capitalizing on five Valley Park errors.
Three runs came during the first inning, as Smith’s triple to deep right field scored leadoff batter Cole Leonhart. Morrison brought Smith home with a sacrifice fly, then back-to-back Valley Park miscues allowed the Fightin’ Irish to tack on another run.
That was all the offense Smith would need, as he retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced.
Valley Park starter Isaiah Rose, a 6-foot-5 junior with a sidearm delivery, kept the Hawks close with effective second and third innings. But Catholic erupted for eight runs in the fourth, benefitting from timely hitting and defensive miscues to quickly turn the game into a blowout.
“We knew who they were throwing and we had our approach,” Smith said. “We all got up in the box. We knew he’s a sidearmer and we knew the ball was going to come in on us. We just planned on hitting it the other way. I thought the whole team did a super good job at doing that and just putting the ball in play. Obviously, it showed.”
Colton Galligos got things started with an RBI single, Weston Cline scored on an error and Leonhart added a two-run triple to stretch Catholic’s lead to 7-0. Valley Park mistakes led to three more Catholic runs, then Benjamin Ruter made it 11-0 with an RBI single.
“Everyone just built on the momentum that we started,” Smith said.
Smith carried that momentum into the fifth inning, striking out the side to end the game early.
“The job’s not done, but we went out there and did our thing,” Smith said. “That’s one of the best games we’ve played all season.”
With one more, the Fightin’ Irish will be able to call themselves state champions.
“That’s everything you dream of as a kid, right?” Spitz said. “I dreamed of it as a kid when I was playing high school baseball. Go out and play in a Final Four for a state championship. I promise you, these kids won’t sleep much tonight, but they’ll be ready to play tomorrow.”
They’ll hand the ball to Morrison, whose most recent outing was a three-hit victory over Hartville in the sectionals. After that game, Spitz said it was probably Morrison’s best start of the year.
“We have a lot of faith in Coleman and our entire team,” Spitz said. “At this time of the year, you want to be playing the best baseball. We feel like we’re in that position.”
