Rogersville Baseball Head Coach Casey Ledl knows his pitching staff is about as good as it gets in the Ozarks. “It’s not a bad problem to have,” Ledl said. “Finding them innings to compete with one another is the biggest issue. But I’ll take that any day of the week.”
Three of them will one day trade in the maroon and white of the Wildcats for the maroon and white of the Missouri State Bears. Senior Curry Sutherland was the first to commit. “I think the second I knew I wanted to go to Missouri State was the first time I got on a phone call with [MSU] coach [Keith] Guttin,” Curry said. “Every single thing he said to me I fell in love with.”
His childhood friend, senior Brody McNiel, soon followed while playing at Hartville.
“I’ve known Curry, I’ve played ball with him all my life,” Brody said. “When he committed to Missouri State they started talking to me. And I committed.”
Brody then moved to Rogersville for his senior year, adding a lefty starter to the team.
Then another lefty ace on the squad, junior Ross Lawrence, de-committed from Mizzou. And Curry, the team’s closer on the mound, helped close the deal with his teammate.
“The second he de-committed I was on him,” Curry said. “I was like, ‘Hey, come to Missouri State, you’ll love it.'”
“They seemed to really like me and they talked to me a lot,” Ross said. “And it made me feel really at home.”
Now with three future Bears on the mound, you’d think they lean on each other for advice. You’d be wrong. ”
We really don’t pick each other’s brains,” Brody said. “We really compete with each other. See who throws the hardest and gets the most strikeouts.”
While it’s too early to call that race, when it comes to who gets the ball in the biggest situations, they already know the plan.
“I mean I guess it’s just whoever’s up,” Curry said. “I’ve been the reliever for the most part. I like that role, it’s fun. Ross and Brody are pretty much just switching off games right now. There’s no ‘Big Game’ guy. We’ve got three big game guys.”
Many big games lie ahead for these three in high school and college.
