By Don Abernathy (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Greenwood baseball coach Chris Adams knew his Blue Jays had an uphill battle ahead of them on Wednesday, facing the No. 2-ranked team in Class 1, and he was hoping for a perfect storm.
But the break Adams was looking for never came as Cooter High School jumped to an early lead and ran away with a 14-3 quarterfinal victory at Barnhouse Field in southwest Springfield.
“We had to play flawless today to compete with these guys,” Adams said. “We didn’t have our top two pitchers and we know they were used to seeing hard pitching all year.
“So we went with slower velocity and it didn’t work. We hit people, we walked people, and we had some errors. I’m proud that we put some runs on the board. We didn’t give up.”
Cooter (25-6) scored four runs in the top of the first inning off four hits, a walk, and a hit batsman. But Greenwood (13-9) answered with a run in the bottom half when Chance Rose drove home Will Duncan with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
“Coming into this game, we knew it would be a challenge,” Greenwood senior Nick Burri said. “We came in with confidence and our heads up high, but a few things didn’t go our way. The credit goes to them. They hit the ball well and they’re a good team.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Cooter added three more runs in the second inning, and once again the Blue Jays had an answer in the home half of the inning.
Greenwood scored two runs in the bottom of the second when junior Kennison Zarechi singled and scored followed by a walk and a run from Burri to make the score 7-3.
The Blue Jays didn’t get any closer the rest of the way.
“We had a great year,” Burri said. “Obviously, we were district champs and we made it to a quarterfinal, with great coaches and a lot of great players. There were times when we struggled, but we picked each other up during those times and we had a lot of fun.
“This is the last time I’ll ever play baseball. It’s bittersweet. The memories I’ve made with this team and these guys can’t be replaced.”
In the program’s two years of existence, Greenwood has made two appearances in the district championship game, winning its first-ever title this season, after finishing as runners-up a season ago.
It’s safe to say, Adams and assistant coach Tim Williams, have built a stable foundation for Greenwood baseball in the years to come.
“So over the 40-some games we’ve played in two years, I feel pretty good about winning the district, reaching the quarterfinals, and being one win from the Final Four against a very good team.”
Adams is stepping down after this season and Springfield Catholic varsity assistant coach Chris Meza will take the reins. Meza is already working on plans to get Greenwood elementary and middle school students involved in the program.
“He’s the perfect guy to come in a build something here,” Adams said of Meza.
“I don’t know if we actually built a program, because it wasn’t developed down in the elementary school. But Chris has already been down there talking with those kids.
“We have young kids who are wearing our hats and our Blue Jay t-shirts, and I think that means a lot. I think they have a good start with some hardware already in the trophy case.”
For Greenwood senior Will Duncan, being a part of the baseball program was a character-building venture.
“There are a lot of parallels between baseball and life in general and the great thing about it is that I can apply the things I have learned from these coaches to real life and I think that’s a beautiful thing,” Duncan said.
“I don’t know if I’ll get an opportunity to play baseball in the future, but if I did that would be a dream come true.”
