By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Nothing could break the Willard Tigers on Friday.
Not a “mediocre” (according to coach Scott McGee) team breakfast at a restaurant, not a late-night start time, and not the pressure of a Ft. Zumwalt South rally with the game on the line.
Willard showed championship moxie in Friday night’s Class 5 state semifinals at the Ozark Mountain Sports Complex in Ozark.
The Tigers, on the strength of a four-run first inning, prevailed 5-4 over Ft. Zumwalt South in a game that began at 9:52 p.m. and ended after midnight.
Ft. Zumwalt South scored the game’s last four runs but couldn’t get the pivotal tying run across despite putting runners on first and third with no outs in the bottom of the seventh.
“This happened to us in the state championship game in 2021: You get a lead… and when (the opponent) starts coming back, the game feels way closer than it actually is and guys start to play a little tight,” McGee said. “I thought we played tight in the middle innings.
“When you care so much, you sometimes put a little too much pressure on yourself and forget that it’s a game and you should enjoy it. You want to be so perfect, and that paralyzes you a little bit.”
How the game ended certainly left Ft. Zumwalt South in shock.
With no outs, runners at the corner and Willard clinging to a 5-4 lead, Tigers pitcher Hayden Larson retired the next two batters on a flyout and a pop-up.
Ft. Zumwalt South’s final hitter didn’t get a chance to swing the bat. The Bulldogs’ runner on third was caught in a rundown after second-guessing a potential steal of home. Willard catcher Rowden LeJeune made a diving tag-out at home plate.
Willard was up 5-4 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh in the Class 5 state semifinal round. Ft. Zumwalt South had the game-tying run on third. Here is how the Tigers won the game and advanced to the Class 5 state championship. pic.twitter.com/wgsIScADE3
— Ozarks Sports Zone (@OzarksOzone) June 1, 2024
Larson was strong in relief after Willard starter Cam Jennings went 3 2/3 innings. Larson, who picked up the win, threw the final 3 1/3 innings and allowed four hits and two walks while striking out three.
“Hayden’s always been a dude,” McGee said. “He was a bit shaky when he first came in, but those final few innings he was really, really good.”
Willard will face Webster Groves (21-13 overall) in the Class 5 state title game at 7 p.m. Saturday at Ozark Mountain Sports Complex in Ozark.
Webster Groves has never won a state championship in baseball. Willard will be seeking its second state championship in program history. The Tigers won the Class 5 crown in 2021.
Willard’s 2024 senior class is hoping to cap a remarkable four-year run of success.
“We’re going to try and come out and submit our name as the best class – the best baseball class – to ever come through Willard,” said Willard senior Landon Moore. “No class has ever won two state championships. We have like three conference championships, three district championships. That’s what’s really motivating our seniors. Our juniors and sophomores really like us seniors, so they’re just doing everything they can to win.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Willard capitalized on a pair of Bulldog errors in the first inning to plate four runs.
Levi Hilton had the lone hit of the inning for Willard – a two-run single. A third run scored on the play after a Bulldogs error.
Willard added to its lead in the fourth inning with an RBI groundout from Moore.
That ho-hum play proved pivotal as the Willard offense went cold in the later stages of the game.
Ft. Zumwalt South (30-5 overall) finally came to life in the bottom of the fourth with three runs. Carter Adkins had a sac-fly RBI and Evan Fulhorst later added a two-out RBI single.
The Bulldogs had the go-ahead run at the plate with runners on second and third, which led to Willard making a pitching change and bringing in Larson.
He walked the first batter he faced, but then got Willard out of the bases-loaded jam with a called third strike.
Ft. Zumwalt South starting pitcher Carter Cox, who entered the postseason with a 0.86 ERA, lasted just one inning. With Willard about to break the game open early, the Bulldogs brought in Connor Henke for relief.
The senior right-hander shut down the Willard bats to help the Bulldogs mount a rally. Henke allowed just three hits over six innings and struck out five.
Ft. Zumwalt South drew within 5-4 in the fifth inning. On a sac-fly to right field, Willard misfired a throw to third base which allowed the Bulldogs’ base-runner to come around and score.
The teams combined for seven errors on a slippery, rain-soaked turf field.
“Us being nervous is really just excitedness,” Moore said. “It was uncharacteristic of us to make some of those plays, but I’m fine if we got the errors out of the way tonight.”
The scheduled 7 p.m. start time for Friday’s game was pushed back to nearly 10 p.m. due to persistent rain earlier in the day.
Moore said he received about six text updates Friday regarding when Willard players should report to the facility.
“We’re sitting there all day thinking about the game and thinking about the game. I think that’s why we were a bit antsy tonight,” Moore said.
McGee and the Willard coaching staff planned to stay up all night Friday game-planning for Saturday’s title game.
“I’ll have a bunch of black coffee tomorrow,” McGee said. “We’ll probably wrap up scouting around 6 or 7 a.m. and we won’t hit until 12, so I can probably sneak in a little bit of napping. But we gotta get a scouting report done.”
Willard (33-5 overall) will take a pitching-by-committee approach on Saturday, McGee said. Seniors Kaelin Adams and Will Merryman, along with sophomore Levi Hilton and junior Bryton Towe, could all see time on the mound. The starting pitcher is to be determined.
