By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Sophomore Jarrett McGee didn’t seem caught up in the big moment – or even bigger result.
Dad, on the other hand, admittedly veered off coach mode for a few seconds.
Jarrett McGee’s pinch-hit, two-out single plated a pair of runs that lifted Willard to a 5-1 win over Webster Groves in the Class 5 state championship game on Saturday night at Ozark Mountain Sports Complex in Ozark.
Jarrett, one of Willard’s youngest varsity players, was down to his last strike. But that’s become his comfort zone.
“It got to two strikes, like pretty much every at-bat I’ve had this year,” he said. “I’m pretty confident in my two-strike hitting.”
With Webster Groves playing its shortstop on a hard shift toward third base, the left-handed hitting McGee chopped a single through the vacated space on the left infield. Levi Hilton and Collin Spering scored to put Willard ahead 3-1 in the top of the sixth.
This was the two-out two-RBI hit by Jarrett McGee in the top of the sixth put Willard in front for good in the Class 5 state championship game. pic.twitter.com/CTs15gI5Qr
— Ozarks Sports Zone (@OzarksOzone) June 2, 2024
Willard coach Scott McGee said he felt a rush of emotions during the championship-deciding hit. But then it was back to business.
“I don’t even think about it, and then as soon as the hit got through and we scored two, you look up at the scoreboard and think, ‘That may have been the game-winner,” Coach McGee said. “Then it kind of hits you. It’s so difficult to be the coach’s kid, especially my kid. He has had to overcome a lot of things and for him to come through in that moment was really special for him and for me and my wife. It was really cool.
“It lasted about three seconds because you then focus on Kaelin Adams shutting them out the rest of the way.”
Kaelin Adams, who was superb over five innings in relief of starter Levi Hilton, did just that.
Only two Webster Groves hitters reached base over the last four innings. Adams allowed just two hits and recorded three strikeouts while keeping Webster Groves (21-14 overall) off the scoreboard.
“About the fifth inning, that’s really when I locked in and just started feeling really comfortable,” Adams said. “I just found my groove out there.”
The victory gives Willard its second baseball state championship in four years. The 2021 squad was the first boys’ team to ever win a state championship at Willard.
“Every one of them is so special, because you feel so good for the kids,” McGee said. “A new season starts, and you just enjoy that group of kids in different ways, and they take on their own personality. This group was so fun to coach.”
Willard’s 2024 seniors end their careers with multiple conference, district and now state championships.
“It’s awesome. This has been our goal for a long time, probably before high school,” Adams said. “We’ve always had a great group. We’ve played together for a long time. We’ve always had high hopes, and this is exactly how we wanted to go out.”
Leading 3-1, the Tigers tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh inning. Jacob Hearon had a two-out, RBI triple. Levi Hilton followed with an RBI single.
Willard finally broke through against the Webster Groves bullpen after the Statesmen’ starter, Drew Patrick, was pulled with one out in the sixth inning.
When the final out was later made, Adams became the primary target in the team celebration and ended up at the bottom of the dogpile.
“At that point, I felt like I was on top of the world,” Adams said.
Willard will graduate an 11-player senior class, some of whom were varsity backups until this year.
Scott McGee said it’s a group that plays with a team-first attitude. Around the second week of the season, when Willard won 9-0 at Kickapoo, McGee realized they could also be championship-level good.
“They care a tremendous amount about the right things,” Scott McGee said. “They care about how to play winning baseball. Showcase numbers and how hard you can throw it across the infield, stuff like that just doesn’t matter to them. They want to play to win. It’s so refreshing, in today’s society where everyone is trying to hype themselves up all the time, they just want to make the right plays to win.”
