Baseball gets under way despite having fields under water through much of the early going... while the weather has been somewhat unusual, there are early season trends that pop up each year….along with red-hot players.

With cold, wet weather during their preseason preparations leaving many teams throughout the State rarely able to practice outdoors, the issue as the season gets underway is which clubs are able to execute effectively. Those which play good defense, pitch well, or swing the bats with authority, contact and consistency, figure to get off to good starts. Do more than one of those things and not only should a team win, it likely will win big. These qualities are greatly impacted by the “indoor” facilities of a school.

Some by-products, if all of the above aren’t in place for a team, are some lopsided games, many rallies (often late in the game) due to tired pitchers or leaky defenses, some HUGE offensive or pitching stats for a game (or week). We have some great examples of all of the above this week.

Personally, I don’t see the need to be scheduling or playing so many games in March. Have you ever heard a coach talk about their big win in March?

Play baseball as it’s meant to be played. If you are a game short in your schedule due to rain in late April or May, so be it. The world won’t end.

The risk of injury, unsuitability of the game, all the extra time spent postponing, canceling, changing these early season games, to what point?

State Champions aren’t determined if you play 24 games or 26 games.

Best game of the week in Missouri….

Chaminade’s 3-2, 10 inning win over St. Charles had a strong defense with just a couple errors (always a good sign even in mid-season), good  pitching, and the score of a late-season battle.

Toughest Loss of the week…

The Glendale Falcons committed two costly errors in the 5^th inning. That was all that was needed, as visiting Lake Zurich (Chicago suburban team) took advantage of the miscues and scored their only two run in a 2-1 heartbreaking defeat for Glendale. Glendale’s Mike Kickham took the loss despite hurling a 2-hitter!

In the exciting, late inning rally games of the week…

While touring Florida, the Hickman Kewpies (3-1) used the three hits, triple and 2 RBI’s of Drew Mitrisin to rally from a 10-4 deficit in the 6 ^th to defeat South Brunswick, NJ 11-10. In an earlier game, Mitrisin tossed a five-hit 8-0 whitewashing of St. Dominic (NY).

The Marionville Comets scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 7^th to edge Billings 7-6. The Comets had a HR from Jason Grubbs in the win.

Down 7-1 midway in the 4^th, Duchesne Pioneers offense kicked into gear. The Pioneers scored in each of the next 3 innings as they edged the Troy Trojans 8-7 in GAC conference action.

The Carthage Tigers carried a 14-11 lead into the bottom of the 7^th . Nevada scored 4 runs in the bottom of the inning to had Carthage a 15-14 defeat, its 2^nd tough loss of the week.

Another 7^th inning, 4 run rally took place as Lee Summit West (4-1) saw a double from Matt Valded knock home the winning tally in a 10-9 win over intra-district rival, Lee Summit North Broncos (2-3). The Titans offense was ignited by Tyler Riddle’s two hits,  three RBIs and Dillan Brady slugged a solo home run.  

Bolivar Liberator’s offense came alive with 6 runs in the final inning to suddenly upend El Dorado Springs 7-3.

How about these mound gems …

Michael Mendenhall (Oak Grove) tossed a 2-hitter as the Panthers topped the Carrollton Trojans 10-0 in the Missouri River Valley Conference opener.

Chris Booth (Truman) was really nervous. He was accustomed to “crowds” of 20 people (most parents). When he jogged out for the first game ever at Truman High School, he was overwhelmed. His excitement was channeled beautifully as he threw a one-hit, 10 strikeout gem over the Wm Chrisman Bears as the Patriots won 13-2 in 5 innings.

First 10 days of baseball…do you believe…

Tim Mehlville (Holt) highly acclaimed pitching prospect leads the St. Louis area with four Home Runs already! WOW! Some teams don’t hit 4 home runs in a month!  Holt, a final four team in 07, is 3-3 but putting the pieces together. Which coach wouldn’t like to have Mehlville in his lineup and on his mound?

David Mullins of DeSmet is 3-0 while throwing just 15.3 innings for the Spartans. I would say that is “maximizing” the value of your innings.

These hitters are on-fire! Cody Asche (Ft Zumwalt West) is 17 of 21 from the plate—a cool .810 average. TJ Smreker (Hillsboro) is 14-19 and stands at .737 for this early season as he leads the Hawks to a 4-2 record.  One of the Hillsboro wins, the 7-1 win over Windsor is available as a replay FREE to be heard on www.prepcasts.com 24-7-365 check it out.

This week, Prepcasts (hoping not to lose to Mother Nature) will jump heavily into baseball coverage. WE have 7 baseball games and a girls lacrosse game scheduled. Check it out!