WEBB CITY, Mo. — The Webb City Cardinals are riding plenty of momentum into the postseason.
Webb City ended the regular season on a high note by blasting Kickapoo 11-1 in five innings on Thursday at Barnes Field.
The highly-anticipated non-conference clash featured a pair of state-ranked squads who have locked up No. 1 seeds for their respective district tournaments.
“That was a good way to end the regular season for sure,” Webb City coach Flave Darnell said. “Kickapoo’s a good team and they’re well-coached. I’m sure they didn’t play the way they wanted to tonight, but this was a solid win for us. Cole (Gayman) pitched well, we picked it up on defense and we got some timely hits against a really good team.”
In the regular season finale, the Cardinals rode a nine-run third inning to secure what could be called a statement victory.
“We knew it was going to be a good game against a great team and we knew we had to come out and play our best,” Webb City senior shortstop Treghan Parker said. “That’s the best we’ve looked all year. We’ve had some really good practices lately and that big inning really helped us tonight.”
Now ranked second in Class 5 by the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association, Webb City ends the regular season with a record of 24-5.
The top seed for the Class 5 District 6 tournament, the Cardinals are taking a 10-game winning streak into the postseason.
“We feel like we’ve got a lot of momentum and we feel like we’re playing our best baseball right now,” Darnell said. “Hopefully we can keep it up next week.”
The Cardinals ended the regular season with a pair of wins against state-ranked teams in Aurora and Kickapoo.
“We knew these last two non-conference games were going to be good games for us,” said Parker, a Missouri Southern recruit who is Webb City’s single-season leader in RBI. “We’ve faced some great teams lately and we really dominated. We’ve definitely got a lot of momentum going into next week.”
Ranked seventh in Class 6, Kickapoo fell to 23-8. The Chiefs, the No. 1 seed in Class 6 District 6, had their 10-game winning streak snapped.
GAME RECAP
With the game scoreless, Webb City erupted for nine runs in a huge third inning.
In all, 15 batters came to the plate, and the Cardinals plated their nine runs on five hits, five walks, a fielder’s choice and an error.
Eric Fitch got things started with a single to left. Fitch, a junior second baseman, went to second on a wild pitch and then took third on a wild pickoff attempt.
“Eric’s been doing a great job for us from the nine-hole and the bottom of our lineup has been putting a lot of pressure on teams,” Darnell noted.
Devrin Weathers hit an RBI double to left-center before Parker smacked a run-scoring triple into the right field corner.
After Shane Noel walked, Matt Woodmansee delivered an RBI single, taking second on the throw.
A fielder’s choice off the bat of Cole Gayman made it 4-0.
Aiden Brock and Cade Wilson both walked. After a pitching change, Woodmansee scored from third on a wild pitch.
After two outs, Weathers drew a bases-loaded walk before Parker lined a two-run single into center for an 8-0 lead.
The final tally of the inning came home after a Kickapoo error.
The Chiefs got on the board after an RBI double from Cole Murrell in the fourth, but the Cardinals answered back in the bottom half.
Brock and Wilson both singled before Eli Goddard delivered an RBI single into right.
The hosts ended the game by pushing across a single tally in the bottom of the fifth.
Noel doubled to left, Woodmansee walked and Gayman was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Jeremiah Leaming then delivered a walk-off single to left that gave the Cardinals a dominant run-rule win.
NAMES & NUMBERS
Gayman once again dazzled on the mound. A senior right-hander, Gayman scattered four hits and struck out three in five innings to earn the win.
Nine different players recorded a hit for the Cardinals.
Parker went 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored. Brock went 2-for-2, while Weathers and Woodmansee drove in two runs apiece.
Kickapoo’s Cross Kubik took the loss after allowing seven earned runs on six hits in two innings.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Webb City hosts eighth-seeded Parkview at 5 p.m. on Tuesday in a district tourney opener.
A win would put the Cardinals in the semifinals on Wednesday against either McDonald County or West Plains.
Parker noted the Cardinals have their postseason goals set high.
“We want to win our district and make it to the Final Four,” Parker said. “But our main goal is to win the state championship. We have big goals, but we’re going to take it game-by-game.”
