By Amanda Perkins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Over the past four years, the Mountain Grove Panthers won four district titles and a state title in 2016, amassing an 82-25 overall record.
Tonight, seven seniors who contributed to that success said their final goodbyes to the game they loved.
“It’s pretty special to go out with the same group of guys that I started with, ever since we were out there in t-ball,” said senior Cade Coffman. “These guys have been like my brothers,” added Hayden Newberry.
The Panthers had hoped to avenge last year’s sectional loss against South Callaway, but once again fell short with a final score of 13-2.
“We just didn’t show up to play,” said head coach Derwin McGownd. “You can’t commit six or seven errors against a team of their caliber and expect to win ballgames. I would have to go back and look, but I would say more than likely out of their 13 runs, only four of five of them were earned. We gave away a bunch of runs early in the game, and you just can’t do that against a team like this.”
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South Callaway capitalized on sloppy Mountain Grove play in the second; one hit batter, two walks, two errors, and two hits scored 4.
The Panthers also made the best of their opponents’ mistakes in the second, scoring one after consecutive Bulldog errors.
A two-out rally in the fourth helped the Bulldogs score three more runs. South Callaway reached base on an error followed by a walk, then back-to-back singles scored three runs.
In the fifth, Mountain Grove’s Hayden Newberry scored after an error, walk and single combination.
A leadoff double in the sixth followed by a one out double helped shape another big inning for the Bulldogs. South Callaway scored their ninth run of the game on an error in the inning.
South Callaway scored their final runs in the last frame with two walks and two singles to push across four and seal the victory.
Coach McGownd noted his team’s triumphs on the season, adding that winning districts with this group was a highlight.
“It was kind of before us all season long that we weren’t supposed to do very well,” he said. “We lost a lot of kids to graduation last year, and we were supposed to be mediocre at best. A 19-7 record isn’t too bad, and we fell one short of the conference title.”
“This group of seniors, they are competitors, they’re fighters, and they’re each one dying a little bit inside right now,” said McGownd. “They’re battlers, they’ve done it through basketball, they’ve done it through baseball, and just came up a little bit short tonight.”
“The last two or three groups who have come through, back to DJ McNew, they’ve all played together, they’ve worked together, and they have a special bond. That’s uncommon to find with a group of kids like that, and they are a special group.”
“We kind of adopted the motto we’re playing for each other, playing for a team, what each of them need to do for each other… they’ll continue to be able to do that and have some great things in their future, whether it’s on the basketball court, or going to school or on in life. I’m proud of each one of them and definitely going to miss them next year.”
Scoring:
South Callaway 0 4 0 3 0 2 4
Mountain Grove 0 1 0 0 1 0
