Strafford’s Tony Caldwell was dominance personified against Hallsville in the Class 3 state semifinal.
The junior threw a complete-game one-hitter with 11 strikeouts to lead Strafford past Hallsville 6-0 and into the Class 3 state championship game.
“That is as good of a performance that I have seen by any pitcher than I have ever had to be honest with you. He was really, really good,” Strafford Head Coach Shane Pierce said. “He was as good tonight as he has been all year and he has continued to get better all year. It was a fun night to watch.”
Caldwell worked with consistent pace throughout the game. When he wasn’t striking out Hallsville batters, his defense was backing him up with big play after big play.
“I stayed in the strike zone a lot and my defense backed me up tremendously tonight,” Caldwell said. “Drew Stoll had about five tremendous plays (at third base) that helped this game go smoothly. It just gives me confidence to stay in the strike zone and security knowing I have the defense behind me.”
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Caldwell was provided with more confidence from his offense in the first inning. Mason Foley walked to lead off the game and then Caldwell reached on a single to left field two batters later. Cleanup hitter Dillon Turner then stepped to the plate and knocked a two-run triple to give Strafford and early 2-0 lead.
The game would remain scoreless until the fifth inning when Dillon Hester led off the bottom of the frame with an inside-the-park home run to right field.
“We had a lot of at-bats that were big at-bats tonight. Dillon Hester’s inside the park (home run) was big for us in that moment. Then we had some kids hit the ball hard after that and just kind of folded it up. There was a lot of guys that contributed to that win.”
Strafford continued to pile on that inning with two more runs. The Indians got a final insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Caldwell sealed the game by striking out two Hallsville batters looking. The strikeouts were sandwiched around a final defensive gem from Stoll catching a liner at third for the second out.
Now Strafford will face Malden on Wednesday at 1:30 in the Class 3 State Championship game at CarShield Field in O’Fallon, Mo.
Strafford last made it this far in 2009 when the Indians fell to Valle Catholic. Pierce’s message to his team will be simple ahead of the game.
“Have fun. I was there in 2009 and I don’t know that I enjoyed it enough,” Pierce said. “Just have fun. That is our goal. Go out and have fun and see what happens.”
