By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
WILLARD — In his 14 seasons with the Willard baseball team, coach Scott McGee has witnessed plenty of great pitchers lead the Tigers on deep postseason runs.
But as the Tigers secured the school’s fourth trip to the Final Four since 2012, they did it behind the pitcher who may just be the greatest to ever wear a Willard uniform.
Senior lefthander Dalen Stewart allowed just one hit in a complete-game shutout, leading Willard to a 3-0 victory over Glendale in a Class 5 quarterfinal on Saturday afternoon.
Stewart struck out 11 and issued just three walks for the Tigers, who will face Fort Zumwalt South at 1:30 p.m. Friday at U.S. Ballpark in Ozark for the right to play for a state title.
“It feels amazing,” the pitcher said. “This team has come so far from the offseason. These guys have worked so hard and we definitely deserve it.”
Willard is eyeing its first trip to a state championship game since 2003, when the Tigers finished as the Class 3 runner up. They lost in the semifinals in 2012, 2013 and 2019 — but return to the Final Four with a pitcher who has established himself as one of the state’s elite.
“We’ve had some really good pitchers,” McGee said. “I think he may be at the top of the list. Dalen is maybe the best pitcher we’ve had at Willard baseball.”
The senior carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Caimon Kufahl broke it up with a one-out single to left, but Stewart retired the next two Falcons to preserve the shutout.
Stewart entered the season with all of 14 varsity innings to his name after the COVID-19 pandemic erased what would have been his junior season — and perhaps Willard’s most significant chance at the school’s first state championship on the diamond.
The Tigers returned four all-state players and eight starters from the 2019 third-place team and were nationally ranked prior to the 2020 campaign. They entered this season with little varsity experience and many questions about whether this group could contend for a title.
Consider those questions answered.
“Last year, not having a season — we were supposed to win state,” sophomore catcher Kyden McMain said. “And then this year coming out with all the stuff about us not amounting to anything, you know, it feels pretty freaking cool to come out here and work our way to a Final Four. Really surprised a lot of people.”
Their unquestioned leader on the field throughout this historic season has been Stewart, who cruised through the Glendale lineup on just 93 pitches and didn’t allow a runner into scoring position until there were two outs in the seventh.
“It’s not just his pitch making,” McGee said. “It’s his confidence. It’s his preparedness. It’s the way that he calms everyone else down because everyone in our program knows he has put in the work to be the guy. You know you’re going to get a good performance out of him when you need it.”
After Stewart opened the game with a 1-2-3 inning, fellow seniors Blake Hultgren and Grant Merryman gave him all the run support he needed during the home half of the first.
Hultgren led off with a single off the third base bag and scored when the Falcons committed two throwing errors on a pickoff attempt gone awry. Merryman walked, stole second and scored on Klayton Kiser’s two-out single to give the Tigers an early 2-0 advantage.
“We just have so much confidence whenever he’s pitching,” Hultgren said. “It’s a different game whenever we have him up there. Gavin Burk is our number two — he’s an amazing pitcher and we have confidence in him, too — but there’s just something about Dalen. He brings the energy and brings so much emotion with him. It just gets us really into the game. I don’t trust anyone else more than him. He’s so amazing up there.”
Glendale starter Isaac Wells didn’t allow another run until the fifth inning, when Hultgren opened with a double and Cooper Hampton brought him home with a sacrifice fly to left.
But the Falcons were unable to give their ace any run support and ended the season 20-12, still searching for what made Stewart all-but unhittable for most of the afternoon.
“I wish we knew,” Falcons coach Jim Julian said. “We might have had more hits. But he’s as good as advertised. He mixes well. He’s got good velocity on his fastball and throws that curveball for strikes pretty well. He kept us off balance all day and his defense made plays behind him.”
For Stewart, the answer was simple.
“They just couldn’t catch up to my fastball,” he said. “If you can’t catch up to a fastball, you just can’t hit in the game. I just attacked them with fastballs.”
Willard (25-10), which has won seven district titles in nine seasons, now prepares to face a Fort Zumwalt South (23-9) team from St. Charles County near St. Louis.
The District 4 champions beat Parkway Central 5-0 in their quarterfinal earlier Saturday.
“Our guys have an expectation that they’re always going to play well in the big games,” McGee said. “We did again today. Every senior class passes things down to the next senior class and this senior class has just been phenomenal in every way for us this year. I’m really glad they’re going to get to experience the Final Four.”
McGee noted several former Willard players attended Saturday afternoon’s game.
“Everybody you talk to — all of our former players — the most fun they’ve ever had is winning postseason baseball games,” the coach said. “That’s their favorite high school memory. I’m really glad we get to do it again.”
And with Stewart leading the charge, the Tigers have a chance to accomplish something that no other group of baseball players in school history has ever done.
Winning a state championship would be the ultimate high school memory.
“It’s definitely hard to make it to the Final Four and we’re looking to bring home some hardware next weekend,” Stewart said. “So let’s do it.”
