By Michael Smith (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Nixa baseball team had to make something happen.
The Eagles had two innings left to save their season down 3-1 to Blue Springs going into the bottom of the sixth inning in the Class 6 quarterfinals.
Up to that point Wildcat starting pitcher and University of Arkansas commit Cole Gibler silenced the Nixa bats, only giving up one run in the first five innings.
A leadoff double from left fielder Rylan Michel and Caden Cloud reaching on a fielder’s choice made Blue Springs head coach Tim McElligott take Gibler out of the game.
That set the stage for first baseman Tanner Grant to be the hero. He had the go-ahead, two-run double and scored on a wild pitch to help the Eagles take a 5-4 victory Saturday at Blue Springs High School.
“I have been waiting to do something like that,” Grant said. “I have just been working hard and was hoping it would pay off. It was really exciting to come through in a moment like that.”
Nixa now will play in their first state final four game since 1974, which was the program’s only semifinal appearance, as it will take on Liberty North at 7 p.m. June 2 at Sky Bacon Stadium in Ozark.
The turning point was the fielder’s choice grounder off the bat of Cloud. Shortstop Drew McConnell tried to throw out Michel at third base, but he got such a good jump, he was easily safe to put runners on the corners with no outs.
Gibler then came out and Ethan Froud came in to pitch.
“That was huge,” Nixa head coach Logan Hughes said of Gibler coming out of the game. “That probably wasn’t the best read on that fielder’s choice base running wise but it worked.”
Catcher Jack Edwards, who was 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI, walked to load the bases. Senior Reese Dirnburger drove in a run on a groundout to second base to help pull his team within one run. Grant then delivered on a two-run double that he drilled over the head of the right fielder to give his team the lead.
As he was running to second base, a pumped Grant beat his chest and let out a roar as he put Nixa ahead 4-3. One batter later, he scored on a wild pitch.
“He had been throwing pretty firm but he wasn’t throwing a lot of strikes,” Grant said. “I knew he was going to come with a fastball. I was just trying to stay loose. I just went the other way with it.”
Nixa went into the seventh up 5-3 and senior Ethan Taylor came in for the save. He gave up two one-out singles and a balk allowed runners to advance to second and third. He induced a ground ball to Cloud at shortstop. He helped get Gibler caught in a run down between second and third.
Gibler was tagged out but Gavin Smith scored to make it 5-4. Taylor then hit Peyton Mitchell with a pitch to put runners at the corners. With the pressure on, Taylor got first baseman Aiden Neuweg to hit a ground ball to the right side. The ball hit Mitchell on the foot for an automatic out that ended the contest.
Before Nixa (32-6) made its comeback. Eagles starting pitcher Jackson Gamble had the bases loaded with one out in the second frame. He got out of a jam after surrendering an RBI single from Carson Bushman. Gamble induced two ground balls that led to a fielder’s choice out at home and an inning-ending putout at first base.
In the third, Blue Springs center fielder Lincoln Stephenson blasted a two-run shot over the right-field fence off Gamble to put the Wildcats ahead 3-0.
Sophomore Collin Kelley relieved Gamble in the fourth and he kept Blue Springs at bay. He tossed three scoreless innings and allowed just one hit and two walks. He also struck out one batter.
“I think I threw really well, they are a good hitting team,” Kelley said. “I tunneled a lot of pitches well. My two-seam (fastball) and changeup, they would really hit those.
“There is something special about this team and the community coming out.”
Nixa catcher Jack Edwards got his team on the scoreboard in the fourth when he drilled a run-scoring single to right field. That helped get the Eagles’ offense going, which eventually led to the four-run sixth inning.
“I am so proud of these guys,” said Hughes, who had his team give a sizable Nixa crowd a round of applause. “It’s unbelievable. It was ugly, it was pretty, and then it was ugly again. We found a way to win and that is something this team has done since Day 1.”
