CENTERBURG – To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.
The Centerburg Trojans know that’s the case as they try to climb the ladder of respectability in the Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference. On Monday, Fredericktown clinched its fourth straight KMAC baseball title with a victory over the Trojans.
On Wednesday, the teams squared off again and the Trojans kept alive a glimmer of hope to share in that title, beating the visiting Freddies, 6-4, in an emotional senior night at Centerburg.
“That’s (Fredericktown) a helluva baseball team. Year in and year out, I can’t think of them having a bad year,” said Centerburg coach Josh Moss. “To be able to stand toe-to-toe with them, that’s where I want our program to be, where we’re having that annual success. To split with them this year is huge for our program, huge for our guys.”
It didn’t look good for the Trojans (15-3 overall, 10-2 KMAC) early as Fredericktown threatened in its first at-bat. Brady Lester walked to start the day, then moved up on a single by Kaid Carpenter. Trevor Jobes then sacrificed Lester and Carpenter up a base and the Freddies (13-3, 10-1) looked to be in business.
But, then Trojan third baseman Jarred Rings came up with a solid defensive play, fielding a grounder off the bat of Braden Sapp and nailing Lester at the plate.
That stopped the Freddies in the first, but they came out swinging again in the second and this time found success.
Four straight singles – by Luke Bean, Teegan Ruhl, Alex Selby and Lester – netted the Freddies two runs. Carpenter’s sacrifice fly scored Selby and then Jobes belted a double to score Lester and it looked like the rout might be on for the Freddies.
But, Moss’ faith in senior pitcher Griffin Collins paid off handsomely.
Collins was dominant the rest of the way, allowing just one single in the final five innings to keep his Trojans’ in the game.
“There were two times tonight, I think we were ready to make a change, and in the dugout he said, ‘I’m good, I’m good. I’ve got this.’ Then, I went out in the seventh inning when that guy got on, and said, ‘Griff, listen, everything tells me I’ve got to take you out right now. You’re at 100 pitches, they’re at the bottom of the order and about to turn it over and he said, ‘Coach, I’ve got this, and I just believed in him,” Moss said.
“He was big tonight. He’s been big all year. He’s an undefeated senior pitcher. I just love seeing his maturation process.”
Collins’ pitching gave the Trojans time to warm up their bats. Fredericktown starter Korbin McGowan shut them down the first two innings, but the Trojans started chipping away the second time through the order.
Leadoff hitter Dakota Baer started the rally with a one-out double in the third inning. He then scored on a single by Rings.
The Trojans added another in the fourth when Isaiah Reynolds was hit by a pitch, stole second and then scored on a single by Reed Compton.
Centerburg broke through big time in the fifth, scoring three times on two singles, two walks and another hit batsman. After Rings led off the inning with a single, Grayson Reynolds and Dalton Hall followed with walks. Isaiah Reynolds was then hit by a pitch for the third time in the game, scoring Rings. Jesse Rings then followed with a two-run single to put the Trojans ahead.
“Free bases, walks, hit by pitches, errors. Just nothing we did tonight was really going to get us the W at the end of the game,” said Fredericktown coach Ryan Hathaway. “They (Centerburg) did a good job, but we really didn’t play a very good game.”
The aggressive Trojans added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Hunter Parker singled, then stole his way around the bases. He stole second base, then scored after stealing third when the catcher’s throw got by the third baseman.
“We had some cleaner approaches at the plate. And then once we got on the basepaths, it got us going,” Moss said. “The difference tonight was we stayed mentally focused. We stayed in it in the dugout and really embraced the situation. I couldn’t be more proud of the team or the seniors to get the win.”
Prior to the game, the Trojans honored their seven seniors – Baer, Collins, Compton, Hall, Parker, Isaiah Reynolds and Jarred Rings. The senior night festivities included the throwing out of the ceremonial first pitch by the seniors’ mothers.
Jarred Rings led the Trojans offensively with two singles and an RBI. Baer added a double, while Jesse Rings, Compton and Parker all singled.
Griffin kept his record unblemished in the KMAC, picking up his fifth win after allowing seven hits, walking three and striking out one.
The Freddies were led by Bean, who had two singles. Jobes added an RBI double, while Lester, Ruhl and Selby all singled.
“We just popped out way too many times. We just got away from our approach at the plate,” Hathaway said. “I think our hitters just lost focus in the middle of the game and got away from what got us to this point.”
McGowan allowed three hits and two runs in his four innings of work.
The Freddies still have a chance to win the conference title outright when they finish their game with Mount Gilead on Tuesday. The game was suspended earlier with the teams tied at three in the fourth inning.
