T-Birds turn back Wildcats 8-4 in regular-season finale

North Callaway, New Bloomfield begin district play on Saturday

The North Callaway Thunderbirds used an early cushion to fend off the surging New Bloomfield Wildcats and take some momentum of their own into district play.

New Bloomfield finished with a 9-7 hitting edge, but it was North Callaway that came away with an 8-4 triumph in both teams' regular-season finale Tuesday night.

Senior first baseman Michael Early slapped a one-out double in the bottom of the second inning, driving in senior starter Brandon Hagedorn and sophomore second baseman AJ Stubblefield to give North Callaway (9-13) the early edge. Early then scored when senior right fielder Zach McCowan reached on an error to put the Thunderbirds up 3-0.

Sophomore catcher Wyatt Branson led off North Callaway's half of the third with a home run to left. Early doubled home Hagedorn with two outs to make it 5-0.

Senior left fielder Sam Niedergerke and junior shortstop Grant Nichols hit back-to-back singles to start the fourth for New Bloomfield (11-8).

Both Niedergerke and Nichols advanced a base on a wild pitch, then scored on junior third baseman Tyler Fennewald's one-out single to trim the Thunderbirds' lead to 5-2. Junior second baseman Clay Jensen singled home Fennewald and junior center fielder Brady Wiler with two outs to draw the Wildcats within a run.

"We got fastballs, we worked some counts and got into some good hitting counts and things worked for us," New Bloomfield head coach Justin Forsythe said.

North Callaway got a run back in the fifth on senior third baseman Trevor Crisp's RBI single and sophomore shortstop J.T. Higgins' RBI groundout in the sixth extended the lead to 7-4. North Callaway finished its scoring later in the inning when Wyatt Branson's RBI double brought home his older brother, senior left fielder Cole Branson.

Hagedorn (2-6) allowed four earned runs on seven hits in four innings to pick up the win. He struck out four and walked none.

Early, Hagedorn and Wyatt Branson all finished 2-for-4 for the Thunderbirds.

"The last two games, we've played North Callaway baseball," head coach Kevin O'Neal said. "They played good baseball against a good New Bloomfield team.

"It's a good way to end the regular season and head into districts."

Fennewald took the loss in three innings. He allowed five runs -four earned - on five hits, struck out one, issued a walk and hit a batter.

Jensen and senior first baseman Boyd Kempker both went 2-for-3 to pace the Wildcats. Niedergerke was 2-for-4, while Fennewald finished 1-for-4.

North Callaway held on to win the junior varsity game 2-1. The Thunderbirds finished their season at 10-5, while New Bloomfield ended at 6-3-2.

Both teams open district play Saturday morning.

The Wildcats - the No. 3 seed and host school in Class 2, District 8 - play the No. 6 Russellville Indians at 10 a.m. New Bloomfield blasted the Indians 13-4 at home on May 4.

"... We're not impressed with how we've played the last few games," Forsythe said. "Our boys are hungry; we got a lot of goals we want to accomplish and we can start that on Saturday."

North Callaway - the No. 3 seed in Class 3, District 8 - squares off against the No. 6 Centralia Panthers at 12:30 p.m. in Hallsville.