John Brinkmann doesn't necessarily invest in a certain sports adage, even though his Fulton Hornets hope it holds true.
Fulton's first-year head coach and the Hornets (17-9) will get a third crack at the top-ranked Boonville Pirates (25-5) when the North Central Missouri Conference adversaries clash in the Class 4 semifinals at 7 tonight at CarShield Field in O'Fallon. In the first semifinal at 4:30 p.m., MICDS (19-7) squares off against fifth-ranked Aurora (27-3).
Fulton will be attempting to avenge a pair of narrow losses to Boonville during the regular season. The Hornets bowed 3-2 to the Pirates in just the second game of the season March 22 in Fulton, then owned a 3-0 edge before falling at Boonville 4-3 on April 12.
With a chance to play for the Class 4 state title on the line tonight, Brinkmann expects another tight showdown between the Hornets and Pirates.
"We've seen what they have, they've seen what we have - good teams," Brinkmann noted near the end of Thursday afternoon's practice at the high school athletic complex. "It's going to be another one-run game if I had to guess, but I don't put too much stock into (difficulty of beating a team) three times.
"It's more of a, 'Do I want to rally for or against it?,' depending on what side of the coin I'm on."
Boonville will confront a Fulton squad that is certainly playing with more assurance. The Hornets overcame a 3-0 deficit in rallying past Duchesne 8-6 in the Class 4 quarterfinals last week, their fifth straight victory, and they've won 11 of their last 14.
"Early in the year, I kind of told the boys that, 'You're as talented as any team we're going to play this year in state - in any class, but you've got to put it together,'" Brinkmann said. " They are talented enough and when they play as a team, there's not a team out there that I feel that can beat us.
"That's why I'm confident against Boonville. They're a great team, don't get me wrong, but we weren't playing team baseball like we are now. I think coming in a little bit as the underdog, I think they're embracing the role, and I know I'm excited to see what happens when we're playing at our best."
Brinkmann will go with senior pitcher Tristan Steffens as his starter tonight against the Pirates. Steffens is 5-1 on the season with a 1.63 earned-run average, 41 strikeouts and only nine walks in 47 1/3 innings of work.
Steffens suffered a complete-game loss in the first matchup against Boonville. His pitch count was efficient at 84, he allowed the three runs - two earned - on eight hits, struck out seven and walked none.
"He's not going to overpower you, but he's going to make you work," Brinkmann said. "He's going to keep pounding the (strike) zone and if you're going to get a hit off him, you're going to earn that hit.
"Then the next time you come up, he's still going to think he's going to get you out. He's that prototypical bulldog on the mound."
Steffens will try to harness a Pirates lineup that is built around power in the middle from senior first baseman Dalton Bealmer and sophomore third baseman Kole Ficken. Bealmer is batting a sizzling .522 with 30 runs batted in, six home runs, 10 doubles and two triples. Ficken has a .291 average with 18 RBI, four home runs and five doubles.
Boonville senior catcher Jady Reese is also hitting .354 with 16 RBI and 11 doubles. Meanwhile, junior second baseman Blake Barnes and senior center fielder Bryce Fuemmeler are sources of speed with 19 and 11 stolen bases, respectively.
"At the plate, they're big boys, they're going to swing the bat well, they're well-schooled," Brinkmann said of the Pirates. "They do things like bunt and move runners over. When you've got a team that can hit for power, but also does little things right, that's a good offense."
Brinkmann stressed that Steffens has to be the aggressor against Boonville's hitters.
"You can't be scared of a lineup like that, you've got to go right after them," Brinkmann said. "If they beat you, they beat you. You don't want to be scared of a team because that's when they take advantage of you.
"That's why, ultimately, I go with Tristan on the mound. Do what you do best every day and know you are better on the mound than whoever you're going to face at the plate."
Brinkmann is anticipating that Pirates head coach Fred Smith will counter with junior Nick Zeitlow on the mound tonight. The 6-foot-6 Zeitlow is 6-1 with a 1.35 ERA, 58 strikeouts and also has just nine walks over 36 2/3 innings.
Zeitlow picked up the win the first time around against the Hornets. He surrendered two earned runs on five hits while his pitch count climbed to 74 in four innings, struck out nine and - like Steffens - also had no walks.
"He's conference pitcher of the year if we had that; I mean, he got the most votes," Brinkmann said. " (He throws) 85-86 (miles per hour), I would say his offspeed stuff, his slider is pretty good.
"Luckily for us, most of our guys have played against him a lot, which helps us out. He's the same type of kid as Tristan - he's going to battle hard and he's not really going to give in to you. You're going to have to make him work and throw a lot of pitches."
To that end, Brinkmann had his batters in the cages during Thursday's practice, concentrating on approaches with 0-2 counts and extending plate appearances. Fulton batters struck out a total of 14 times and managed to draw only two walks in the matchup against Zeitlow and two Boonville relievers.
"That's one thing I've been stressing recently - just because you get out, doesn't mean you had a bad at-bat," Brinkmann said. " You've got to make him work and if we can get eight-, nine-pitch at-bats, instead of three or four, then we've got a chance."
Junior first baseman Jared Peery fuels the Hornets' lineup with a .411 average, 34 RBI and 37 hits, while junior center fielder Luke Gray is batting a team-high .437 with 16 RBI, 31 hits and 26 runs scored. Junior shortstop Devin Masek has a .274 average with 16 RBI, 20 hits and 15 runs scored.
Senior left fielder Zach Franklin is also hitting .343 with 11 RBI, 24 hits and 14 runs scored, while junior catcher Isaiah Pani has produced a .306 average with 11 RBI and 19 hits. Junior second baseman Josh Quick has a team-high 14 of Fulton's 85 stolen bases, followed closely by Gray (13), sophomore courtesy runner Solomon Huff (12), Masek (11) and Franklin (10).
"We've driven the ball up the middle, gap-to-gap," Brinkmann said. "We're not a home run-hitting team, we've got two all year (Peery and Pani). I don't care if we have zero, quite honestly. They don't affect me.
"As I tell our guys, when you get on base that's when we're going to scare people, because we're going to move them along. We're going to put pressure on them that way."
Having endured an eight-day layoff after their victory over Duchesne, Brinkmann explained this his squad is anxious for tonight's battle with Boonville to be here.
"It isn't just another game, but they just want to play baseball, and that's the type of kids they are," Brinkmann said. "I think they'll be ready for the challenge. They know it's a big game, but I don't think they're going to let it get too big for them."
Ryan Boland can be reached at (573) 826-2422, or by email at [email protected].