MOKANE, Mo. - Davis Woods pitched a gem Thursday for the North Callaway Thunderbirds, but when he reached his pitch-count limit in the sixth inning, the South Callaway Bulldogs jumped at the opportunity.
South Callaway rallied to score two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but North Callaway was able to strand the tying run at second base and secure a 3-2 win in the semifinals of the Class 3 District 8 Tournament.
All North Callaway coach Zeth Lavy wanted was for his Thunderbirds to have one more run than their opponent when the final out was recorded. Mission accomplished.
"At this point, it's survive and advance," Lavy said. "I don't care if we win by 100 runs or a run, we're playing tomorrow."
With the win, No. 3 North Callaway (11-13) advances to the district championship game, where it will face top seeded Father Tolton (13-5). The Trailblazers also won 3-2 against No. 4 South Shelby in Tuesday's second semifinal game.
"The last time we were in a district championship was 2010," Lavy said, "and we've only won one, in 1999. Between being a player, an assistant and a head coach, I've been in the program for 12 years, and I've never played in one. I'm freaking pumped."
Woods, a sophomore left-hander, did everything he could to help the Thunderbirds end their district championship drought.
After allowing a one-out double to South Callaway's Jacob Martin in the bottom of the first inning, Woods retired 14 of the next 17 batters he faced.
"We've talked all year about how he's got the stuff to be a No. 1 guy and compete against anybody," Lavy said. "He's had trouble throughout the year filling up the strike zone, getting behind hitters, and we haven't fielded the ball really well behind him.
"Today, everything went in his favor. We played good defense behind him, and he was attacking hitters all night."
Through five innings, Davis was throwing a one-hitter with three walks and six strikeouts. Martin led off the sixth with a single, but North Callaway second baseman Bryce Clark snagged a line drive and caught Martin off first base for a double play.
The next batter, Owen Rees, fouled off four straight two-strike pitches before hit a single up the middle. That pitch put Davis at his limit of 95 pitches for the day.
"He was locked in, he was a competitor and he was ready to go," Lavy said of Davis. "That was awesome to see from a young guy that's going to be a big part of our program for the next few years."
Christian Griffith got the Thunderbirds through the end of the sixth inning. He returned to the mound in the seventh, with North Callaway leading 3-0.
South Callaway's JT Thomas opened the inning with a walk, but after a strikeout and a groundout, the Bulldogs were down to their final out. Tanner Marty followed with a five-pitch walk, then No. 9 hitter Jake Boese was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
"You look back at most wins, whether it's high school or the next level, when the bottom of the order can turn over to the top, you're going to win a lot of ballgames," South Callaway coach Heath Lepper said.
Lavy put freshman Sam Pezold on the mound for the Thunderbirds, and South Callaway leadoff hitter Jacob Lallier responded with a single back up the middle, scoring Thomas and pinch runner Dalton Campbell to close North Callaway's lead to 3-2.
"They've been doing that all year long," Lepper said of his team's fight in the seventh inning. "It wasn't surprising to see the effort that they put forth.
"We were just one or two hits from walking it off."
South Callaway had the tying run on second base and the winning run on third base, but Pezold struck out Martin on four pitches to earn the save for North Callaway.
"As a freshman, it was great to see him come in and get the job done in the biggest spot we've been in all year," Lavy said of Pezold.
North Callaway scored all three of its runs in the top of the second inning, benefiting from three South Callaway errors.
"We've been on the receiving end and the losing end of games like that," Lepper said. "That's the game of baseball, that's what makes it intense. We talk about being prepared for every pitch, and that was an example of three balls in play here or there, it's a different outcome."
Pezold hit a one-out to left field, scoring Griffith for North Callaway's first run. Jacob Morris, who reached base on an error, came around to score from first base on an outfield error on Pezold's hit to put the Thunderbirds ahead 2-0.
Pezold then scored from second base on an error on the next play to give North Callaway a three-run lead.
"We just found some holes, and when we're ahead, we want to put pressure on them," Lavy said. "We had the right guys on the basepaths to do it."
Thomas started on the mound for South Callaway, but Dane Daugherty relieved him with one out in the second inning. Daugherty pitched the final 5 innings without allowing a run, scattering seven hits and striking out three to keep the Bulldogs down 3-0.
"Both our pitchers did a great job," Lepper said. "JT on the front side, he was getting outs, we just didn't make every play that we could have. Dane came in and picked up right where he left off. Both of those guys have been doing it all year, they've put us in position to win a lot of ballgames."
For North Callaway, Woods had the only mulithit game, going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles. Pezold, Austin Taylor, Griffith, Morris, Braydn O'Neal and Kyle Pennell each had a single for the Thunderbirds' other hits.
South Callaway finished the game with four hits. Martin ended the game with a single and a double, while Lallier and Rees each had a single.
The two teams opened their seasons against each other March 20, with North Callaway also winning that contest 17-6 in nine innings.
"They're obviously a much better team than they were at the beginning of the year, and we hope that we were, too," Lepper said.
The loss ends the season for second-seeded South Callaway with a 10-19 record. The Bulldogs had one of the youngest rosters in Mid-Missouri this spring, as seven of their nine starters in Tuesday's game were either freshmen or sophomores.
Even with a younger roster, Lepper still had his team play a tough, jam-packed strength of schedule.
"If we played a conventional Class 3 schedule, our record would have been a lot different," he said. " You've got some 15-year-old men that went up against Borgia, Jefferson City, Cape Notre Dame, those are some powerhouse schools. Hopefully at this point of the year next year we can say it was all worth it. That's what the plan is."