MOKANE -- From hitting to pitching to fielding, the South Callaway Bulldogs did it all, starting on the right foot in defense of their Show-Me Conference title Tuesday at South Callaway's baseball field.
"Looking back on this weekend, we had some teams on the ropes," South Callaway baseball coach Mason Mershon said after the Bulldogs went 0-3, two defeats to Class 5 teams (Union and Rolla), in the Bank Classic last weekend. "That was a good experience to get us ready, we hope, for a tough conference schedule. And, happy to get the first conference win under our belt against Linn."
South Callaway, ranked second in Class 3 by the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association, wasn't phased by the 40-degree Fahrenheit temperature at first pitch. The Bulldogs run-ruled the Linn Wildcats, who beat Class 2 receiving votes Eugene, 13-0, in 4½ innings.
"My baseball coach when I was young in high school said, 'There's no such thing as cold, just a lack of heat,'" Mershon said. "Everybody was in the elements. It's a spring sport. You got to play outside. You got to fight through the elements. I suppose that's part of it, and I thought we did a good job tonight."
Showing South Callaway (3-4, 1-0 Show-Me) not only fought but excelled through the elements: the Bulldogs outhit Linn (2-4, 1-1) 10-4 and received five walks and two hit-by-pitches compared to the Wilcats' two walks and a hit-by-pitch.
While the Bulldogs' hits and shutting out Linn were most apparent, they also didn't commit an error, while the Wildcats had seven.
"We talked a lot about the difference between soft focus and hard focus, and I think defensively, we were focused during the game and ready each pitch to expect the baseball and make the play," Mershon said.
Letting his fielders relax, all-state Bulldog Dane Daugherty (2-0) punched out nine batters and struck out the side in the top of the first as he tossed a five-inning complete game shutout.
"I was locating my slider really well today, and then I could drop my curveball in whenever I wanted," Daugherty said. "I sneaked my fastball in every once in a while, so I had them guessing, I would say. It helped me get success with it."
Throwing the slider well was essential for Daugherty, as he added the pitch to his repertoire this year.
"Actually, the slider is the pitch I've actually implemented new this year," Daugherty said. "I've really been working with it in the bullpen. Being able to locate it in games shows how hard I've been working with it."
Daugherty didn't need to pitch a shutout since seven of South Callaway's nine batters recorded at least one hit, and all nine Bulldogs reached base.
Helping himself, Daugherty was the first South Callaway player to get on base. He walked on the Bulldogs' second plate appearance before scoring as the catcher overthrew his second baseman when Ethan Edwards stole second two batters later.
Linn continued to hand South Callaway extra bases. Edwards advanced home to make it 2-0 Bulldogs when Owen Rees took third base on a grounder after the Wildcats' third baseman couldn't make an accurate throw to first.
Capping South Callaway's three-run first inning, Chase Mealy drove in Rees on a close call at home when he hit a sacrifice fly to center field.
Another sacrifice fly plated the Bulldogs' fourth run, with Tucker Jones driving in South Callaway's first run in its two-run second inning.
Linn starter Austin Dudenhoeffer's outing ended after the first inning. He took the loss, allowing three unearned runs on two walks while striking out two.
The Wildcats' decision to pull Dudenhoeffer backfired, using two pitchers in the second inning.
Linn's Gus Peters struck out one in ⅔ innings and allowed two earned runs before Bobby Winkelman came in and threw the final 2⅓ innings, giving up eight runs (six earned). Winkelman also sent one packing in the second inning but only struck out one more after.
Peters was responsible for both South Callaway's runs in the second inning. The second came with two outs when Rees grounded an RBI single to the shortstop, with the ball taking a strange hop.
Up 5-0 through two innings, the Bulldogs all but secured their victory in the third when they sent six runs across.
Like the second inning, Jones sent the first run home, receiving a pass with the bases loaded and just one out. Daugherty followed, recording the first of his co-game-high three RBI by popping a single in front of the center fielder.
Finishing the string of three run-scoring plays and producing half of South Callaway's runs in the third inning, Edwards crushed a bases-clearing three-RBI double over the center fielder's head and near the wall.
"I thank the team for showing up one through nine, getting on, and having great at-bats and just battling throughout the day," Edwards said. "...tough competition over the weekend. Fighting through adversity and the bounce back, have this kind of game is pretty good."
Even though the Bulldogs went 0-3 last weekend, Edwards had some good at-bats.
"He had two triples over the weekend," Mershon said. "For him, he's not the fastest guy, so he's seeing the ball well."
Although Edwards is not the fastest baserunner, his focus this season has been hitting the ball to the opposite field in right center.
"I've always had more pop in left center, but the biggest hole in my game was going to the opposite field, and I've really had success doing that," Edwards said.
Two batters later, Edwards scored for the second and final time when Mealy singled to left field, plating the final run in South Callaway's huge third inning.
An inning later, Daugherty drove in half the Bulldogs' four runs with two outs, concluding the scoring with a two-RBI single to shallow left-center field, reaching second base on the throw to the infield.
While South Callaway's No. 1-5 hitters tallied all 12 of its RBI, the Bulldogs' No. 7-8 batters Graden Pontius and Jacob Boese tied Daugherty for a team-high two hits.
"I think about Jake Boese had a great hit for us there in his last at-bat," Mershon said. "So, a lot of guys are seeing the ball well, and we hope we can continue that in the games coming up."
Ensuring Linn stayed off the scoreboard, Daugherty sent the Wildcats down 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth. Daugherty only put one baserunner on in the second and fourth innings and two in the first and third.
"Dane's not necessarily a huge strikeout pitcher, but he gets strikeouts because he does have command of three pitches," Mershon said. "His split-finger was working really well tonight. I think that's the best I've seen him throw it all year. Fastball command and slider command was pretty good, too. But, he was able to play off that with his split-finger pretty well tonight."
No matter the result, the Bulldogs were fortunate to get a game on Tuesday because of their turf field. Both scheduled for Tuesday, North Callaway's home opener against Van-Far and New Bloomfield's first Show-Me contest of the season at Fatima, were postponed to Thursday.
"We're super lucky with our facilities in general, and having a turf infield gives us the opportunity to play on nights like tonight where a lot of other teams were probably rained out," Mershon said. "It goes back to our administration and our facilities. We're extremely lucky to have a turf field."
Speaking of fields, South Callaway will travel to face Class 4 No. 10 Blair Oaks (5-2) at 5 p.m. today at Vivion Field in Wardsville. The Blair Oaks Board of Education signed off on a lease financing plan that provided up to $1.2 million for new turf at its field before this season.
"Blair Oaks is well coached," Mershon said. "I think their season right now, their record doesn't really reflect how good of a team they are. They've been playing some really good teams, too. So, tomorrow will be a good test for us at Vivion Field, and we'll have our hands full."