MOKANE - The No. 3 seed North Callaway baseball team played its "best baseball the last two nights," head coach Zeth Lavy said. The Thunderbirds still fell 3-0 Wednesday to top seed Father Tolton in the Class 3 District 8 title game at South Callaway High School.
North Callaway was able to keep the game close but was unable to overcome Father Tolton junior pitcher Jonah Sarabia, striking out 10 times as a team, including seven out of the last nine batters.
"That was probably the best arm we saw all year," Lavy said. "A heck of an arm on the mound and a quality baseball team, and we just got beat today. There's been games this year, after the game you say, 'We lost the game.' Today, we just got beat. Sometimes, that happens."
The Thunderbirds (11-14) were coming off two one-run victories, including an extra innings 7-6 victory against New Bloomfield last week and a 3-2 district first-round win Tuesday against South Callaway. North Callaway had already advanced to the program's first district title game since 2010 but had to face Father Tolton in a rematch from a 20-10 loss April 26. Lavy said he has witnessed his team grow into a different team since then.
"We made some good defensive plays, and we were fundamental with balls hit right at us," Lavy said. "It kept us in the game. A one-run game in the fifth inning, if you told me that a month ago, I would've been real happy of where we were at."
Father Tolton (13-5) jumped ahead early in the first inning after it loaded the bases with one out. The Trailblazers hit a single to score a run, but the Thunderbirds were able to get the ball in quickly, which set up senior pitcher Bryce Clark to strike out the next batter and induce a lineout, keeping the score at 1-0.
The Trailblazers were kept off the board the next three innings. Lavy said Clark was "locked in" after the first inning performing like he has been since his April 22 start against Montgomery County, when North Callaway won 1-0. Clark pitched six innings, allowing eight hits, three earned runs, four walks and striking out four.
Lavy said the team as a whole has been performing better too, ever since it started season 2-6 after a 10-0 loss April 12 against Mexico. He said the team has been more fundamentally sound, which is what kept his team in the game against Father Tolton this time as opposed to the first meeting about a month ago. North Callaway didn't commit an error in Wednesday's game.
"Our outfielders were working on being more fundamental, hitting cutoffs and we got a couple outs on the bases, that helps out quite a bit too," he said.
North Callaway was retired in order the third and fourth innings, going into Father Tolton's offensive fourth inning. The Trailblazers were threatening again but a runner was erased at third by North Callaway. Father Tolton stranded a runner at first to end the inning.
North Callaway had an opportunity the fifth inning to get on the board after the first two runners reached. Father Tolton's Sarabia was then able to record the first strikeout of that aforementioned seven-of-nine stretch to help his team get back up to bat.
Father Tolton junior Logan Thompson then gave his team some insurance in the bottom half of the fifth, hitting a two-run home run over the right centerfield fence to make the score 3-0. Sarabia then struck out the side in the top of the sixth and retired two of the next three North Callaway hitters in the final inning to clinch a district championship for Father Tolton. He pitched seven innings, allowing two hits to freshman Kyle Pennell, no runs and striking out 10.
"We were probably facing as much velocity as we've seen all year," Lavy said. "(Sarabia's) got pretty good command too so he's a full package."
The Thunderbirds were retired in order in four of the seven innings, only managing two hits. Lavy said said the team was "a hit away" in certain situations to put pressure on Father Tolton but just couldn't get anything going.
Despite coming up short, Lavy said he is proud where his team ended up considering how the season started.
"I'm proud of the way that we, overall in the season, progressed," he said. "I wouldn't trade a guy out here for any of my guys."
North Callaway had three players named to the Eastern Missouri baseball all-conference team. Senior Christian Griffith was named to the first team and senior Austin Taylor and sophomore Bradyn O'Neal were named to the second team.