The Parkway Patriots snapped 13-year district title-less drought by defeating top-seeded Eureka 7-6 to win the Class 5 District 2 tournament. (Photo by Ric Henry)
(Photo by Ric Henry)
Parkway South’s baseball team ended one streak and hopes to break another one this weekend.
While hosting, the Patriots stopped a 13-year district title drought by defeating top-seeded Eureka 7-6, winning the Class 5 District 2 tournament.
It was the first district championship for Parkway South since the 2012 season, when Patriots claimed the Class 4 District 4 crown. It was the 10th overall district title for the program.
“I’m very, very happy with our players and all the work they put in,” said coach Matt Brown, who is in his second season leading the program. “I’m the one who gets asked all the questions and they all go out there and hit and pitch and play good defense. I’m excited for our players and this school to win a district championship.”
Advancing to the quarterfinals, the Patriots South will travel to play Jackson, the District 1 champs by way of a 7-0 win over Kirkwood. Game 1 of the best of three series begins at 5 p.m. Friday, May 30. Game 2 will be a noon game. If a deciding third game is needed, it will be right after the second game ends.
The winner of that series will move on to the Class 6 final the following weekend in Ozark.
Parkway South has played in just one Final Four, in 1996, which ended with a 13-6 loss to Blue Springs.
This season has seen the Patriots play without “a lot of things,” Brown said.
Early in the year, the club lost 6-foot-4 senior pitcher Luke Sullivan. He hit .362 for last year’s 25-7 team that lost the district championship game to Lafayette. On the mound, he went 7-0 with a .053 ERA.
Parkway South senior August Johansen hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to pull the Patriots within a run at 6-5 against Eureka. (Photo by Ric Henry)
Photo by Ric Henry
Sullivan pulled his hamstring after playing in some games.
“He’s not completely healthy but came back right before the district,” Brown said. “We don’t want to push him. He should be ready to go this weekend.”
The Patriots had to replace 14 seniors from last year.
Junior Tyler Shanfeld drove in the game-winning runs to help Parkway South topple top-seeded Eureka in the district title game. (Photo by Ric Henry)
Photo by Ric Henry
“Back in March, I told them we had to replace all those pieces. We had those pieces here,” Brown said. “There is a lot of talent here. This group took that message and ran with it. They would not be denied. We had a ton of belief and ton of fight within this group.”
The season began with five victories before the Patriots dropped the next five games.
“We had a lot of guys throughout our entire team to step up and take over a game and keep everything afloat,” Brown said. “They rose to the occasion. They never give up.”
The Patriots (20-10) won the Suburban Red Conference with a spotless 6-0 record. Parkway South was seeded second in the district tournament.
After defeating Borgia 13-0 in the opening game, the Patriots played Rolla in the semifinals. The club had to come from behind with three runs in the fifth inning to win 7-5.
“We were up 4-0. I told my assistant coach (Mike Shanfeld) this game would turn out to be a dogfight,” Brown said. “They beat Lafayette and that’s a talented team. Rolla is going to be better than we think. They put up a five-spot in the fourth inning.
“Corwin Plank gave us a great relief outing. There was never any panic or any worry. We knew what the job at hand was. We had good quality at-bats and made plays in the field to get the win.”
The Patriots had to rally to win the championship game against Eureka, too.
Senior Parker Wolf was the starting pitcher. He threw into the fifth inning. He gave up four earned runs, all earned. Senior Jake Frenz relieved. He allowed two more runs, both unearned, in the inning before getting out of the jam.
Eureka held a 6-2 lead after five innings.
In the top of the seventh, the Patriots staged an epic comeback.
Senior Jamison Lombardo led off the inning with a line drive single to center and junior Jacob Hurst blooped a single to right center field. Junior Jordan Schneider reached on a fielder’s choice.
Then came the big blow. Senior August Johansen homered to deep left center for his fifth round-tripper of the season.
“After August hit that three-run homer, I knew if we got another guy on base, we’d win the game,” Brown said. “These guys continue to amaze me with how they battle.”
Indeed, the Patriots were not done.
Senior Eli Andert blooped a single to left. Walks to senior Andy Hertlein and junior Wyatt Simmons filled the bases.
Junior Tyler Shanfeld laced a hit to left field and the ball one hopped off the wall. Two runs scored.
“Tyler showed me the same thing he showed me all year long. He got two strikes on and then he got a pitch he could drive,” Brown said. “I thought it was going to be a grand slam. He comes through in big situations. He plays such a great shortstop for us. It would have been his first varsity home run but it hit the base of the wall. It was good enough.”
Hurst pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to record the save.
“Jacob hasn’t pitched a whole lot as of late. Last week before the district, we had an intersquad practice and he’s on the mound,” Brown said. “He threw well. He’s about the most confident kid I’ve ever seen. He had confidence and swagger. He goes out there against Eureka and he got a groundout, a strikeout and a groundout to close it out. He was so efficient.”
Now, it’s about going to Jackson and taking care of business against the Indians (23-13).
“We’ll play 21 outs in each game. They are a good team with some really good hitters and really good pitchers,” Brown said. “They are a solid overall team. We’re a very good team. If we play the way we’re capable of playing, I like our chances.”
Can the Patriots reach the Final Four?
“I hope so. They deserve it,” Brown said. “We’ve been going at this since Sept. 25. They’ve worked extremely hard to get to this point to have a chance to go to state. There are a lot of good teams in the state and we’re one of them. If we’re fortunate to go to the Final Four it’s because we played really good baseball.”