Fike hopes to continue its fun

Winning sure is a lot of fun.

Ask Blue Springs Post 499/Fike manager Jim Moran and the players on his 49-6 team and they’ll tell you the same.

Moments after a 16-0 win over Raytown Post 596 in Tuesday’s American Legion Zone 2 Tournament championship game, a group of Fike players zeroed in on Moran and dumped a Gatorade-sized cooler of water on the venerable manager who picked up his 800th career victory this summer.

“Oh, nice!” Fike’s Gehrig Hudson screamed out as Moran was drenched with the ice-water bath.

“We like to have fun,” Hudson, who was 1-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and two RBIs Tuesday, continued. “Nice.”

Seconds after Moran’s drenching, third-base coach Travis Reeder got a taste of the celebratory methods of Fike players, taking a shaving cream pie to the face.

“He got a pie in the face, but he had that coming,” Moran said.

Fike is on a roll and having loads of fun heading into the opening round of the American Legion Missouri State Tournament in Sedalia, having won 11 games in a row and 12 of their last 13 games. Fike will take on Washington Post 218 today at 5:30 p.m. at Liberty Park Stadium.

Fike enters the contest with a seven-man pitching staff missing two of its top performers of the season, Josh Hightower and Alex Worman, both on family vacations. Hightower is 7-0 this season with a 1.21 ERA and Worman is 3-1 with a 3.48 ERA.

“I’m not sure yet,” Moran said of who’d start at pitcher against Post 218. “It’ll either have to be (Sam) Morman (6-3, 2.82) or (Jordan) Oddo (7-1, 1.79) because they’ll be the most rested pitchers we’ve got – unless we get our other pitcher (Hightower) back in town.”

Fike has collected a lot of hardware this summer, winning the American Legion Wood Bat Invitational for the first time in team history and taking the Zone 2 West district regular season and postseason tournament titles. Time after time, this season, the Fike machine has run on dominant pitching, outstanding defense and timely hitting up and down the lineup.  

“What’s great about it is everybody has been a starter on this team this season at one point or another,” infielder Stephen Montisano said of the team’s depth after he went 4-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs, to runs scored and a stolen base against Raytown. “Any given day, it’s someone different. Someone gets a sacrifice fly here that helps us win a game; a defensive play; somebody pitches a great game. Every game is different, so it’s a lot of heroes on this team.”

Moran said winning has not only created a fun atmosphere – as it usually does – it has created an aura of confidence Fike seems to relish as they continue their quest for a state championship.

“It’s been a team all year long,” Moran said. “There’s somebody different all the time – they all believe when they walk on the field that they are going to win the ballgame.”

Moran also gave credit to his coaching staff for their contributions to the Fike fun .

“My pitching coach, John Meyer, has done a great job with our pitchers all year long,” Moran said. “(So has) Randy Keele, my hitting instructor, working with these kids. And what do you say about Travis at third base? He’s just – he’s a great third base coach.”