|
|
|
Independence, MO —
It’s Grain Valley’s first time at the senior prom, and the Eagles think they can dance well enough to take home the crown.
They’re not alone.
The eight baseball teams competing for the Class 4 District 14 title this weekend at Smith-Cotton High School in Sedalia are the epitome of parity. Almost every team can, and/or has, defeated at least one other team in the district.
Sixth-seeded Blue Springs beat No. 2 Blue Springs South twice this year, including a shutout. The Wildcats also split games with No. 3 Lee’s Summit North.
The No. 4 Eagles were one strike away from beating the Broncos but were handed one of their two losses on the season courtesy of a walk-off single. Only three teams have winning records: Grain Valley (20-2), Lee’s Summit North (14-12) and No. 1 Lee’s Summit West (21-5).
In this district race, there are no front-runners or dark horses either.
“I think we feel like, while it is a tough district, on any given day any of those teams could beat any others,” Eagles coach Mark Lyford said.
It’s Grain Valley’s first time in the Class 4 district after playing in Class 3 last season.
However, the Eagles have found tremendous success this season, and Lyford said they are confident they can compete with some of the larger schools.
They’ve even proven they can with a win over Class 4 Columbia Hickman during the regular season.
“We feel like that, if we can play well, we’re going to have an opportunity to be in every game,” he said.
Blue Springs coach Marc Hines agreed that playing well would be the key.
“When we’ve got good pitching and good defense, we’ve been able to play with everybody,” Hines said.
The Wildcats (9-15) play North at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Hines said the key to beating the Broncos is avoiding extra outs.
“We know they’ve got good hitters, and so we’ve got to minimize the damage,” Hines said. “Hopefully, when they do get hits, they won’t hurt us.”
The Eagles face No. 5 Lee’s Summit (13-13) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Lyford said his guys are eager to compete in a new district.
“The playoffs are here,” Lyford said. “I think our kids are eager for the opportunity to play in a new district and see how we compete on that level.”
The Jaguars play No. 7 Warrensburg at 10 a.m. Saturday. Lee’s Summit West plays No. 8 Smith-Cotton at 3 p.m. Saturday.
It’s Grain Valley’s first time at the senior prom, and the Eagles think they can dance well enough to take home the crown.
They’re not alone.
The eight baseball teams competing for the Class 4 District 14 title this weekend at Smith-Cotton High School in Sedalia are the epitome of parity. Almost every team can, and/or has, defeated at least one other team in the district.
Sixth-seeded Blue Springs beat No. 2 Blue Springs South twice this year, including a shutout. The Wildcats also split games with No. 3 Lee’s Summit North.
The No. 4 Eagles were one strike away from beating the Broncos but were handed one of their two losses on the season courtesy of a walk-off single. Only three teams have winning records: Grain Valley (20-2), Lee’s Summit North (14-12) and No. 1 Lee’s Summit West (21-5).
In this district race, there are no front-runners or dark horses either.
“I think we feel like, while it is a tough district, on any given day any of those teams could beat any others,” Eagles coach Mark Lyford said.
It’s Grain Valley’s first time in the Class 4 district after playing in Class 3 last season.
However, the Eagles have found tremendous success this season, and Lyford said they are confident they can compete with some of the larger schools.
They’ve even proven they can with a win over Class 4 Columbia Hickman during the regular season.
“We feel like that, if we can play well, we’re going to have an opportunity to be in every game,” he said.
Blue Springs coach Marc Hines agreed that playing well would be the key.
“When we’ve got good pitching and good defense, we’ve been able to play with everybody,” Hines said.
The Wildcats (9-15) play North at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Hines said the key to beating the Broncos is avoiding extra outs.
“We know they’ve got good hitters, and so we’ve got to minimize the damage,” Hines said. “Hopefully, when they do get hits, they won’t hurt us.”
The Eagles face No. 5 Lee’s Summit (13-13) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Lyford said his guys are eager to compete in a new district.
“The playoffs are here,” Lyford said. “I think our kids are eager for the opportunity to play in a new district and see how we compete on that level.”
The Jaguars play No. 7 Warrensburg at 10 a.m. Saturday. Lee’s Summit West plays No. 8 Smith-Cotton at 3 p.m. Saturday.
The winners of those games will go on to play in the district semifinals Monday.
CLASS 4 DISTRICT 15: Truman (19-5), the defending district champ, is the top seed in the Class 4 District 15 tournament and received a first-round bye.
Patriots coach John Eglich said a bye can be a blessing or a curse.
“Sometimes it works the other way,” Eglich said. “Teams get on a roll and carry the momentum.”
The Patriots will face the winner of the Fort Osage, Park Hill South game in the district semifinals at 2 p.m. Monday at the Independence Athletic Complex.
A taste of winning in 2010 has Truman hungry for another district title.
“They’re excited because we had a good year,” Eglich said. “We won districts last year. They realize how exciting that was. They just don’t want it to end.”
Fort Osage (12-12) takes on Park Hill South at 1 p.m. Saturday. At the same time, William Chrisman (2-24) will play Raytown (14-11).
The winner of the Bears, Blue Jays game advances to face the winner of the Winnetonka, North Kansas City game.
CLASS 3 DISTRICT 15: Van Horn faces Lincoln in the first round of district play at 11 a.m. Saturday in Excelsior Springs.
CLASS 2 DISTRICT 15: St. Mary’s plays Lexington at 11 a.m. Saturday at Lexington to open up districts.
