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Grain Valley, MO —
When Mark Lyford took over as the Grain Valley High School head baseball coach 10 years ago, he had no idea what type of success his team would enjoy.
Lyford led the Eagles to back-to-back final four appearances in 2003 and 2004 and Wednesday afternoon at Grain Valley the Eagles topped Pleasant Hill 7-4 to finish with a perfect 10-0 record in the Missouri River Valley Conference West race for the second year in a row. The Eagles have won the conference championship the past three years.
“It’s really special to go back-to-back-to-back,” said senior pitcher Lucas Williams, who will be on the mound 4:30 p.m. Saturday when the Eagles face Blue Springs in district action at Lee’s Summit West High School.
That’s right – Blue Springs High School.
“Can you imagine if we had to play Blue Springs in football?” quipped Lyford. “There’d be a riot. But there are only four classes in baseball and we’re in the same class with Blue Springs, so we’re going to go over to West with a lot of confidence and see what happens.”
Williams, who is 7-1 this season, is eager to see what the underdog Eagles can do against the Wildcats.
“We have a very good hitting team and we’ve been playing great defense, so we’ll see what happens,” said Williams, who will play collegiate ball at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg.
“We’re all excited about going undefeated in conference the past two years, and winning conference the past three years and none of us want the season to end. I know we’re going to be the underdogs, but that’s OK. We’re fine with that.”
Dylan Farrell, who doubled twice and was the winning pitcher in the conference finale against Pleasant Hill, is ready for any challenge.
“We respect Blue Springs, but we’re not going into that game afraid of them because they’re from a bigger school,” said Farrell, who is 2-0 this season and is usually the Eagles’ closer.
“It’s so special to be a part of a program that has been so successful. When you’re a freshman and you want to become a part of the team, it’s a little bit intimidating. But everyone accepts everyone – it doesn’t matter if you’re a senior or an underclassman. Our only goal, our only objective is to win.”
When Mark Lyford took over as the Grain Valley High School head baseball coach 10 years ago, he had no idea what type of success his team would enjoy.
Lyford led the Eagles to back-to-back final four appearances in 2003 and 2004 and Wednesday afternoon at Grain Valley the Eagles topped Pleasant Hill 7-4 to finish with a perfect 10-0 record in the Missouri River Valley Conference West race for the second year in a row. The Eagles have won the conference championship the past three years.
“It’s really special to go back-to-back-to-back,” said senior pitcher Lucas Williams, who will be on the mound 4:30 p.m. Saturday when the Eagles face Blue Springs in district action at Lee’s Summit West High School.
That’s right – Blue Springs High School.
“Can you imagine if we had to play Blue Springs in football?” quipped Lyford. “There’d be a riot. But there are only four classes in baseball and we’re in the same class with Blue Springs, so we’re going to go over to West with a lot of confidence and see what happens.”
Williams, who is 7-1 this season, is eager to see what the underdog Eagles can do against the Wildcats.
“We have a very good hitting team and we’ve been playing great defense, so we’ll see what happens,” said Williams, who will play collegiate ball at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg.
“We’re all excited about going undefeated in conference the past two years, and winning conference the past three years and none of us want the season to end. I know we’re going to be the underdogs, but that’s OK. We’re fine with that.”
Dylan Farrell, who doubled twice and was the winning pitcher in the conference finale against Pleasant Hill, is ready for any challenge.
“We respect Blue Springs, but we’re not going into that game afraid of them because they’re from a bigger school,” said Farrell, who is 2-0 this season and is usually the Eagles’ closer.
“It’s so special to be a part of a program that has been so successful. When you’re a freshman and you want to become a part of the team, it’s a little bit intimidating. But everyone accepts everyone – it doesn’t matter if you’re a senior or an underclassman. Our only goal, our only objective is to win.”
And they do that on a regular basis.
“Every year I’ve been on varsity we lose one or two really good players,” Williams said. “That just makes it even more special to still have success. All the good athletes and baseball players in the high school want to be a part of the program because we have been so successful.”
Lyford said this could be the final year his Eagles have to face teams from much larger schools like Blue Springs, Lee’s Summit West and Lee’s Summit North in district play.
“I’m pretty sure that baseball is going to five classes next year,” Lyford said, “ so we’ll be playing against teams that are from schools that are more our size. But I’m proud of the guys – they don’t complain about going against a bigger school – they look forward to the challenge.”
