Missouri Class 4 baseball semifinals: Southern Boone County survives Marshall in 11 innings; Logan-Rogersville upends defending Class 4 champion

By Cody Thorn

Photos courtesy of Ron and Lisa Rigdon, Cheap Seats Photo

OZARK — Austin ‘AJ’ Evans put an end to one of the longest semifinal games in years.

The third hit of the day from Southern Boone County's sophomore right fielder was a line drive to right field and brought home Bradley Smith for the game-winning run to pick up a 6-5 win against Marshall. That ended an 11-inning affair in a Class 4 semifinal game on Wednesday at U.S. Baseball Park in the Missouri state baseball championships and put what was already behind schedule due to rain even further behind.

Evans, who was named the Eagles’ offensive player of the year and newcomer of the year last month, came up big in Southern Boone County’s first-ever final four game.

In the bottom of the third inning, he hit an inside-the-park home run that helped the Eagles (33-2) trim into their early 4-0 deficit.

The No. 2-ranked team in Class 4, according to the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association, needed to score two runs in the bottom of the seventh to keep the championship dream alive.

“We never stopped fighting, even in the bottom of the seventh down two and kept fighting until the 11th or 12th inning,” Evans said. “We found a way to win like we always do.

"I was thinking I want to win the game, and I put myself in a situation and I did it.”

This was the longest Class 4 semifinal game since at least 2003 - the oldest online record the Missouri State High School Activities Association has available. Only two other semifinal games in Class 4 have gone past seven innings and both of those - 2011 and 2015 - ended in the eighth inning.

Both teams had chances, but it wasn’t until the bottom of the 11th that the Eagles took advantage of one.

However, some late game heroics - in regulation - kept Southern Boone County from being upset by the upstart Owls.

Marshall turned a double play in the bottom of the seventh, but the final out didn’t come until after Smith hit a two-run, two-out single to tie the score at 5-5.

In the ninth inning, both teams had a chance to take command. Marshall had runners on second and third base but were left stranded as Eagle pitcher Carter Salter got out of the jam unscathed.

The Eagles loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but Marshall’s second pitcher of the game, Seth Hoffman, got out of the jam.

The game finally turned in the bottom of the 11th.

Smith, the hero of the bottom of the seventh, was hit by a pitch with two outs. Marshall changed pitchers and Carter Karotka drew a walk off Aiden Coffman. Chase Morris was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Then, Evans delivered his walk-off hit.

“I seen what I seen all year,” Southern Boone County coach Brian Ash answered when asked what he saw from his squad. “The resiliency, the street-fight mentality.

"Honestly, that was our worst game we played all year. Defensively, we gave them runs. Offensively, we weren’t getting hit with guys in scoring position, which is unlike us all year long. They struck first and we were kind of playing on our heels.”

Marshall plated two runs in the second and then two more in the third inning. Coffman drove in two runs on a double, while Hoffman and Coy Smith also added RBIs for the Owls.

Bradley Smith earned the win in relief, throwing a perfect top of the 11th. At the plate, he started at shortstop and went 2-for-4 from the No. 9 spot in the lineup.

Both teams struggled giving up base runners.

Marshall allowed 11 walks, while Southern Boone County issued nine free passes. That led, in part, to 16 runners left on base for the Eagles and 12 for the Owls.

The magic number of five ran out for Marshall, which fell to 12-18 on the season. The Owls were the No. 5 seed in a five-team district, but rolled up five wins in a row to reach the final four for only the second time in school history. In 2012, Marshall placed fourth.

“We got through it and it is over and we are moving on to (Thursday),” said Ash, who has guided Jefferson City and Blair Oaks to state titles in the past. “Hopefully, we have enough left in the tank to give it a run.

"If we play like we did (Wednesday), we will get destroyed. We have to play better. Play like we played all year with pitching and defense and timely hitting. As long as we can keep the game close, we feel we have a shot.”

Logan-Rogersville 11, Kennett 1, 6 innings

In a showdown of top-ranked teams, No. 4-ranked Logan-Rogersville got a run-rule victory against the defending Class 4 champions and No. 1-ranked Indians.

That means that five of the six classes will have a new champion this year and only Class 5 Willard will have a chance to repeat.

The Wildcats scored runs in five of the six innings and tallied four in the sixth inning to help end the game an inning early.

Pitcher Ross Lawrence benefited his own cause by going 2-for-4 with a double, a triple and three RBIs at the plate.

On the mound, the sophomore left-handed hurler struck out six and scattered five hits over six innings. The future Missouri Tiger threw only 74 pitches - 51 for strikes.

Cleanup hitter Curry Sutherland, a Missouri State pledge, was 2-for-3 with two RBIs for Logan-Rogersville (26-7). Of the 11 runs scored, only six of them were RBIs for the Wildcats.

The Indians, which had their nine-game winning streak snapped, scored their only run in the fourth inning. Tanner Pierce had an RBI single to score Reese Robinett, the Indians’ starting pitcher and future Arkansas Razorback.

Kennett (25-5) was trying to become the first Class 4 team to repeat since Aurora won back-to-back in 2017-2018.

The winner of Thursday's title game will secure the first state championship in school history. Logan-Rogersville finished third in both 2013 and 2014, and the Wildcats placed fourth in 2010.