Nine-run inning fuels South Callaway in Class 3 baseball semifinal win over Portageville

South Callaway will play for the state championship on Thursday

OZARK, Mo. – Held scoreless for the first four innings of its Class 3 semifinal baseball game on Wednesday, South Callaway kept working and kept battling.

The payoff came in the fifth inning when the offense erupted for nine runs on six hits and took advantage of a pair of Portageville miscues.

That nine-run inning was the difference as South Callaway played well in all phases and defeated Portageville 9-4 at Sky Bacon Stadium to advance to Thursday’s title game.

“Everybody in the lineup has stepped up at some point in time, whether it’s a key bunt, a pinch runner from second, hit-and-runs or guys on the mound like Dane (Daugherty) today shutting them down,” South Callaway coach Heath Lepper said. “We’ve had a really good run of offense, defense and pitching. And when you get all of that rolling, it makes for a great season.”

Sometimes even championship seasons.

South Callaway (26-7), which won the Class 2 title in 2012 and the Class 3 title in 2017, will play either Barstow (23-6) or Licking (25-6) in the Class 3 championship game at 1 p.m. Thursday.

“I’m super proud of these guys,” Lepper said. “They’ve worked hard all season to get here and it’s paying off.”

Portageville (34-3), which scored four runs on four hits but also made four errors, will play in the third-place game Thursday after finishing second in Class 2 a year ago. 

South Callaway had a strong all-around performance.

Nine different players scored runs in the nine-run fifth inning that broke the game open.

After the first run scored on an error, junior shortstop Ryan Lepper, who made a diving stop and threw out a runner at home in the third inning, followed with an RBI single. Junior catcher Owen Rees drove in two runs with a single. Sophomore first baseman Ethan Edwards, who had two hits, drove in two runs with a single.

Sophomore third baseman Tucker Jones drove in two runs with a single to make it 7-1. After a pitching change, senior center fielder Jonathan Thomas hit a two-out ground ball that turned into a throwing error and two more runs crossing the plate for a 9-1 advantage.

That run support was enough for junior right-handed pitcher Dane Daugherty (6-1), who allowed three runs on three hits over six innings. He struck out one and walked six batters, but the defense made key plays behind him to keep Portageville at bay.

“It was huge” Daugherty said. “We had big situations where we needed to make plays and we did.”

Daugherty ran into some trouble in the seventh after the first two batters reached base. South Callaway turned to Edwards, who allowed one run on one hit, struck out one and walked one, but secured the semifinal victory.

South Callaway turned to Daugherty in a big spot and he came through.

“He’s been frustrated because we’ve had some other guys really getting it done,” Heath Lepper said. “I told him, your time is gonna come. He hasn’t started in about two weeks. He’s got a fresh arm. He matched up really well against these guys from all the film we watched. We started game-planning a few days ago. He went out, he executed, and I couldn’t be happier for these guys.”

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South Callaway-Portageville Missouri Class 3 semifinal

Photos from Nate Latsch