The varsity baseball team was knocked out of districts after a 10-inning game against Eureka that left MHS on the wrong side of a 7 to 3 final score.
John Meyer, head coach, said the plan going into the game was to play “small ball” and to be a good two strike hitting team. Meyer said that the team failed in those aspects, citing the fact that they failed on every bunt attempt and struck out 11 times.
The game was 3 to 3 through nine innings, but Eureka scored four runs in the tenth inning to win the game.
Meyer said defensive breakdowns were to blame for the four runs given up in the tenth inning. He said the breakdowns were the result of players trying to do too much in the field.
Along with defensive errors, the Mustangs had trouble at the plate. Eureka pitcher Aaron Schnurbusch, junior, caused problems for the Mustangs, striking out multiple batters with runners on base. Schnurbusch featured a fastball that topped out at 87 miles per hour.
Meyer said after the game he spoke to the seven seniors on the team, but that there was not much to say.
“It’s not easy to talk them through that [losing their last game],” Meyer said. “I told them it was a good time coaching them.”
Andy Bartlett, senior, said it was a hard loss because of how good of a game it was and because of the realization that it was the last game for the seniors.
“We were all emotional, not as much about the game, but about leaving the program,” Bartlett said.
Bartlett said Meyer apologized to the seniors and that the underclassmen talked to the seniors individually to give them a farewell.
Bartlett capped off a career that saw him play three varsity seasons, racking up over 100 innings.
Sean Ullrich, junior, drove in a run and scored a run during the game. Ullrich said the loss is tough for the seniors because more than half of them will not play baseball again. He said that as underclassmen, they wanted to make this year memorable for the seniors, but that they came up short this year.
Ullrich said they would have a better chance of winning if they would have had timelier hitting.
“We had a couple of chances,” Ullrich said. “We just didn’t get the job done. I’m not taking anything away from the pitcher, he was a good pitcher, but we had a couple of chances with runners in scoring position.”
As for next year, Ullrich said the team should be pretty good because they are only losing one of the one through five hitters in the batting order and they will have pitcher Mitch Weis, junior, back from an elbow injury.
“We have good team chemistry,” Ullrich said. “We also have motivated players with a lot of potential.”
Ullrich, who has seen time with varsity each year of his career, finished with a .351 batting average this season, third best on the team.
As far as the season goes, the Mustangs finished with a 15-12 record. The level of competition was very high, shortstop Keith Grieshaber, freshman said.
“We played very competitive teams all year,” Grieshaber said. “A lot of them threw their aces against us, which made us a lot better.”
The Mustangs faced tough competition from the get go, when they faced four Memphis, Tenn., teams at the beginning of the year. They ventured through a new conference schedule, which forced all SWC teams to play each other twice instead of once per season. After they rounded out their regular season with a 7 -0 victory over nationally ranked Parkway South, they were chosen to be seed number four in Missouri Class Four, District Four.
According to Nate Latsch of stlhighschoolsports.com, this district was “one of the toughest in Missouri.”
The loss to Eureka meant another early exit for the Mustangs, who have now bowed out in the first round twice in as many years.
However, other players besides Ullrich show optimism regarding next season.
Chris Lenzen, sophomore, said the young talent combined with upper-class experience should make for a very succesul season next year.
“We promised to work hard this summer and off-season to prepare for playoffs next year,” Lenzen said of his returning teammates.
To get the bad taste out of their mouths, all of the returning Mustangs are playing summer baseball somewhere, hoping to succeed and get better.
But for now, even though the season is over, the Mustangs can still can be recognized with all-conference or all-state awards. Lenzen said he sees deserving talent across the board.
“The guys played very well this season,” Lenzen said. “I saw leaders emerge.”
Lenzen said leadership will play an important factor in the next season. Since the seniors are gone, new players will have to step up and keep the team on the right track.
“Leaders will be vital to accompany the talent next season,” Lenzen said.
Since districts have concluded, MSHSAA playoffs will continue with Sectionals Tuesday, May 24. The state championships are scheduled to be played Saturaday, June 4 at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O’Fallon.
