Scott City baseball team hoping to erase heartbreak from last season

The Scott City baseball team watched a magical postseason run end in heartbreaking fashion last year.

The Rams dropped a 3-2 decision in eight innings against Fatima in the Class 3 state championship, finishing their season with a 21-13 record, and coach Jim May insists that dwelling on the past won't be an option moving forward.

"It all starts over, and that's what I told them from the get-go," May said. "You have a bull's-eye on your back. Last year, we started [3-7], and everybody kind of overlooked us. We started playing better ball. I said, 'This year, you're going to get everybody's best pitcher. You're going to get everybody's best effort.'

"... We know we've got to go play ball right out of the gate. We're excited, but it's still anybody's game. You've got to go out and perform."

And there's plenty of reason for excitement at Scott City.

A Scott City player pulls on a jersey on in the dugout before practice Thursday.

With the exception of replacing designated hitter Tyler Rogers, the Rams, who enter the season as the second-ranked team in Class 3, return all their starters from a team that finished runner-up at state, including a pair of first-team all-state players in junior Braden Cox and senior Trent Pobst.

Cox earned all-state honors as a pitcher, finishing his sophomore season with a 7-2 record and a 1.72 ERA. He tallied 32 strikeouts and 10 walks over 69 innings. Away from the mound, Cox batted .418 in the leadoff spot and started at shortstop. He finished with 20 RBIs, 11 doubles, four triples and 18 stolen bases.

Cox spent most of the offseason working on velocity, and he played travel baseball during the summer with the Lids Missouri Bulls.

"It's great competition," Cox said. "It really makes this a lot easier. It's a lot faster. When you come back to the high school level, it kind of slows everything down."

Sophomore Bryan McNeely, sophomore Dakota Talley and senior Jordan Kluesner bring along another year of experience for Scott City on the mound.

The ace of the Rams' pitching staff is Cox, but there's a new depth to this year's staff that May considers a team strength.

"We go four or five deep as far as starters, and they're all quality starters," May said. "Braden will be back, and he was first team all-state as a pitcher. And then you have Bryan McNeely and Dakota Talley, who both pitched exceptional for us last year. Jordan Kluesner was first team all-conference as a pitcher. He'll be back as a senior. Then we've got some other guys who on other teams would be throwing a lot more than they are.

The Scott City starting lineup poses for a photo Thursday, March 17, 2016.Glenn Landberg

"I think our arms are going to keep us in it, and if we can get the bats going, we'll be pretty good."

May believes each pitcher is set apart by his own strengths. Cox has a physical presence with a lot of command, while McNeely is tall and thin with a "sneaky-fast" fastball. Talley, a lefty, doesn't throw as hard but possesses a lot of movement, while Kluesner's size and style is a combination of the two sophomores.

"They all throw strikes, and they all keep their head in it because we're going to make some errors behind them," May said. "We're going to try to hit the ball and score runs, and they've just got to keep pitching, keep us in some games. All four of those guys do a real good job of that."

Pobst returns to lead the Rams' offense. He batted .500 as a junior, and May expects another big season from his starting left fielder.

"He spent a lot of time in the weight room. He's stronger, and he's been hitting," May said. "He's got a cage at his house. He hits and hits and hits and hits, and he loves to. When you're throwing BP, he'll hit until you can't throw any more. You've just got to make him leave, so we need him to be big.

Pobst finished last season with a team-leading 43 RBIs and 19 extra-base hits, including five homers, and had nine stolen bases. He'll bat No. 3 in the lineup, followed by Drew Short in the cleanup spot.

"We need Drew Short to be real big behind him," May said. "Braden's always going to be really good up front. Hunter Copeland does a pretty good job for us, but Drew batting behind Trent might be the most important position in our lineup because if you've got to pitch to him, he can hurt you. I hope he continues to do that."

Dylan Keller returns after finishing last year with second-team all-state honors. He'll return to his starting spot in right field, while Copeland (second base), Ty Wilthong (catcher), Caden Hillemann (third base) and Isiah Berry (center field) also return.

Replacing Rogers will be a day-by-day process, as May doesn't envision there to be an everyday designated hitter.

Finding offensive rhythm early in the season and limiting errors in the field are the two biggest concerns for May.

"You can hit inside the gym all you want, but when you get a good pitcher on the mound against a team, it's a different game," May said. "The innings are going to help us a lot. We've got all nine of our position players back, so I feel pretty good there. But we still made a lot of bone-headed mistakes last year, so we've still got a lot to work on there."

The Rams were slow to start last season but were 18-6 over their final 24 games. They earned the top seed in the Class 3 District 2 tournament and opened with a 13-3 win over Saxony Lutheran.

Scott City upended second-seeded Kelly 8-3 to clinch the district title before knocking off Malden 8-6 in a state sectional. The Rams reached the state championship with a 7-3 win over West County in a state quarterfinal and a 4-1 victory over Warsaw in a state semifinal.

"We play a pretty tough schedule all the way through because I'm not somebody who's worried about being 20-1. I'm worried about us getting quality games, playing quality opponents," May said. "When you're playing an important game in the end, you've been in those situations, and it's not as big of a deal to you.

"We may always have 10, 12 losses. That may be how it goes, but it'll be because we're playing some quality opponents."

The Rams will be challenged by several Scott-Mississippi Conference rivals, including more notable programs like Kelly, Oran and Chaffee.

"There were a lot of good teams that got left here because they couldn't get out of the districts," May said. "Oran's a really good team year in and year out. Kelly's really good. We battled with them a few times last year, and it was a good game every time we played. Some of them came down to the last at-bat. We know they want us pretty badly, so we know we've got to have our best effort for them.

"Some of those teams down south -- Senath, Bernie, Cooter, Malden, New Madrid, Greenville -- there are a lot of quality ball clubs around here. Then you go north with Valle and Notre Dame and Cape Central and Jackson, they're always going to be good as well. Perryville was good last year. It sounds like murderer's row of who beat us last year there, but that's alright. I'm not going to shy away from them."

The challenge of returning to the final four is something May and his team mutually understand they can't take for granted.

But last year's heartbreak might be all the motivation Scott City needs.

"Baseball's a different animal because all you've got to do is run into one hot pitcher or have one bad day at the plate, and it's over," May said. "We want to finish. We want to finish what we started. We got there last year, and that was all neat and well and good. But losing in extra innings was a tough pill to swallow. We'd like to get back and finish the job.

"I know these guys have high aspirations of doing that, so it's going to take a lot of work. That's what I tell them all along. ... We've got to be playing our best ball at the end, and we've just got to get better every day."