Of course, Graves is also the Blue Jays career leader in rushing. Graves’ hit on the baseball diamond on Monday helped put an end to years of conference dominance by St. Pius X. His two-out double in the sixth inning cleared the bases for a 6-6 tie, and Jefferson scored three more runs in the inning to beat the Lancers 9-6. That clinched the Jefferson County Activities Association small-schools championship for the Blue Jays, their first since 2014.
“I was hoping (St. Pius pitcher Tyler Hedtkamp) would throw me a fastball on the first pitch,” Graves said. “I don’t see too many fastballs. I was excited and jumped on the first pitch.”
Graves didn’t play baseball his junior year while he recovered from knee surgery. He competed for the school’s track and field team last year but hasn’t this season because the schedules of the two sports never aligned. Jefferson head coach Robert Kuehnle said Graves’ speed in center field has meant an extra 15 outs this spring.
“It means everything to me because it’s the last time I get to pick up a bat and a glove,” Graves said. “I want to win and do everything I can to help the team.”
St. Pius X (14-1) had won four straight conference titles and carried the No. 1 ranking in Class 3 (in the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association most recent poll) into the game against No. 10 Jefferson. The Lancers were supposed to host the Blue Jays (15-3) on Tuesday but officials moved the game up because of forecast storms. St. Pius doesn’t have a tarp for its field so they moved the game to Jefferson.
St. Pius head coach Jerry Woods didn’t mind playing at Jefferson.
“If you can get a baseball game in at the end of April, you’re in good shape,” he said.
St. Pius was still the home team, but the Lancers left their gloves at home, committing at least six errors, three coming from shortstop Eli Dale, the Jefferson County Activities Association small-schools player of the year in 2018.
“It wasn’t his best day at shortstop. It wasn’t our best effort defensively,” Woods said.
Trailing St. Pius 6-3 going into the sixth inning, Jefferson needed base runners.
Hedtkamp relieved St. Pius starting pitcher Kaleb Schweigert for the Lancers to start the fifth and allowed an unearned run in that inning. Neither of the two runs Schweigert allowed were earned.
Hedtkamp walked Levi Ebersoldt and Shannon Dowd to start the sixth, but got the next two batters out. Jefferson catcher Levi Roth turned an 0-2 count into a walk to load the bases. Graves stepped into the batter’s box and cleared the bases with a double to the fence in center field to tie the game 6-6. Graves, Colby Ott and Jacob Bridges all came home for the Blue Jays in the sixth after a series of errors. Jefferson scored six runs on one hit in the inning.
“Levi (Roth) is one of our best hitters when it comes to working the count,” Kuehnle said. “He was down 0-2 but we all knew he could get on base. That was huge because it allowed Andrew to come up and do what he did.”
Jacob Melton relieved Blue Jay starting pitcher Levi Ebersoldt in the fifth inning. Ebersoldt struck out five and didn’t issue any walks. Two of the four runs he allowed were unearned. Melton hit Adam Edwards to start the fifth. Edwards stole second base and scored on Dale’s double to give St. Pius a 5-3 lead. Dale scored on Hedtkamp’s ground out to first base to make it 6-3.
Kuehnle said Ebersoldt was on a limited pitch count because the Blue Jays play in a tournament in Palmyra this weekend, and start it Friday against the hosts, who are ranked No. 2 in Class 3.
“We figure if we can’t get it done with our top two (pitchers), we don’t deserve to get it done,” Kuehnle said about Ebersoldt and Melton.
Melton struck out Jeremy Isenman to start the St. Pius sixth, but his wild pitch allowed Isenman to reach first base. Isenman was erased at second on a force out, Melton struck out Jack Engelskind and the Lancers stranded Dustin Burch.
The Lancers grounded out in their first two at-bats in the seventh, but Hedtkamp and Weatherholt singled to start a rally. Noah Lampros came to the plate as the tying run but popped out to third base.
After Weatherholt’s hit, Kuehnle made a visit to the mound.
“Jacob’s problem all year has been getting that last out,” Kuehnle said. “That’s why I went (to the mound) to tell him he had two outs to get and he became a bulldog for us. Levi’s arm wasn’t 100 percent today but he came in and got the job done. It was a complete team effort tonight.”
Graves, Bradon Harmon and Colby Ott all had doubles for the Blue Jays, who were out-hit 9-7 by the Lancers. Hedtkamp and Burch each had two RBIs for St. Pius.
The two conference rivals each have two games left in the regular season before starting play in Class 3 District 3 at West County. Herculaneum and Grandview are also in the district. The seeding meeting for District 3 was held Wednesday after the Leader deadline.