Despite a record barely above .500 (17-16-1), Festus baseball had a more-than-respectable 2025 season, winning its fifth consecutive Class 5 District 1 championship and sharing the Jefferson County Activities Association large-schools title with Hillsboro (17-12), both finishing 6-2. The Tigers won the conference title outright in 2024.
Once again, the season series between Festus and the Hawks (17-12) was closer than an inside fastball. Over the past three years, they have met six times in the regular season with a combined margin of victory of seven runs. They split this spring with a 1-0 Hillsboro win and 2-0 Tiger victory. The Tigers have eliminated Hillsboro from district play the past two seasons, winning both times by three runs.
Festus got swept in the Class 5 quarterfinals by Vianney (38-2) in the state’s new best-of-three format.
Three Festus players filled four spots on the all-JCAA large-schools first team. Jackson Smith was chosen as a pitcher and outfielder and Brayden Beers made it as an infielder; both are seniors-to-be. Brady Nolen was voted onto the first team for a second straight year as an outfielder. Nolen, a center fielder, graduated this spring and will play next for Crowder College in Neosho. He was the quintessential leadoff batter and led the Tigers in batting average, stolen bases, runs batted in and extra base hits. His 51 hits this year were a school record.
Nolen earned all-state honors as well, named to the Class 5 second team by the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association. Seniors Brennan Ervin of St. Pius X (honorable mention Class 3 utility player) and Brady Vessells of Seckman (Class 6 catcher, first team) also received all-state recognition.
Nolen, playing this summer for Festus American Legion Post 253, recently was injured diving for a ball and will miss the Legion District 13 tournament, which started Tuesday after the Leader deadline.
“Brady was the best offensive and defensive player in the conference this year,” said Festus High head coach Jeff Montgomery. “He had major effects on many games, especially when he was locked in offensively. He hit balls so hard this year at the plate it literally stunned the ballpark for a minute. The kid can do some things that are just different. The guy is a gamer, a winner.”
Smith has pitched for the Tiger varsity since his freshman year. He was 7-0 as a sophomore and 6-5 this season, leading the team in innings pitched. At the plate, Smith hit over .300 this season and he’s driven in more than 50 runs two years in a row.
“Great season by Jackson,” said Montgomery, who was voted as the conference co-coach of the year along with Don O’Keefe of Perryville and will enter his 30th year with Festus baseball next spring. “He was a workhorse on the mound and delivered time and time again. Tremendous athlete, offensively and defensively as well. Guys like him make a coach’s job easier.
“The pitching depth in the conference was really good this year. There were probably six deserving first-teamers based on quality and workload. Cale (Schaumburg) was a first-teamer also, in my opinion, after what I saw him do on the mound.”
Beers defended well at third base and was among the team leaders in RBIs. He had three-hit games against Park Hills Central and North County.
“Very deserving honor (for him),” Montgomery said. “Brayden is a quality guy. I’m proud of him. He has worked hard. He does things right. He made two defensive plays in the bottom of the seventh (against Farmington) to secure the district title that were absolutely clutch.
“I’m proud of our kids, families and coaches. The coach of the year award for me represents how our team battled this year as a collective. It’s not about me, it’s about all of us. The team had an emotionally intense year with much to prove and they proved it.”
Hillsboro’s Max Partney and Keynen Drury were voted onto the all-conference first team in the infield, with Aidan Roland representing the Hawks in the outfield.
As a sophomore third baseman, Partney set a school record with 39 stolen bases this season. He swiped a season-high six bags against Seckman. He also hit .342 and led the team with eight home runs.
“Max had a great year at the plate and on the base paths,” Hillsboro head coach Matt Thompson said. “Big things are expected coming into only his junior year.”
Drury, a four-year starter at first and third base, played in a school record 99 games and anchored Hillsboro’s infield defense. He had multi-hit games in six of the last seven contests this year. He’s booked to play at Rockhurst University in Kansas City.
“Keynen will be greatly missed,” Thompson said. “If not for injuries, he would have played in quite a few more games. He was unable to pitch after his sophomore year when he was 6-0 and that wasn’t ideal. But at the plate, he led the team with hits.”
Roland missed his junior season with an injury that required surgery, but he rebounded to hit .329 with 13 extra base hits and led the team with 20 RBIs.
“We weren’t sure how (Roland’s senior year) would go,” Thompson said. “But boy, did he respond well, hammering three homers and being a huge run-producer for us all year in the five hole.”
Five of De Soto’s eight conference games were decided by one run. The Dragons were 13-13 overall and 4-4 in the league. The highlight of their season was a 1-0 win at Festus with lefthander Blake Coleman stifling the Tigers with a two-hit, 14-strikeout performance. He was 3-0 with two no-decisions against conference opponents and was named to the all-JCAA first team. For the season he averaged almost two strikeouts per inning and was 5-1. When not on the mound, Coleman played in the outfield or at first and was among the team leaders in hitting at .351.
“He hit over .400 in conference play and led us in the majority of hitting categories,” De Soto head coach Tyler Beers said. “I think our conference is tough overall. A lot of games could have gone either way. If you produce in those conference games, most likely you will be all-JCAA. You have to excel to get on the first team.”
Every good pitcher needs a capable batterymate and De Soto had a first-teamer in Levi McCullough, who led the Dragons with 20 RBIs. He and Coleman will be seniors next spring.
“Levi handled our pitchers great all season,” Beers said. “He puts a lot of time into his craft. He’s a very smart catcher. The majority of teams we played, I’d say 90 percent of the coaches were calling their pitcher’s pitches. We didn’t call pitches very often. We charted our opponents and would throw in a suggestion, but we trusted Levi.”
Windsor finished the season 9-20 and 0-8 in conference play, but 2025 graduate Cole Scott again turned in an all-conference season at third base, with six home runs and 23 runs batted in. On the mound, he pitched a team-high 48 1/3 innings with an earned run average of 2.46. He is signed to play at Southeast Missouri State University.
“He is the complete type of player that every coach wants to have,” Windsor head coach Randy Green said. “He is an elite infield glove, has an A-plus arm in the field and on the mound, and he is able to hit for average and power. SEMO is getting a quality athlete as well as a great young man.”