Several inches of snow have blanketed the region and we’re in the middle of basketball and wrestling seasons, but today I want to talk about baseball.
Pitchers and catchers report to Jupiter, Fla. for the St. Louis Cardinals on Feb. 12, but that’s not that level of baseball I’m referring to.
In the course of interviewing Eureka boys basketball head coach Austin Kirby and one of his star players, 6-6, 215-pound senior forward Jaxson Joggerst, for a basketball story in today’s Eureka Leader, the conversation drifted out of bounds to baseball. Joggerst is the head of the snake for the Wildcats in both arenas. A four-year varsity starter on the diamond and hardwood, the teams he’s played for have a cumulative record of 139-64-1 (.681) and he’s received postseason honors in both sports.
Joggerst is the type of athlete who would be exceptional at any sport he tried. The Eureka football team could always have use another pair of hands to catch the ball. Joggerst’s size, vertical ability and ability to catch a basketball through a maze of arms and bodies running basketball’s version of a post route toward the goal, would have been tough to defend.
But Joggerst has that special something in his right arm that elevates his potential to keep playing after high school. So he signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.
Before you go, ‘Yeah, lots of high school teams have aces on the mound, or maybe even two top enders,’ three Eureka pitchers have signed with SEMO. Seniors John Haberkorn and Ben Lackey signed to play for the Redhawks, who are a Division I program.
“We have a chance to be one of the best teams in the state,” Joggerst said after a recent basketball practice. “We’ll have one of the best staffs in the area.”
“Best we’ve ever had,” Eureka head baseball coach Ken Droege said. “With what we know we have, we’re excited about it. We’re itching to get going.”
In the last three years, the Eureka baseball team has a record of 76-28-1 (.724). Last season, the Wildcats used 13 pitchers, and Lackey (37 1/3), Joggerst (35) and Haberkorn (28 1/3) are all capable of complete games.
After Joggerst pitched a complete- game victory over Lindbergh High last May, it was his last time on the mound for the Wildcats. A shoulder injury kept him out of the lineup the rest of the season, but it hasn’t impeded his play on the court and he’s slowly ramping up throwing off the mound in Chesterfield three times a week.
“Ramping up. (Right arm) feels great,” Joggerst said.
“If you watch him play basketball, he’s about as physical as it gets,” Droege said.
With February on the doorstep, the Eureka basketball team is ramping up in the final month before the Class 6 District 2 tournament. Depending on how far the Wildcats go in the playoffs, will determine how much overlap there is between basketball and baseball seasons. As much as anyone, I’d like to see the Wildcats playing at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia in the Show-Me Showdown on March 20-21.
Joggerst and Haberkorn (6-2, 220) give Eureka a physical presence on the court not many teams can match. They’ve been friends and teammates since they were in elementary school.
“He’s going to find a way to put it in the hoop,” Joggerst said of Haberkorn’s offensive prowess. “We all came from the same team, we know each other well. I believe we’re in a great spot and are showing flashes of who we can be and at the end of the season. We’ll find a way to put it all together and make a deep run in the playoffs. We let it get away last year.”
A district baseball championship is the missing piece of the puzzle for Eureka. There were still five classes in baseball the last time the Wildcats won a district title in 2015. Eureka’s boys basketball team won Class 6 District 2 in 2023 and 2024.
As impressive as their stats are playing sports, the Eureka boys basketball team carries a cumulative GPA of 3.95.
“Essentially straight As. These are the kids I get to work with,” Kirby said.
Joggerst was selected to the all-tournament team for the Rotating 8 this month. He’s played all of the positions on the court, but is taking on more of a role at point guard.
“Jaxson has so much experience through his four years, he’s a coach on the floor,” Kirby said. “When you match that with his leadership and mentality is why he’s so vital to our success. I tell everybody to get out of his way. I’ll sit down and be quiet and have him lead the band.”
Late Conley bucket lifts Eureka over Rams
Trailing by a point late in the fourth quarter at MICDS in a nonconference game Jan. 16, the Eureka High School girls basketball team fouled one of the Rams who had possession of the ball.
When MICDS missed both free throws, Wildcat head coach CJ Herbert called timeout to draw up a play. Putting that play into action, the ball found junior Caroline Conley whose 15-foot pull-up jump shot off the dribble went through the hoop with three seconds left in what ended up a 46-45 victory.
“Not a shot she normally takes,” Herbert said of Conley, who averages about six points per game, and had seven with five rebounds against the Rams.
Eureka was 5-5 before winning four of its last five games.
“That’s our best win of the year,” Herbert said. “(A 61-46 win over Ursuline Academy) was a really good win and we’ve had close calls against some really good teams.”
The loss to Eureka is in the midst of a tailspin for MICDS (10-7), which suffered its fifth straight defeat in a 58-42 loss to John Burroughs High (10-5) on Jan. 23. The Rams are led by 6-1 sophomore guard Jordyn Haywood, who had 18 points and nine rebounds against the Wildcats.
“We held her to 18, which doesn’t sound like you’re doing much, but that’s seven points under her average. “(Eureka senior Marleigh Allen) did a great job on her. It’s a team thing because Marleigh has to get switched off her when they run screens. (Haywood) had one offensive rebound.”
Senior Mia Cuneio has led Eureka in scoring the past two games and had 16 points against the Rams. Allen (14 points) and Cuneio (13.4) lead the Wildcats in points per game. Cuneio had made 62 percent of shots from the field inside 3-point range.
“Mia had a slow start at MICDS but had a big 3 at the end of the first half,” Herbert said. “She was making everything in the second half. She is a luxury in terms of how efficiently she can score within the two-point range. She’s really good at the mid-range jump shot. She’s incredibly efficient in that range. She’s not going to go for 30 (points), but she’ll get you 13 or 14 almost every night.”
Senior forward Tessa Bauer had 10 points and nine boards against the Rams.
“We were outsized against them and Tessa did a fantastic job,” Herbert said. “She got smashed to the ground two or three times but drew some over-the-back calls.”
In a battle of two Suburban Conference teams in separate pools, Eureka (Yellow) hosted Hazelwood Central (Green) and built a 38-16 halftime lead before beating the Hawks (10-6) 58-42 Jan. 21. Cuneio (17 points) and Allen (12) were the leading scorers.
“Hazelwood Central presents problems in terms they’re such a good offensive rebounding team,” Herbert said.
To counter that, Herbert said his players spent one entire practice working on keeping Central from getting three or four shots at a time.
“The girls bought in and executed,” he said.
After playing the Hawks, Eureka has been on a 9-day layoff to prepare for the push to the Class 6 District 2 playoffs that it hosts. When the Wildcats return Friday for Senior Night against Pattonville High (1-12), they’ll do so without senior guard Bailey Thebeau, who will miss the remainder of the season after injuring her knee during a recent practice.
“She’s been a steady guard for us and doesn’t turn the ball over,” Herbert said. “We have to figure out who and how to replace all the things she does for us.”
After 6 days off, ’Cats dive into Yellow pool play
After six days off, the Eureka High School boys basketball team is back on the court this week with games against Yellow pool opponents in the Suburban Conference.
The Wildcats took a record of 11-4 in search of their first pool win against McCluer North High (11-5, 1-0) on Tuesday after the Leader deadline. Tonight (Jan. 29) at 7, Eureka hosts Hazelwood Central High (5-7, 0-2). Eureka won meetings with both teams last season. It’s the last game of what’s ending up a very cold, snowy month.
“January good teams become great, or the other way around,” Eureka head coach Austin Kirby said. “We’ve practiced extremely hard and there’s been very few nights off that hasn’t required us to play well.”
Not only do the Wildcats have to contend with the top teams in the Suburban Conference, their nonconference and tournament schedule has presented the challenges of stopping some of the top players on some of best teams – De Smet, Clayton High, Lindbergh High (twice), Francis Howell High – in the St. Louis area.
“McCluer North is one of the better teams in the conference,” Kirby said. “They beat Chaminade. (North and Central) play Suburban North (former conference name) style, length on the wings and quickness at the guards. We’re more methodical with our bigger, stronger bodies. We knew we were coming out of (Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament) getting ready for a tough test on the schedule.”
Westminster Christian Academy (14-4) has won nine of its last 10 games, one of which was 60-52 at Eureka on Jan. 21. WCA (also the Wildcats) are led by 6-5 junior guard Will Powers, who’s made 40 3-point baskets and averages 22.3 points per game. Powers scored 18 points against Eureka. Kirby said Powers is trending toward being a Division I player.
“He’s one of the elite players in St. Louis and we did a good job on him except for the third quarter. He made some D1-type plays. When you make mistakes, he punishes you for them.”
Kirby said his team being even with WCA for three of four quarters, it had a four-minute stretch in the third where turnovers and missed shots hurt it.
“The schedule (WCA’s) playing is as good as anybody’s right now,” Kirby said. “We are capable of beating that team but right now we’re not quite there. They started to deny the wings and made what we do more difficult. In the fourth, we drove it right at them and made baskets. We had wide open shots in the fourth. We didn’t make them and they made some 3s that stretched their lead.”
Eureka competed in the Rotating 8 Tournament at Vianney High on Jan. 12-16, with two wins in three games.
The Wildcats beat Whitfield High (7-6) 71-50 in the first game, lost 76-60 to Clayton High (12-6) next, and finished the tournament with a season-best defensive performance, a 50-28 win over Parkway North High (10-6).
In the Whitfield win, Kirby said senior Jaxson Joggerst was as good as he’s been all year as good statistically as any Wildcat in years. Joggerst had 18 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots.
“He stuffs the stat sheet. He was awesome,” Kirby said.
The Wildcats outrebounded the Warriors 51-27.
“They were a little outgunned.”
If Whitfield was outmatched, the game against Clayton was the opposite.
“Two teams with conflicting styles and we couldn’t get the game going our way,” Kirby said.
Four Greyhounds scored in double figures, Sebastian Bolden leading them with 22 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and five steals. Senior guard Joe Rauls led Eureka with 21 points.
“They have two really good guards,” Kirby said. “We needed the game to be a fistfight and they wouldn’t do it. They played at their pace and style and got the best of us.
“Another top 10 team that we’ve played. We learned a lot. We’re making subtle changes down the stretch. Our kids didn’t play poorly; we had a hard time guarding them.”
The Wildcats won the rebounding battle against Parkway North 37-21 and Joggerst turned in another double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds.
“Got back to our winning ways. Killed them on the glass. With our senior leadership, a bad performance doesn’t hurt this team. We’re back to work.”