As Seckman’s leadoff batter, it’s Ryan Bradford’s job to set the table so somebody can drive him in.
But lately it’s been Bradford who’s feasted on “rib-eyes” – RBIs.
Starting with an 11-1 win over defending Class 5 state champion Festus on April 17, and ending with a 9-7 loss to Liberty in the championship of the Fort Zumwalt North Tournament April 19 (snapping the Jaguars’ six-game winning streak), Bradford hit three home runs, drove in six and was eight for 13 at the plate.
“The key is to start off strong and stay simple with our approaches, not thinking too much,” said Bradford, a junior center fielder. “We’re trying to put the ball in play, not trying to go ‘yard.’ Stealing bases is our key here. One man gets on and the other drives him in.”
The Jaguars (14-6-1) avoided the best Festus pitchers – lefthanders Jackson Smith and Mason Schirmer – in their nonconference meeting, and took advantage of 10 walks by four different Tiger hurlers. A year ago, Bradford scored three runs in a 6-5 home loss to Festus.
“Last year we had a tough loss to them, so this year we wanted to hand it to them and we did just that,” he said.
Senior first baseman Nathan Higgins had a double, a home run and a walk, scored twice and drove in three runs against the Tigers. Senior Zach Walters walked twice, had a hit and scored three runs. Freshman hurler Max Jones struck out six and allowed one hit and one run to earn the win. Junior Jake Deane pitched an inning of scoreless relief.
“You know going in what they (Festus) are, but it’s always a good matchup and our bats were hot,” Seckman head coach Brad Hagedorn said. “We went after them and that’s the key.”
In the Zumwalt North Tournament opener at Ozzie Smith Sports Complex, the host Panthers dinged Jaguar starting righthander Connor Day, a junior, for three unearned runs in the second inning, fueled by a two-out error and two walks by Day.
But Seckman struck right back to score five runs in the bottom of the second and never trailed again in an 8-3 victory. Day pitched 1 2/3 innings and was relieved by junior Jack Schlechte, who earned the win, pitching 3 1/3 innings with the game completed in six innings because of time restraints. Schlechte allowed only one hit. Bradford, Higgins and the Jaguars’ No. 9 hitter, senior Tyler Tipton, each had two hits.
“(Day) made a couple of good pitches where he didn’t get the call. That’s baseball,” Hagedorn said. “They had one hit to the gap and that was it. That led to those runs. He battled and got us out (of trouble), and limiting them to three runs was a huge factor for us.”
The Jaguar rally began when senior Carter Hutsell drew a leadoff walk by junior pitcher Bryce Craden, who then gave up an RBI double to senior Kody Brown. Walters walked, and with one out, Tipton drove in two runs with a single to tie the game 3-3. Bradford singled and Tipton scored on an error to give Seckman a 4-3 lead. A single by Higgins drove home Bradford.
“I was trying to stay back and go through the ball and I think my approach was very good today,” Bradford said.
Hagedorn said having Tipton at the bottom of the order is like having Bradford times two.
“(Tipton) is a great hitter,” Hagedorn said. “We move him around, but he’s hitting .300 (and) he does a lot of great things. He’s right where he needs to be and keeps the line moving back to the top for us.
“We’re just looking for a way to get wins and we fell behind early, but anytime you give up three runs and score five at the bottom of the inning to retake the lead, that’s a fantastic job by our guys.”
On doubles by Hutsell and senior Hayden Boyd, the Jaguars pinned two more runs on Craden in the third and he exited the mound before the end of the inning, trailing 7-3. In the fifth, Brown was hit by a pitch and scored on a single by Tipton.
In a 14-3 win over St. Dominic, Seckman wasted little time in the first when Bradford and Higgins singled, followed by a three-run home run by junior catcher Brady Vessells.
The Crusaders tied the game 3-3 in the second by taking advantage of two errors, two walks and a hit batter, but sophomore starting pitcher Cooper Hoog (three innings, three strikeouts and one hit) got the win with relief by seniors Gavin Bayless (two innings pitched, three hits) and Nolan Schrick (one inning, two strikeouts). Higgins and Boyd each had three hits in the Jags’ 14-hit attack.
In the tournament final, Liberty scored two runs in the seventh to win 9-7. Brown, Higgins and Vessells had doubles while Walters pitched five innings, yielding five runs on seven hits. Hutsell (one inning, one hit), sophomore Carter Bingel (one inning, two earned runs on three hits) and Schrick (the losing pitcher with two runs on one hit) also took the hill for Seckman.
Hagedorn had to reset his pitching staff for another busy week that included road games, after the Leader deadline, against CBC Monday, Ladue Tuesday and Oakville Wednesday. The Jags are 3-0 in the Suburban Conference Red pool and host rival Parkway South today (April 25) and Eureka (Yellow pool) Friday.
Fox keeps making its 0-4 start to the season look like an aberration as the Warriors (Green pool) are 11-6, with their two losses since then coming against Festus and Jackson (third place in Class 6 last year) by scores of 10-1 and 2-1.
The Indians (15-6) took a 1-0 lead over Fox in Arnold April 19, but the Warriors tied the game 1-1 in the sixth when Tanner Abram scored on an error. Two singles and two walks opened the door to Jackson’s winning run in the seventh. Starting pitcher Andrew Bendler and reliever Anthony Sabella limited the Indians to six hits and fanned four.
In their two Green pool games last week, the Warriors beat Pattonville 2-1 and 3-0. In the first win, Fox tallied its two runs in the seventh, with an error allowing Abram to score the winning run. He also got the pitching win in relief. Sophomore Braden Christman pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout in the second contest. He helped himself with two hits (including a double), a walk, a stolen base and a run scored.