It was Senior Night for the Eureka baseball team on Monday, but a junior swung the biggest stick.
After the seniors were announced prior to the game against visiting Parkway Central, the Wildcats’ defense was ragged in the top of the first inning and they quickly found themselves trailing 1-0.
But junior left fielder Tyler Sweeney led off Eureka’s half of the first with a single off Colts righthander James Wesolich, the first four Wildcats – Craig Ringe walk, Cole Rogers single, Cade Gustafson RBI double – reached base safely, and by the end of one inning Andrew Shepard’s sac fly made the score 4-1.
Eureka kept building on that sudden turnaround until it beat Central 11-1 in five innings in a game shortened by the mercy rule. Sweeney was on deck when the game ended, and he finished 3-for-3 with a double, two stolen bases, two RBIs and a run scored. The Wildcats improved to 21-6 as the regular season winds down. It’s the fifth year in a row that Eureka has won 20-plus games.
“I was sticking to my approach of hitting the ball hard to the middle of the field. We work on that every day,” Sweeney said.
Since three games in a row were rained out in late April, the Wildcats have reeled off four straight victories.
“Our preparation in those four or five days we had off, we spent a lot of time focusing on what we weren’t doing well at the plate and defensively,” Sweeney said. “Our coaches did a great job of showing us what we were doing wrong and fixing it.”
There’s never anything wrong at third base as long as senior Craig Ringe is manning the hot corner. He made two defensive plays that showcase why he’s signed to play at SLU.
On one play, after fielding the ball at third, Ringe got the assist for the out at second. He walked, stole second base and scored on Rogers’ single in the first.
“It was a great bunt, I barehanded it. There wasn’t a play at first,” he said. “I threw it to second, and it was a great tag by (shortstop) Cole Rogers to get an out there.”
Ringe shrugged off the poor start against a plucky Colts team that’s 14-13.
“There’s always some nerves when your last games are coming up. Great job by the boys to bounce back. Jack Baker was fantastic on the mound. The boys are rolling. We’re looking to get better going into districts.”
Senior Jack Baker has been a starting pitcher and reliever this year for the Wildcats. The righty got the start against Central and pitched all five innings to earn the win. The run the Colts scored was unearned, and Baker gave up four hits and struck out eight.
With DI talent on the mound in Ben Lackey, Jaxson Joggerst and John Haberkorn, Baker said he’s probably going to be used in relief once districts commence.
“I’ve been bouncing between starter and reliever, but I just go with the flow, and whatever coach says has been working pretty well,” Baker said, “We’ve got a lot of (pitching) depth. Our pitchers have a different look. We’ve got lefties, guys who can spin it. We’ve all got our own specialties. My curveball is my pitch. I’m looking forward to playing my role, no matter what they ask.”
Rogers, Gustafson and Drew Mohesky all had two hits in the 13-hit barrage against Wesolich, who pitched all five innings. Wesolich had one of his team’s hits.
“I knew my offense would get the run back,” Baker said. “We got four runs and changed the momentum.”
Sweeney’s single in the fourth plated Mohesky and courtesy runner Dominic Woods to make it 6-1.
Gustafson, Levi Fieser, Easton Hunt, Mohesky and AJ Scott all singled in the fifth to end the game.
Also during the winning streak, Eureka beat Vianney 13-4 on May 2, and won a pair of Suburban Conference Yellow pool games April 29-30 against Marquette to lead the pool at 6-2. Rockwood Summit (13-8-1) split its two pool games with the Wildcats, but is 5-2-1 in the pool. Eureka played Lindbergh (11-11-2, 4-3-1) on Tuesday and Wednesday after deadline. Two Wildcat wins would clinch the pool.
In the 5-2 home win against the Mustangs, John Haberkorn pitched 6 1/3 innings, striking out nine. Baker came in relief to get the final two outs. Sweeney had two hits, two stolen bases, a run and RBI. Rogers had a double, RBI and run.
In the 5-1 win at Marquette, Sweeney had two hits (one double) and an RBI, and Fieser, Collin Wood and Scott all had two hits. Lackey went the distance and fanned five.
Wildcat soccer struck in goal drought
Eureka tried to snap a four-game losing streak Tuesday after deadline at home against Lindbergh in a Suburban Conference Yellow pool soccer game.
The Wildcats, who have a record of 4-8-1, are stuck in a goal-scoring drought, having scored two goals during the streak. Their most recent loss was 2-0 to Marquette in a Yellow pool game May 2.
Two years ago, Eureka and Nerinx Hall met in a memorable Class 4 state championship game. The Markers beat the Wildcats 2-1 in double overtime.
The two teams met in St. Louis on April 30, and Carley Fagan and Ava Weathersby scored in a 2-0 Nerinx (9-1) shutout. The Markers’ only loss this season was to Fort Zumwalt South, winners of three state titles since 2021.
A 2-1 loss to Liberty in Wentzville on April 23, and 3-2 defeat to Kirkwood (Yellow pool) on April 20 were the other two games Eureka played during the streak.
The Wildcats are at Parkway South (9-7) today (May 7) and host Rockwood Summit (13-4-1) on Saturday. Eureka’s final two games before the Class 4 District 2 tournament begins are at home against Oakville (Yellow pool) on May 12 and against Troy Buchanan on May 14.
Samuelson is going the distance in final month
After finishing fifth in the state in Class 5 in the 800-meter and 1,600-meter runs last season, Eureka senior Brooke Samuelson has been a top runner in those events in 2026.
Samuelson has the best times in the state in both events. She finished the 800 in a PR of 2:09.75 on her home track on May 1 at the Kimball Wintermeyer Invitational.
“We had set up the entries to give her the opportunity to run fast,” Eureka head coach Darrell Lewis said. “We were seeing if she could get to the school record (2:08.87), and was close, but got the meet record. We’ve been working hard on setting an appropriate pace, and we had talked about going in 63 or 64 seconds and she hit that in her first lap.”
The Wildcats scored 142 points and won their home meet by finishing ahead of Lafayette (138.5) in the final event, the 4x400-meter relay. Eureka’s quartet of Savanna Wylie, Abigail Mazzola, Sofia Hoerchler and Samuelson won in 4:01.61, the Wildcats’ fastest 4x400 time since 2015. Samuelson trailed Lancer anchor Emily Williams until the final 50 meters. Williams finished ahead of Samuelson in the 400 the week before at the Tiger Town Invitational at Festus.
“That event carried a lot of excitement because we went into it with a 1.5 point lead over Lafayette, so whoever wins it, wins the meet,” Lewis said. “When Brooke took the baton, we were ¾ of a second behind. Lafayette’s beaten us every time in that event this year.”
Senior Paige Deakins won the discus at the Eureka meet with a throw of 33.95 meters.
“Over the last four years, she’s been our top discus thrower every year. She’s a great competitor,” Lewis said.
Eureka was sixth at the Tiger Town Invitational at Festus on April 24. Samuelson didn’t compete in the 800 or 1,600, but she was second in the 400 in 58.29 and ran anchor on the 4x1,600 relay with Sofia Hoerchler, Abigail Smith and Madison Schepis that won and set a school record in 21:22.71, the second-fastest time in state history.
Eureka hosted the Suburban Conference Red pool meet on Wednesday after deadline. The Wildcats compete in the Class 5 District 2 meet May 15-16 at Ladue High.
Eureka boys lacrosse finding its stride
After an up and down first half of the regular season, a young Eureka boys lacrosse team is finding its stride in the final week of the 2026 campaign.
Thanks in part to winning three of four games, the Wildcats head into their last two games before the postseason playing some of their best lacrosse to date.
“I think we’re doing really well,” Eureka head coach Tim Borroff said. “We’ve really started to put it together in these past few games.”
The Wildcats, who feature six seniors on the roster, slogged through the first 12 games with a 6-6 mark through April 12 after a 10-7 loss to Kansas City Pembroke Hill.
In the final two weeks of April, Eureka got hot thanks to wins over Priory on April 14 (6-5), Francis Howell on April 15 (7-3), and then a big 16-8 home win over Lafayette on April 24.
The Lafayette win was a huge shot in the arm for the Wildcats.
“Lafayette was a big one for us, and I feel like we’ve been getting better every game, and the Lafayette game as kind of where we put it all together,” Borroff said.
Seniors Eli Uhrig (34 goals, 11 assists). Brogan O’Rourke (32 goals, 13 assists), and sophomore Chase Momtaz (30 goals, 15 assists) have carried the scoring load and powered the Wildcat offense. O’Rourke notched his 100th career point against the Lancers.
“They’ve all been huge and Eli and Brogan are both seniors and we only have six seniors in total, so they’ve done a really good job just kind of leading, but besides those two it’s a really young offense, and they’ve done a great job in just being consistent,” Borroff said.
On defense, the Wildcats have leaned on freshmen Tennessee Cox and Jackson Smith to provide back-end protection.
“They’ve actually both done a really good job, and it’s tough being in that position as a freshman but they’ve done a really. really good job all year,” Borroff said.
Cox has been disruptive and kept a lot of balls out of Eureka’s defensive zone with his skillful ball control.
“Tennessee is actually second in the state in caused turnovers as a freshman, which is actually unheard of,” Borroff said.
Sophomore goalie Kane Free has been the backbone of the Wildcat defense. Free has been steady on goal, with a 6.68 goals against average.
“He’s done fantastic,” Borroff said. “He’s a really good goalie and goalie’s a really mental position because there’s a lot of things you can’t control, like the shots that you see but he’s always been one that’s really sound mentally and just kind of stays consistent and that’s been big for us.”
Eureka wraps up the regular season on Friday at 7:30 p.m. with a road match at Lindbergh.
Then the Wildcats will prepare for the playoffs. Borroff believes his club can put together a good run.
“I think if we can be consistent in our approach to the game, and our effort, I think they we could have a really good run, but the biggest thing is just consistency,” Borroff said.
The Wildcats begin the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association state tournament May 11.