Shawnee Mission Northwest gets past St. James Academy in River City Baseball Festival
When it comes to building team chemistry, the Shawnee Mission Northwest baseball team turns to cookies.
Really it is all sorts of treats like pizzas, burgers and Gatorade, but senior shortstop Paul Bachelor’s favorite part is the cookies.
“When moms make cookies, that’s a big part,” Bachelor said.
He credited the Cougars’ eating, and occasionally over-eating, for helping to lead them to a 13-4 victory against St. James Academy at Lawrence Free State in the River City Baseball Festival on Thursday and their 9-1 start to the season.
“We have great chemistry,” Bachelor said. “We eat together, hang out together, have fun on the field and make jokes. That’s the best way to play baseball, have fun and you will win games.”
The Cougars got off to a quick start with a four-run first inning. Casey Kelley led the way with a triple and then SM Northwest scored its first run when Bachelor was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Dylan Dirks added a two-run single, which signaled the end for the St. James starter. Dylan Nedved pushed another run across with an RBI ground-out.
St. James scored three runs across the next two innings that cut the lead back to one, but the Cougars countered with an explosive third inning, scoring seven runs.
They capitalized on a pair of errors by the Thunder and batted through the order with seven hits. Nedved had an RBI double and scored on an error, and then Nate Reeder, Garrett Stephens and Bachelor added RBI singles that put the Cougars ahead 11-3 after three innings.
“Our approach was to see our pitch and hit our pitch,” Cougars coach Domenic Mussat said. “Once we saw that approach, I think it helped us out and worked well. We have been working on that all season.”
St. James scored just once more, and SM Northwest added two.
Cougar starter Jared Marolf pitched five innings. He gave up four runs on seven hits. Dirks and Brennon Covington followed with scoreless sixth and seventh innings.
It was the first of three games in two days for the Cougars, who will play Warrensburg at 1:30 p.m. on Friday at Lawrence High and Rogers, Ark. at 6 p.m. at Hoglund Ballpark.
“What I love about this is being able to see guys that I normally wouldn’t put on my schedule,” Mussat said. “Seeing guys from out of state come in is the best thing about it.”
The festival, which runs through Saturday, includes 35 schools from Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Arkansas, and each team plays a minimum of two games. The field features eight teams that are currently ranked in the top 10 by the Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches for Class 6A or 5A. Rockhurst is ranked third in Class 5 by the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association.
Friday
At Hoglund Ballpark, Kansas University
9 a.m. | Blue Valley North vs. Warrensburg, Mo. |
11:15 p.m. | SM North vs. Raymore-Peculiar, Mo. |
1:30 p.m. | SM East vs. Maize |
3:45 p.m. | Olathe East vs. Jefferson City, Mo. |
6 p.m. | SM Northwest vs. Rogers, Ark. |
8:15 p.m. | SM West vs. Rockhurst, Mo. |
At Free State High
11:15 a.m. | Olathe Northwest vs. Blue Springs, Mo. |
1:30 p.m. | Olathe North vs. Ozark, Mo. |
3:45 p.m. | Free State vs. Springfield Kickapoo, Mo. |
6 p.m. | Maize vs. Ozark, Mo. |
8:15 p.m. | Olathe South vs. Branson, Mo. |
At Lawrence High
9 a.m. | Omaha Creighton Prep, Neb. vs. Topeka Hayden |
11:15 p.m. | Omaha Creighton Prep, Neb. vs. Lee’s Summit West, Mo. |
1:30 p.m. | SM Northwest vs. Warrensburg, Mo. |
3:45 p.m. | Olathe Northwest vs. Branson, Mo. |
6 p.m. | SM South vs. Nixa, Mo. |
8:15 p.m. | Lawrence vs. Jefferson City, Mo. |
Saturday
At Hoglund Ballpark, Kansas University
9 a.m. | Omaha Creighton Prep, Neb. vs. Branson, Mo. |
11:15 a.m. | Free State vs. Nixa, Mo. |
1:30 p.m. | Leavenworth vs. Springfield Kickapoo, Mo. |
3:45 p.m. | BV Southwest vs. St. James |
6 p.m. | SM South vs. Rockhurst, Mo. |
8:15 p.m. | Lawrence vs. St. James |
At Free State High
9 a.m. | Lee’s Summit West, Mo. vs. Ozark, Mo. |
11:15 a.m. | Lee’s Summit West, Mo. vs. Jefferson City, Mo. |
1:30 p.m. | Raymore-Peculiar, Mo. vs. Jefferson City, Mo. |
3:45 p.m. | Washburn Rural vs. BV West |
6 p.m. | Blue Valley vs. Raymore-Peculiar, Mo. |
At Lawrence High
9 a.m. | Blue Springs, Mo. vs. Springfield Kickapoo, Mo. |
11:15 a.m. | Blue Springs, Mo. vs. Rogers, Ark. |
1:30 p.m. | SM West vs. Nixa, Mo. |
3:45 p.m. | BV Northwest vs. William Chrisman, Mo. |
6 p.m. | Miege vs. William Chrisman, Mo. |
This story was originally published April 23, 2015 at 5:45 PM with the headline "Shawnee Mission Northwest gets past St. James Academy in River City Baseball Festival."