Staley baseball reaches Missouri Class 5 championship game

Kansas City Royal center fielder Lorenzo Cain would have been proud and impressed with the catch that Staley center fielder Jack Duffy made Friday in the Falcons’ Missouri Class 5 semifinal against Eureka at T.R. Hughes Ballpark.

Duffy made a leaping home run saving catch off a drive by Eureka’s Andrew Colin that helped to preserve a 7-5 victory.

“I knew it was a high and deep shot right off the bat,” Duffy said of the SportsCenter Top 10 worthy catch. “I just looked at the wall at the last second, jumped and it wound up in my glove. That was easily the coolest moment in my baseball life. It’s the first time I have ever robbed someone of a homer and it came in such a big game.”

And at such a big moment. Staley came out of the gates fast with a seven-run first inning which included seven hits, two by Conrad McMahon.

But those proved to be the only runs of the game for the Falcons. Starter Jacob Miller, who entered the game with an 11-0 record, struggled with the lead as Eureka scored three runs in the second and two more in the third.

Brody Meloy entered the game with a runner on second and one out in a 7-5 game in the third. Meloy allowed only one baserunner as he went four 1/3 innings without giving up a hit.

“I just wanted to go out there, throw strikes and let the defense work,” Meloy said.

And work they did, as they only had one error and that was on the opening batter of the game.

“The defense was great and Jack’s catch was awesome,” Meloy said, “It’s the best I have ever seen.”

It even drew applause from the Eureka fans.

“These kids watch the Royals play and see where defense has gotten them,” Staley coach David Wilson said. “They really value defense. Jack just makes one phenomenal play after another, and this one was special. And it was huge because it changed the momentum of the game.”

Wilson brought in Hunter Swift for a one-pitch save.

“I told Hunter that he was going to be in there to face the middle three left-handed hitters,” Wilson said.

As it turned out, he only had to face one of them.

Swift will get the start as the Falcons look for their first state baseball title Saturday at 1 p.m. Staley, which is now 27-4, will face St. Louis Christian Brothers College.

Cape Notre Dame 13, Smithville 3

The Smithville High School baseball team entered its first Missouri state tournament semifinals appearance in 36 years on an 11-game winning streak.

In those 11 games, the Warriors allowed just 19 runs overall.

But it was a much different story on Friday as Cape Notre Dame unloaded 13 runs and 19 hits in a 13-3 six-inning victory over Smithville in a Class 4 state semifinal at T.R. Hughes Ball Park.

“First of all, hats off to Notre Dame,” Smithville coach Josh Speer said. “Our pitchers were around the plate all day and they just pounded the ball. Obviously, we did not have our A game today, but that is baseball.”

The game turned on a call at home plate in the third inning.

Smithville had a 1-0 lead and appeared to get out of the inning as center fielder Mitchell Orr threw a perfect one-hop throw to the plate to catcher Tony Del Pico, which clearly beat Notre Dame runner Logan Heisserer for what would have been the third out of the inning.

But Heisserer was ruled safe and Thomas Siebert delivered a two-run double on the next pitch, which gave Notre Dame its first lead of the game.

“That was certainly a pivotal play,” Speer said. “I thought he was out, but the umpire ruled that Tony tagged him with his glove and that the ball was in his hand.”

Smithville did come back in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game on two walks, a hit batsman, a bunt single by James Grandgenett and a passed ball.

But it was all Notre Dame the rest of the way. The Bulldogs scored three runs in the fourth inning and seven in the sixth, which was highlighted by a grand slam by Chase Urhahn.

Urhahn had six RBIs and Christian Job had five hits to pace Notre Dame, which improved to 27-4. Notre Dame will play Sullivan for the Class 4 state title at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Grandgenett and Alex Schram had two hits each for Smithville, which saw its record fall to 21-8. The Warriors will play in the third-place against St. Charles at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

“The focus now is to win that game,” Speer said. “We want to finish the season with a win.”

This story was originally published June 5, 2015 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Staley baseball reaches Missouri Class 5 championship game."