Grain Valley Eagles soar into Saturday’s Missouri Class 5 baseball state final

Cole Keller recorded double-digit strikeouts and drove in three runs as Grain Valley beat Rockwood Summit 7-2 in the Missouri Class 5 state high school baseball semifinals Friday afternoon in Ozark.

Keller, who will attend and play baseball at Washburn this fall, was masterful in the game at U.S. Baseball Park, striking out 14 and helping himself at the plate with a couple of productive hits.

Keller tripled and drove in Parker Bosserman for the game’s first run in the opening inning. He, too, then scored on an infield single from Kaden Jeffries.

In the second, Keller added to the Grain Valley tally with a two-run single, sophomore Avery Garmon’s RBI single made it 5-0 in the third, and the lead increased to 7-0 late before Rockwood scored a pair of runs down the stretch.

The Eagles’ steady onslaught at the plate earned them a berth in Saturday’s state championship game. They’ll play Willard, a 4-3 winner in eight innings Friday over Fort Zumwalt South.

Game time for Saturday’s Class 5 state final is 1:30 p.m. in Ozark.

Liberty was to play Christian Brothers College in a Class 6 semifinal later Friday afternoon, also at U.S. Baseball Park.

This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 1:45 PM.