Adams 'is the straw' for Portageville, which has tough task staring at it

The Portageville High School baseball program has had immense success over the past decade, however, none of that has been achieved when the Bulldogs faced Bootheel-power Kennett.

The Indians have won (at least) 11 straight games in the series stretching over 14 seasons (that is as far back as MSHSAA has records kept), and they will look to make it 12 straight today when the two teams meet at Meatte Park in Portageville today at 4 p.m.

Both teams are ranked third in their respective classes, with Kennett (7-4) with Kennett being in Class 4 and the Bulldogs (13-1) in Class 3.

If Portageville has a chance to snap the long skid, it may rest on the productive and talented shoulders of junior shortstop Mason Adams, who is having a very strong spring.

“Mason is the vocal leader of our team,” seventh-year Portageville coach Tyler Trover said recently. “He is one of those kids, who when he shows up to the park every day, he is going to give his best effort.”

And a productive one.

In the month of April, Adams has totaled five hits in four games, including a home run against Bloomfield, as well as tallied six RBI, four walks, and scored five of the Bulldogs’ 33 runs during that stretch.

“I’m just putting the ball in play,” Adams said. “I just see what happens whenever you do put the ball in play.

“So far, it has been working pretty well.”

That seems to be a steady mantra with Adams, who was the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback last fall in their highly-successful season, played basketball all winter, and is now leading the baseball squad.

“He is always talking everybody up and being positive in the dugout,” Trover said. “It is his leadership qualities, along with the fact, that he is just a really good baseball player.”

Trover entrusted Adams to hit second in the order as a sophomore on a 31-win team that played until the final day of the MSHSAA season in finishing as the Class 2 state runner-up.

“Mason hit something crazy, like over .600 in the playoffs,” Trover said. “He is kind of the straw, right now, for us.”

Trover came to Portageville in 2017 and has had a lot of talented, successful teams. However, none of those earlier squads have won 13 of their initial 14 games, as this year’s group has.

“We have a lot of really nice players on our team,” Trover said. “(And) A lot of really good kids. But Mason, and it is not just in baseball, he is such a humble kid in the classroom. He’s a great student. He is humble in the hallways and treats everybody with respect.

“He goes out and plays with all his heart no matter what he does.”