Cape Central senior leaves baseball behind to focus on track

It was a unique senior day for Cape Central pitcher Jackson Witvoet.

Even though the Tigers (9-19) still have five more games remaining in the regular season, including two at home, Tuesday, April 30, was his last day on the mound.

"I knew coming into this that this was going to be the last one," Witvoet said. "I told my team that I was gonna give everything I got and I wasn't gonna quit on the team."

Witvoet threw 5.1 innings for the third straight start, allowing one run on four hits with three strikeouts. Witvoet said he'll miss being with his teammates more than anything else as he leaves baseball behind.

"I love the team," Witvoet said. "I love coming out here every day with the guys and playing catch and just being out on the field."

The Tigers won 2-1 on a walk-off single by Brayden Meade as soon as the Pirates relieved their starting pitcher, who had walked the bases loaded.

"I was definitely sitting fastball and I got my pitch," Meade said. "It felt good to be on the bottom of the dogpile."

TJ Klipfel pitched for the first time this season after recovering from a quad injury and gave up only one hit with a strikeout in 1.2 innings of relief.

"I was really nervous, stressing out," Klipfel said. "I came out there, did my thing, and shut them down. All that work I put in the past four to six weeks paid off."

After spending the spring playing two sports in one season, Witvoet decided to focus on track and field for the remainder of his senior year.

"This is my first year running track and I had a lot of success with it," Witvoet said.

Witvoet originally got into track after running time trials for football practice in the summer, which led to his coaches, some of whom were on both the football and track staff, encouraging him to give the sport a try.

First place finisher Jackson Witvoet of Cape Central stands on top of the medal stand along with second place finisher Barrett Reagan of Jackson, right, and third place finisher Breijon Clemons of Cape Central, left, after the 100-meter dash at the SEMO Conference championship meet on Saturday, April 27, at Cape Central High School.Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Witvoet won the SEMO Conference championship in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.29, on April 27 at Cape Central High School. During that same meet, he placed third in the 200m (22.63) and was a part of the winning 4x100 and 4x200 relay.

On the diamond, Witvoet went 4-1 with a 3.23 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 26 innings pitched this season. He also has a batting average of .213 with a .649 OPS, six RBI, and 13 stolen bases. All of this while on a team that will finish below .500 and is not expected to make it out of their district tournament for the 11th consecutive season.

While Witvoet sees his ceiling in baseball, he sees a path to the state championships and the potential for an athletic future in college in track

"I think that my skill cap is a lot higher in track, with this being my first year being so raw. And I've played baseball for 12 years. It's time for me to move on."

The 100m is his best event, as he has finished the race in first place at Notre Dame, Festus, John Burroughs, and Cape Central twice. He also finished 15th out of 50 in the famed Kansas Relays.

Witvoet said it wasn't until he broke the school record in the 100m with a time of 10.85 that he realized this was the sport to fully focus on.

"That's when I was really like this is bigger than I thought it was gonna be," Witvoet said.

Last year, breaking 11 seconds in the 100m at the Class 5 Sectional 1 got you a medal and a trip to the state meet in Jefferson City. Witvoet has cleared that mark before. If he can do it again in Hillsboro on Friday, May 3, at the Class 5 District 1 Tournament and Class 5 Sectional 1 Tournament, he will finish his lone high school season at the state championships.

"It's open for anybody," Witvoet said. "I think I still have to keep working hard. I can't take anything for granted.