In wake of disappointment, Portageville baseball looking to 'finish this thing strong'

Seventh-year Portageville High School baseball coach Tyler Trover has had to play multiple roles throughout his tenure, far in excess of just deciding when to send a runner up a base or not. And in the wake of the Bulldogs’ frustrating and crushing 9-4 loss to South Callaway in the MSHSAA Class 3 State Semifinal on Wednesday at Sky Bacon Stadium in Ozark, Trover has had to tap into his psychological skillset.

“I told them,” Trover explained afterward, “you are still one of the top four teams in this classification, which going to a Final Four, is extremely special.”

Portageville (34-3) will face Barstow (23-7) today in the third-place game at 10 a.m.

Portageville baseball over the past seven years has been “extremely special,” and the Bulldog players cannot lose sight of that indisputable fact.

The Bulldogs are making their second consecutive Final Four appearance, after finishing as the Class 2 state runner-up a year ago, and this group of three seniors (Trey Benthal, Thomas Frakes, and Luke Moylan) has compiled an 89-16 record during their three varsity seasons.

“Their legacy is not going to be tarnished, regardless of what happens (against Barstow),” Trover explained. “Their legacy was cemented by the fact that they are the first two (Portageville) teams to get to the Final Four.”

Trover admitted that his players remained down hours after the semifinal loss, but he was optimistic that they could turn the page overnight and “finish this thing strong.”

“Hopefully,” Trover said, “these guys will get up (in the morning) and realize that it is a new day. At the end of the day, we are sitting here at 34-3 with a chance to be one of only two teams in the state that can finish its season with a win.

“That will be a much better feeling coming home, if you can accomplish that, especially coming off a tough loss.”

To ensure that opportunity, Trover is turning to Frakes on the mound today.

“This will be the last (high school) start of his life,” Trover said. “Leave nothing left in the tank. Go let it rip and be who he has been all year long.”

Trover told his players to play relaxed, which is something that they mostly did on Wednesday, with the exception of the fifth inning, where South Callaway scored all nine of its runs.

“The wheels just came off,” Trover said of the horrendous inning. “It was very uncharacteristic of us.”

Trover’s message to his players looking forward centered on obligation.

“Our guys have a duty to the people who have supported us over the last couple of years,” Trover said. “They have a duty to their town, their community, their families, their teammates, their coaches, and most importantly, themselves to come back (on Thursday) and finish this thing strong.

“With that being said, that means playing relaxed and playing our style of baseball.”