Leopold wins long elusive district championship

For the first time in a decade, the Leopold baseball team has won a district championship after defeating Delta 13-7 in the Class 1 District 3 final on Saturday, May 11, in Oak Ridge, Mo.

“Baseball is one of the sports that can be successful at Leopold,” Leopold head coach T.J. Smreker said.

Even longer than that, the Wildcats have also won their 10th game for the first time since 2013.

“All the seniors have had a big impact on our program within the last three years,” Smreker said, “specifically this year turning the tides.”

Braden Halter went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, and four RBI, Riley Engelen went 2-for-5 with two RBIs for the Wildcats, and Fred Brandel went 2-for-5 with two RBIs.

Brandel also pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts in a 5-3 win over the host and defending C1D3 champ Oak Ridge Blue Jays earlier on Saturday in the semifinal to get the Wildcats to the first district title game in a long time. He also went 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI.

“It felt good to be trusted,” Brandel said.

Brandel has amassed over 120 strikeouts over the past two seasons.

“Fred’s been super important because he’s been our anchor as an ace for the last two years,” Leopold head coach T.J. Smreker said. “He’s got a cool, calm demeanor. He doesn’t get too worked out about anything. He’s also made pretty good strides in his hitting this year.”

Brandel said this magical season began in the summer, as the team practiced together they built a bond that lasted through the fall and materialized in the spring.

“The friendships, how close we all are outside of school, outside of baseball,” Brandel said. “We’ve been a team since day one.”

Before Smreker was the Leopold head coach, he was the one coaching these players in the summer when they were much younger. After being their summer coach and then high school coach for three years, the process has finally brought results.

“It’s coming to fruition in year 3,” Smreker said. “We gotta be top five small schools in the state for us to have [10] wins. I think it’s pretty incredible because if you really look at it, we should be the underdog in almost every game. So I think it’s a testament to how tough the boys are and how they’ve been able to put in the work to be as successful as they’ve been.”

Leopold will take on the C1D4 champion on May 20.

Oak Ridge senior Konnor Hobeck hits a single in his last career at-bat during a Class 1 District 3 semifinal game against Leopold on Saturday, May 11, in Oak Ridge, Mo. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

__Konnor Hobeck's last stand__

It was proper that Konnor Hobeck's last plate appearance as a high school athlete resulted in a base hit. The senior went 2-for-4 with a double in his final game in a 5-3 loss against Leopold at the C1D3 Tournament on Saturday in Oak Ridge.

Hobeck finishes the season as the Blue Jays' offensive leader in nearly every statistical category. In 59 at-bats, Hobeck has batted .475 with an OPS of 1.090. He leads the Jays in hits with 24, stolen bases with 18, and is tied with Kaden Borgfield for the RBI lead at 14.

Hobeck has been the lone bright spot on an otherwise dim season. The Blue Jays entered the Class 1 District 3 Tournament as the host with three regular season wins. Hobeck went 3-for-4 with a two-run triple to lead the Blue Jays past Crossroads Prep 13-3 in the tournament opener on Friday, breaking an 8-game losing streak. Oak Ridge won the C1D3 title last year but was two runs short this year.

__Delta finishes season of two halves__

Leopold celebrating a long-elusive district title meant the Delta Bobcats must wait longer for their time of celebration.

Bryce Cox went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI to lead the Bobcats at the plate against the Wildcats. Cox also hit two doubles and drove in three runs during Delta's 14-10 win over South Iron in the semifinals earlier on Saturday.

The Bobcats concluded an odd season that started hopeless but ended with more wins (7) than the previous season. After starting the season 1-16, Delta flipped the switch and won six of seven games to advance to the district title game. During that stretch, the Bobcats outscored opponents 84-37.

Since MSHSAA started tracking records online in 2009, the Bobcats have not won seven games in a season, let alone six prior to 2023. By its standards, Delta is a program on the rise and another push toward the C1D3 district final led by Cox is to be expected in 2025.