Leopold's baseball season ends with 1-0 loss to Cooter in quarterfinal

LEOPOLD, Mo. -- Leopold baseball coach James Lewis expected that opportunities to score would be scarce in a Class 1 state quarterfinal matchup against Cooter on Wednesday afternoon.

That prediction was accurate, but Lewis wished he and his team could've been on the opposite side of 1-0 loss to Cooter that boiled down to a couple pivotal plays.

"It was an exciting game to be in, a great game to watch, you know, and as a coach it comes down to, really, one play that we didn't make -- it wasn't an error, but we didn't make it -- that led to their run," Lewis said. "And they made the play that kept the shutout. It's a great game. I've always told the boys all year long, 'The best games are 1-0 games,' because every play matters, every at-bat matters. It's just a tough one to swallow, especially with the roll we were on."

Leopold trailed 1-0 and was down to its final three outs when catcher Casey Graham doubled to right field to lead off the seventh.

"You know, I thought we had a chance," Graham said. "My job was to get on as the leadoff. I've got to come up, and I've got to get on any way. I mean, if one's coming in I'm going to take it. I got down, I think it was 0-2, and I was just looking. He'd been giving me off-speed pitches and I was looking that way, and I knew I was going to try to shoot in that way if he gave me offspeed in there."

Graham was sacrificed to third before Leopold right fielder Zach Beel reached on a fielder's choice. Cooter pitcher Tyler McLevain fielded the ball and hesitated before throwing to third. Graham was safe and third baseman Riley Maddox's throw wasn't in time to get Beel at first.

"He'd have probably made a good play normally, but just couldn't get an out out of it," Cooter coach Bobby McCulloch said of the play. "I'd have rather been pitching to the last hitter with two outs than one out."

McLevain came up with a play when he needed it. The pitcher fielded a ball off the bat of Leopold first baseman Cord Cooper before throwing to second to start a double play that ended the game.

"Like I told my assistant, the double play there at the end -- if that pitcher doesn't field it, it's not a double play and it's a tie game," Lewis said. "But in a 1-0 game, those are the things that will haunt you and keep you up at night."

Cooter scored the lone run of the game in the second inning.

Maddox singled with one out before McLevain reached on a 4-6 fielder's choice, beating out the throw to first on what could have been an inning-ending double-play.

No. 8 hitter Austin Phelps then sent a two-out double into center field to drive in the winning run.

"We went changeup and I didn't set up far enough outside," Graham said. "[Zach Elfrink] made the pitch and I just didn't set up far enough outside, and the kid made a good swing on it. I'm not going to take anything away from him. He hit the ball good."

Phelps' RBI double was one of five Cooter hits in the game.

"I just love baseball," McCulloch said. "You never know who the hero's going to be. You never know. He hasn't done that for us all year. He's our No. 2 pitcher and he plays shortstop when he's not pitching. He hits down in the bottom of the lineup and he hasn't hit the ball all year, but he's capable. Any time you swing it, you're dangerous."

McLevain pitched the complete game four-hit shutout to secure the win. He had seven strikeouts, walked one and hit one with a pitch.

Zach Elfrink took the loss. He pitched all six innings and allowed one run on five hits while striking out four and not walking a batter.

"Their pitcher, he threw a heck of game," Lewis said. "Our pitcher ... it's one of those games where Zachary deserved better with the effort he gave and the pitches he made. But, you know, there are no ties in baseball so somebody has to come out on the wrong end. Unfortunately, today it was us."

Leopold's season ended with a record of 9-12. It was the school's first state quarterfinal appearance.

"I told them I was immensely proud of them because earlier in the year we had a seven-game losing streak," Lewis said. "And it was a case of we were playing well, we just weren't hitting, you know, we're losing 2-1, 1-0, 3-1. The boys usually don't see that -- they don't see that they're right there, they just really see an 'L.' I told them, I said, 'Keep fighting because you have a decision on what kind of season you're going to have. Right now, you're standing inside the fire because these are the times that try you.' ... Looking back to that point, especially now, I'm proud of them. Yeah, it didn't end the way you wanted to, but there's only one team in Class 1 that's going to end the way they wanted to.

"One thing I preached to them even during the losing streak was, 'You battle all the way to the end.' Even if it's the bitter end, such as today. You give it the full-go, honest effort -- everything you've got. Sometimes you're rewarded, sometimes you're not, but at the very end you say, 'You know what? I gave everything I had, left nothing in the tank,' and you can keep your head high and move on."

Leopold 000 000 0 -- 0 4 0 Cooter 010 000 X -- 1 5 0

WP -- Tyler McLevain. LP -- Zach Elfrink. 2B -- Austin Phelps (C), Casey Graham (L). Multiple hits -- Leopold: Zach Elfrink 2-2.