On the mound, in the field, at the plate, Adams lifts Tropics to success

The Southeast Tropics won three of their four baseball games this weekend at the SEMO Tournament at Notre Dame, and as usual, Portageville High School senior-to-be Mason Adams was able to contribute in a variety of manners.

The Tropics (9-6) opened the tourney on Friday with a rallying 9-8 win over the Missouri Bulls 18-U squad.

The Bulls tied the game with four runs in their last at-bat, each off of Adams, who was pitching an inning of relief. However, none of the four runs were earned, as Adams struck out three batters, which set up some late-inning heroics for the Tropics.

“I don’t think Mason pitched a ton (for Portageville),” veteran Tropics manager Dustin Schwartz said recently after using Adams on the mound against the Charleston Fighting Squirrels. “He did pitch some and he’s a kid who we needed to save some pitching (for later).

“He’s a guy that we can give the ball to, and he’ll compete for us.”

Adams did just that.

He faced eight batters and threw 17 strikes in 27 pitches.

He gave up three hits, but again, nary a walk or an earned run.

In a recent 4-3 loss to the Fighting Squirrels, Adams threw a complete game allowing just one earned run, walking one, and striking out two.

In that outing, he threw 46 strikes in 76 pitches.

“He doesn’t complain about not being used to starting or anything like that,” Schwartz said. “He took the ball and pitched a big game for us.”

As solid as Adams is on the mound, he’s much more than that at the plate and on the diamond defensively.

Adams is a three-sport star for the Bulldogs during the school year and has the athleticism to play, really, anywhere on the diamond.

Schwartz has used him in left field, but typically, he is the Tropics’ starting shortstop.

“Mason was just announced for the (Class 3 First Team All-State team),” Schwartz said. “He has a lot of athleticism.”

Adams drove in three runs in the win over the Bulls while notching a hit.

In a 10-0 rout of Jeff City Post 5 Seniors on Saturday, Adams scored a run and drew a walk, while he closed the tourney by recording an RBI in an 11-2 blowout of the Jackson Tribe 18U squad on Saturday.

Adams is one of several Portageville players on the Tropics and was the “vocal leader” on the Bulldogs’ which advanced to the MSHSAA Final Four for the second consecutive spring.

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

The Tropics will travel to Mobile, Ala. for the Alabama Showcase, which runs Thursday through Sunday.