Scott City wins Class 2 baseball championship

SPRINGFIELD -- Shae Simmons didn't show much excitement after he fired a strike three fastball past Barstow No. 8 hitter Andrew Lentell to record the final out of the Class 2 state championship game and bring Scott City its first ever state title in any team sport.

He just started jogging toward the Rams' dugout as though he had put the finishing touches on a midseason game. But right after crossing the first-base line, he was tackled by his teammates and coaches.

"I love it," Simmons said. "I'm not very emotional, but it's awesome. ... Nobody said anything. They just pretty much ran up and tackled me."

Simmons pitched his third complete game in three starts this postseason to help his team to a 13-3, six-inning victory at Meador Park to claim the state title.

Simmons, the No. 2 pitcher in the Rams' rotation behind Ryan Modglin, gave up three runs on five hits and three walks while striking out 12 batters. He surrendered two runs on three hits in the first inning. After that, he settled down and was effective, using a strong curveball to complement his fastball.

He said he was nervous in the first inning, but calmed down. He added that throwing an effective curveball was important after his fastball was hit hard a few times in the first inning.

"You're going to be nervous in the state championship," Simmons said. "We knew we could come out and win it. ... We had to keep them off balance. When you get to this level of competition, everybody can catch up to a fastball."

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.com Scott City seniors Cody Carlyle, left, and Ryan Modglin hoisted the Class 2 championship trophy for fans Thursday evening at Meador Park in Springfield. The Rams defeated Barstow 13-3 in six innings.

Simmons finished his season with some ace-like numbers. He posted a 7-0 record with a 1.72 ERA.

"He had a little boo-boo there in the first inning, but he settled down and threw," Scott City coach Lance Amick said. "It's a credit to him. It's a big situation. You never know how kids are going to react. But I had confidence in him to settle down and pitch. It's an unbelievable performance by him."

Knights coach Mark Adams said he didn't know anything about Simmons entering the game, so his team did not have a plan on how the approach the junior right-hander.

"He threw strikes," Adams said. "He threw pretty hard. He mixed it up a little. It's not that we didn't hit the ball some. They hit the ball more."

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.com First baseman Ryan Modglin scooped a pickoff throw from catcher Cody Carlyle as Barstow's T.J. Jarvis safely dove back to first during Scott City's Class 2 State Championship win over Barstow Thursday evening, May 29, 2008, at Meador Park in Springfield, Mo.

Barstow starting pitcher and No. 2 hitter Corey Wacknov said Simmons used his curveball more after the first inning. He estimated he threw it 40 to 50 percent of the time.

"He's got a really nice curveball," Wacknov said. "It was pretty much devastating because he was throwing it on 2-0 and he was throwing it on 3-0. Every time you think you'll see a fastball, he'd throw in his curve. And it was going from your head to your knees."

Simmons said one of the key moments for him was getting out of a third-inning jam. His team was ahead 4-2 at the time, but two hits and two Scott City errors allowed Barstow to put runners at second and third with no outs.

Simmons went to work.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.com Scott City players and fans, rear, celebrated their Class 2 State Championship win over Barstow Thursday evening, May 29, 2008, at Meador Park in Springfield, Mo.

He struck out the next two batters using his curveball. He got a fly out to right to end the threat.

Simmons said he knew he needed strikeouts with the tying run at second base.

"I'm going to battle to not let them score," Simmons said. "If they had scored, they would have had a little bit more momentum."

Amick said Simmons' performance in the third inning was typical.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.com Jake Campbell scored Scott City's thirteenth and final run Thursday evening, May 29, 2008, ona passed ball at Meador Park in Springfield, Mo.

"That, in a nutshell, summed up him," Amick said. "His persona. His demeanor. I've said this many times before -- the kid's a warrior. He comes out second and third and nobody out and he just bears down and goes after those guys.

"Everybody talks a lot about a defense helping a pitcher out. ... We were back on our heels and had made two errors and were just not looking good. He steps up and picks them up. That's the way he is. He's a kid who wants to throw."

Simmons also had an impressive game hitting out of the leadoff spot. He went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and one RBI. He went 5-for-6 with five runs scored and two RBIs at the final four.

Simmons helped the Rams take a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a single to right. He and catcher Cody Carlyle scored on a two-out double by Clayton Hall.

Scott City fans cheered during the Class 2 title game.

"[Simmons] is usually the one that gets us started," Hall said. "That first hit was pretty important to us."

The Rams (23-1) scored their first six runs with two outs. After the Knights (18-2) scored two runs in the bottom of the first to tie the score, the Rams scored two in the second to take a 4-2 advantage, and they led from there on. Simmons and Josh Henson each had RBI doubles in the inning.

Scott City scored two more in the fourth to increase its lead to 6-2 when Ryan Modglin hit a two-run double to left.

Barstow cut its deficit to 6-3 in the fifth inning. Simmons walked T.J. Jarvis, who scored when Brock Knapp grounded out to second. Simmons struck out two in the inning.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.com The Scott City bench watched Barstow catcher Andrew Lentell miss a pop up behind the plate Thursday evening, May 29, 2008, at Meador Park in Springfield, Mo.

After Simmons battled out of that jam, Scott City scored seven runs in the sixth to take a 13-3 lead. Cobb walked to start the inning. Simmons followed with a sharp single to left field then Henson delivered the big blow when he put down a sacrifice bunt. Pitcher Corey Glasper fielded it, but threw past the first baseman into foul territory in right. Both Cobb and Simmons sprinted home to give the Rams an 8-3 lead. Modglin and Carlyle followed with run-scoring hits.

Simmons came out for the sixth. He got the first batter to ground out to third and struck out the next two.

"He was kind of squeezing the strike zone a little bit, but he worked through it and did a really good job," Carlyle said of Simmons. "He worked through it. He settled down and pitched a really good game. ... It [the title] means everything to Scott City. It's the very first time we've taken it home."