North Callaway has made a habit of defeating Eastern Missouri Conference foes early.
The Thunderbirds defeated Louisiana 15-0 in three innings on Wednesday at home, moving their conference record to 7-0. It was the second EMO victory North Callaway (11-6, 7-0 EMO) earned in three innings and the fifth in five innings or less.
North Callaway still collected 14 hits in the limited amount of time, putting up eight runs in the first inning. Head coach Kirt Kleindienst said not much had to be said before Wednesday's game.
"I saw excellent preparation pregame, and I could tell we were ready to go without me needing to say anything," Kleindienst said. "That's a good place for a coach to be able to trust his team to mentally prepare for a game without having to move it along."
Kleindienst said Paul Russell did well throwing strikes in his two innings prior to allowing Tucker Sheets to pitch an inning. Russell didn't allow a batter to reach while Sheets struck out three, resulting in a clean defensive game.
Conversely, the ball was flying all over the field when North Callaway was hitting against Louisiana (1-10, 1-6 EMO). Carter Moore had a pair of two-RBI doubles, Kyle Pennell was 2-for-3 with three RBI, and AJ Haubner had three RBI on a day seven Thunderbirds had a RBI.
"It was good team at-bats, which we talked about before the game," Kleindienst said. "I said, 'I don't care who gets what hits where, I want good at-bats so seeing pitches and taking pitches the right way.' We're doing that."
North Callaway plays another conference game at 5 p.m. Thursday at Silex (8-4, 5-2 EMO).
Look for a North Callaway baseball story covering its season so far in the Wednesday, May 1, 2024, edition of the Mexico Ledger.
