North Callaway had the confidence to win on Wednesday, and it backed it up.

North Callaway District Title Photo Gallery

The Thunderbirds trailed county rival South Callaway 5-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning of the Class 3 District 7 championship game in Mokane but scored six runs in that inning to beat the Bulldogs 7-6 on their home field. They are back-to-back district champions for the first time in program history.

Last year, North Callaway (20–5) beat another county rival New Bloomfield 2-1 on South Callaway’s field, scoring two unanswered runs in the fifth inning. Head coach Kirt Kleindienst said that championship victory was sweet, but this year’s was sweeter after coming back from a bigger deficit late in the game.

“I thought last year was the most incredible,” Kleindienst said. “It was at that time. This is more incredible. The amount of fight each guy had for one another when we started this tournament was something special.”

South Callaway (16-13) scored three leadoff walks and two unearned runs, but Kleindienst said North Callaway doubled the amount of baserunners South Callaway had. All the Thunderbirds had to do was “keep knocking at the door and it will open.”

The door was pushed open in the sixth inning as 12 North Callaway batters came to the plate. South Callaway pitchers had only walked one prior to the sixth but allowed five to reach base on ball four in the inning. Before scoring those six runs, Kleindienst told the Thunderbirds in the dugout they had six outs to work with, and his team only needed two outs to take the lead. 

“We had been a resilient bunch,” Kleindienst said. “Baseball, regardless, is a game of momentum. When we had the momentum on our side, we did a great job (at first base) and (at third base) of not getting out too big. I kept telling the guys to not be way too far off the bags. They were working hard with the batters up here. It was a total team effort.”

Before Caleb Sheets drew bases-loaded walk to make it 7-5 North Callaway, Carson Bassett hit a two-RBI double and then took third base on the throw home to make it 5-3 South Callaway, Chance Green hit a RBI single and then Coltyn O’Neal dug in. O’Neal committed an error in the fifth inning that preceded a two-RBI home run by Kolton Adrian, who had four RBIs.

South Callaway just switched to its third pitcher and then O’Neal took a pitch up the middle to score two runs. The Thunderbirds were able to tie the game in the first inning on Carter Moore’s solo home run, but O’Neal’s hit put them over the hump for their first lead. O’Neal said everybody did their job and had good team-bats, which is what he was trying to do in that spot.

“The approach was to find a way on — any way I can get on and get one guy in,” O’Neal said. “I saw the ball, thought I could put it in a good spot and did it. I was beyond happy.”

Kleindienst said he felt it was the first time he felt like a fortune teller in the moment before O’Neal’s at-bat. He walked up to O’Neal during the pitching change to “ease his mind.”

“When I walked up to Coltyn, he said with a smile on his face, ‘God, I love baseball,’” Kleindienst said. “I was like, ‘We’re going to win.’”

Keaton Bell pitched five innings, six hits, five walks, three earned runs and two strikeouts and handed off the ball to Tucker Sheets, who allowed one hit and earned run in two innings. After throwing out a runner at home plate from shortstop in the third inning, in what Sheets called “the biggest play of my career,” he was called upon to prevent South Callaway from doing any more damage.

Sheets had faith in his defense like Bell had during that play at the plate. South Callaway lost another runner at the plate after a relay throw from first baseman Justice Moore so Sheets had no reason to be too worried with the “best defense in the state” behind him.

“It’s a lot of pressure,” Sheets said. “You can’t give up too many walks. You can’t give up too many hits. You’ve just gotta let them put it in play and let your defense work.”

CJ Cunningham is one of several kids Kleindienst coached when they were in youth ball with the Callaway Crew. He said he didn’t touch a baseball since eighth grade but then made “100 percent” one of the best decisions in his life by coming back. Cunningham naturally fit back in with his old teammates of nearly nine years and impacted the team right away with multiple-hit games, RBIs and pitching appearances. 

“It’s just a love for the game,” Cunningham said. “I got some early hours with Coach before the season a couple times, but it just felt natural to me.”

North Callaway defeated Kirksville 7-6 earlier in the season on South Callaway’s field after trailing 5-1 in the sixth inning. That was the second game, and the Thunderbirds were able to do it again in win No. 20 — their first 20-win season since 2012.

Kleindienst said his players have heard “a lot of yelling from a little man,” but it was all worth it. Now, the Thunderbirds will attempt to make it past sectionals for the second straight year at 5 p.m. Tuesday at home against the Class 3 District 8 winner, either Fatima (15-13) or Belle (12-11).

“We’re going to enjoy this as best we can for a day or so before I start hollering again and getting us prepared for a tough sectional game,” Kleindienst said.