There isn’t anybody North Callaway would rather have on the mound and the bases than Keaton Bell.

North Callaway vs Clark County Photo Gallery

The junior needed only 75 pitches to lead the Thunderbirds past Clark County 2-1 in a Class 3 sectional baseball game on Tuesday at home in Auxvasse. Bell allowed one earned run on four hits and no walks while striking seven in seven innings and also scored the winning run in the fifth inning on a fielder's choice RBI by Kyle Pennell.

Head coach Kirt Kleindienst is in his first year serving as the head coach for the Thunderbirds (18-9). Kleindienst served as an assistant in a few years before this year, but before that, he coached several of his players when they played travel ball. Bell was one of these kids.

“I have watched that kid since he was 10 years old,” Kleindienst said. “Every championship or big game I’ve ever coached in and he’s on my team, he has pitched and he has pitched well. Having Keaton Bell on the bump is a lift for everybody.”

Bell has stayed economical with his pitch count on the mound before, including 56 pitches in an 11-0 five-inning victory against California and the 68 pitches he threw in seven innings of a 9-1 win at Montgomery County. That victory in Montgomery City was a matchup between undefeated conference records at the time in North Callaway’s outright 10-0 Eastern Missouri Conference championship season.

Thunderstorms were in the forecast for Auxvasse on Tuesday, forcing first pitch to be moved back from 5:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. After Bell threw his final pitch in a 1-2-3 seventh inning, rain droplets started to fall. He beat the rain, but Bell said he didn’t even know it was going to rain as that is just how he pitches.

“I’ve always been a contact pitcher,” Bell said. “I’ve been racking up some strikeouts lately, but it’s not like me. I mean, I love it. Don’t get me wrong. I just mix up speeds well.”

The way Bell works with his fastball, slider, curveball and two-seam fastball has worked for Bell through his career so his approach on the mound hasn’t changed. 

Clark County (17-7) did score a runner that was hit by Bell in the fifth inning to tie the game. However, Bell was in the most trouble after the Indians set up runners at the corners with one out in the sixth inning. Even though Bell said he usually doesn’t go for the strikeout, he struck out the next two batters to preserve a 2-1 North Callaway lead. 

“It’s almost like I don’t even start trying — at least that’s what my dad told me it looks like — until they have runners in scoring position,” Bell said. “I just get into a different mode and different mindset.”

Kleindienst said while North Callaway didn’t have as many hard-hit balls as he would’ve liked, his kids executed the game plan well enough to pick up another close victory. This win followed a 2-1 victory over New Bloomfield about a week ago for North Callaway’s first district championship since 1999.

When Kleindienst scouted Clark County to prepare for this game, he noticed its sand or clay surface wasn’t as hard as North Callaway’s dirt surface. That made deciding the team’s plate approach simple, even before the weather forecast showed how windy it would be at gametime.

“I went up to Clark County and watched them play against Palmyra last Thursday,” Kleindienst said. “I noticed what the field surface was. I said, ‘Well, if we hit the ball on the ground on our hard surface that we know better, they’re not used to the hard surface.’ A couple plays went our way with that.”

Tucker Sheets led off the fourth inning with a ground ball that couldn’t be fielded by the third baseman. After Caleb Sheets sacrificed Sheets over to second, Carter Moore dunked a shallow RBI single in front of the center field for the game’s first run.

Bell was hit by a pitch to lead off the fifth inning, which turned into the equivalent of a triple following a stolen base and a balk. Pennell grounded a pitch to the shortstop and then Bell slid under the catcher, who leaped to catch the high throw to the plate.

“I saw they had infield in and third baseman wasn’t holding me on,” Bell said. “I knew if I saw a ball on the ground, I was going. I saw it there, and I was out of there.”

Oftentimes, whenever the pitcher reaches base, he is taken out temporarily in favor of a courtesy runner to protect him from injury or install more speed on the basepaths. That isn't the case with Bell, who stole two more bases to put his season total at a season-high 20 swipes out 21 attempts. 

“The only other person I’d want on the basepaths but me is Keaton Bell,” Kleindienst said. I trust him like I trust myself. His baseball instincts are very high. He’s just a hell of a ballplayer, and I’m glad he’s on my team.” 

Kleindienst has said before he is a defensive-minded coach tracing back to his playing days when he was a shortstop and then a utility player. The Thunderbirds committed no errors on Tuesday to keep their season total at 44 errors in 27 games, which is down from 51 errors in 24 games last year and 57 errors in 24 games two years ago.

Senior third baseman Sam Pezold recorded four assists in four chances — including two plays where he spun around and fired to first base — against Clark County to keep his night spotless along with the rest of the North Callaway defense. In his four years, Pezold said the Thunderbirds haven’t played better defense than they have this year.

“Even if we make a mistake, it’s not the end of the world,” Pezold said. “We’ve got each other’s backs.”

North Callaway plays at Duchesne (22-10) at 2 p.m. Thursday in Bridgeton. Kleindienst said he has “never felt better” about his team going into the game that will decide whether North Callaway will go to the Final Four.

There is a comfort Kleindienst had with this group going into the season as he said he has coached the “main core” since they were eight or nine years old. 

“We helped grind with these boys when they were young,” Kleindienst said while choked up with emotion. “It’s paying off now.”