Mexico’s varsity baseball team had jumped all over Moberly pitching. In the wake of a 10-0 romp, the radio announcers turned to conduct post game interviews.

It was all very routine until the color man looked up and saw the JV team take the field. He jumped from his seat and excused himself with a hurried “I’ve got a game to play.”

The moment was perhaps a first in baseball history. Deacon Haag – glove in hand – rushed from the press box, down the steps and onto the field to take his position.

On Monday, two high school students donned headsets and called the play by play of a Bulldogs baseball game for KXEO. Haag and broadcast partner Jack Wilburn are members of the team, JV regulars who sometimes make appearances on the varsity roster.

So they were suited up and ready to play. But they were watching the game from a different perspective.

“It was phenomenal – everything I dreamed of and more,” Wilburn said of the experience.

Wilburn’s goal is to eventually land a job in sports broadcasting. Until Monday, however, he had never called a game on the air.

“We’ve always messed around in the dugout,” he said. “We got the hang of it.”

Indeed, the coverage has been widely hailed as a success. The pair settled into their roles in the early innings, with Wilburn shouldering play by play duties and Haag telling stories like a veteran color announcer.

KXEO’s Matt Pilger, who was on hand with the station’s Michael Daugherty to ensure a smooth broadcast and help with the nuances of the control panel and commercial breaks, praised their work.

“They made it their own,” he observed. “I think we may have unleashed the next Mike Shannon and Jack Buck on the world.”

The idea of two high school baseball players covering their own game started with Marci Minor, Wilburn’s mother. She approached Pilger and he checked with the school to see what was possible.

It helped that a Monday evening home game was on the schedule – and that the St. Louis Cardinals had the night off. KXEO carries Cardinals broadcasts.

Yes, there were occasional hiccups. Wilburn read out the team’s record as the score of the game at one point. Haag caught himself repeating the reply of “absolutely.”

And it took a bit for the pair to settle into radio patter.

“Filler is probably the hardest part,” Haag pointed out. “It’s easy to call plays, but baseball is a slow sport.”

Wilburn said they struggled at first to fill in the blanks. Occasionally they had lapses where seconds ticked by as they sought for a proper comment.

But the uncertainty did not last long.

“At the beginning you think about what to say,” Wilburn explained. “But then it turned into a conversation.”

And the unique broadcast was so compelling it had people wanting more. Mexico boys basketball coach Darren Pappas suggested on social media that the two should have a go at one of the Bulldogs’ winter sports games.

“They played off each other,” said Minor, who like a lot of people listened in. “They are the big goofballs on the team.”

Daugherty coached the broadcast partners early on. And he played a key role in the unexpected postgame transition.

It was senior night and while Wilburn went down to warm up, Haag remained in the both to interview the team’s three seniors, Jesse Fennewald, Hunter Woolfolk and Ty Prince.

Prince was in the seat when Haag realized the JV game was about to start and had to abandon the broadcast.

Daugherty took over with the ease of a veteran announcer. Haag made it to the field in time for the first pitch. Prince took it all in stride.

And a moment of baseball history had been made.