Mexico was riding high after winning all three games this weekend in Eugene.

The Bulldogs beat Waynesville 4-3, Eugene 8-2 and Camdenton 12-6 to win the Eugene tournament after falling short by one win last season. They didn’t have their full roster on Monday at home against North Callaway (7-3) but still won 8-2 after collecting 12 hits, including three triples.

Head coach Daniel McCarty said he didn’t have three starters — Zach Jahn, Pearson Kleinsorge and Brayden Arnold — because of sickness. Arnold was supposed to be the starting pitcher, so Kinser Groves stepped up and delivered six innings for Mexico (10-6) with four hits, four strikeouts, three walks and two unearned runs. McCarty thought the team showed similar resiliency. 

Mexico vs North Callaway Photo Gallery

“It’s perseverance, and we’re all making the best of it,” McCarty said. “It’s good for it to happen almost because our young kids can come in and get that experience now as a freshman or sophomore.”

Freshman Aiden Hodges was catching for Kleinsorge and caught a baserunner to snap a streak of 51 attempts with a steal for North Callaway. Freshman Kale Stephens started in the lineup and closed the game with a shutout inning, and sophomore Kael Smith also was in the starting lineup. 

On the other hand, Groves has more experience as a senior, and it showed by how he played. Groves did a lot of things to help the team, including an RBI groundout and turning a double play in the seventh inning when he picked off a runner at first base after catching a pop fly. 

“Once he found out Arnold was sick, he’s like, ‘My arm’s good,’” McCarty said. “Out of the gate, he battled and was around the zone. He threw strikes and got ahead and made the right pitches at the right time.”

McCarty said Groves came through even when the first two runners reached in the sixth inning. Nobody scored after he picked up a strikeout and two popouts. He definitely was “a senior stepping up.”

“That’s what I admire about him,” McCarty said. “He is always up for the challenge.”

The offense didn’t fall short on production despite not having everyone. Brady Fox finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a triple, Drew DeMint was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, a triple and a double, Chance McCarty went 3-for-4 and two runs, and Kaden Benne had one RBI triple.

Fox was eager to hit in the sixth inning when there was a chance he wouldn’t hit. After Groves hit a single with two outs, Fox had another chance and drew a walk. 

As of late, Fox said he has had the confidence to walk up to the plate. Over the weekend, Fox had five hits in three games and had two doubles. His batting average was raised to above .300 after it fell below .200 before this past weekend.

“On Friday, my first hit of the game, I got a hit and everything felt much better,” Fox said. “I broke the barrier because I went a couple of games without a hit, and I finally got that hit. It just made me feel a lot better.”

Fox has been saying that all he’s needed was “the one hit,” and he’s confident there will be plenty more in the future. He did have a left shoulder injury that made him miss four games, but he said that didn’t really affect him.

“My swing was just all over the place,” Fox said. “Over the past weekend, I did something and it just clicked.”

Mexico had lost three straight games prior to the Eugene tournament, and McCarty said it wasn’t much easier over the weekend. He said the offense has looked better as of late.

“It was just see the ball and hit the ball,” McCarty said. “We were balanced tonight, and we didn’t try to do too much. We were using the wind and using our field to our advantage by using our speed.”

Mexico plays at Centralia (9-1) at 5 p.m. Thursday.