It was just a matter of time for North Callaway baseball on Thursday.

North Callaway vs Hallsville Photo Gallery

The Thunderbirds fell behind Hallsville 2-0 after two innings at home but scored three runs in the third inning and then seven runs in the fourth inning to eventually win 11-2. North Callaway is 4-0 early this season to so far live up to its No. 6 ranking in Class 3.

Keaton Bell said the Thunderbirds are “resilient” whenever they trail in a game because they know they were good even before the first batch if state rankings came out. Bell said North Callaway is confident it can come back in a game and knew it could come back to hit Landon Cunningham’s fastball.

“A lot of us were late,” Bell said. “He jumped on us. Once we got on him, that was game.”

Bell finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI, Justice Moore and Caleb Sheets each had two RBIs, Carson Bassett went 2-for-3 with a RBI, and Carter Moore, CJ Cunningham and Tucker Sheets each had a RBI.

Head coach Kirt Kleindienst said Hallsville (3-2) wasn’t overlooked even after North Callaway’s four straight wins — three with double-digit runs scored — over the Indians going into the game. Kleindienst said Cunningham proved to be a “very plus” arm, and North Callaway needed time to catch up with him.

“He really came out throwing strikes and had us on our heels,” Kleindienst said. “We weren’t paying attention to his bullpen far away from us, and it kind of surprised us, it seemed. Once we got our heads about us, it got better from there.”

Kleindienst said “the dugout energy” in the first three innings was “as flat as our at bats.” When Justice Moore reached base via hit by pitch as the leadoff hitter in the third inning, he said the energy went up. This was Moore’s first ever start at North Callaway and liked how he handled fielding first base and came up with a big hit in the fourth inning to make 5-2.

Two runs scored without a hit to tie the game in the third inning and then Bassett’s single scored the winning run. In the fourth inning, six runs crossed the plate for the Thunderbirds before the first out. 

Around this time, Kleindienst said North Callaway was having more “quality at-bats” and was glad the team reached its goal of 15, just surpassing it with 16. The Thunderbirds also checked another box by staying under five strikeouts with four strikeouts compared to six walks.

“We have a good at-bat and a bad at-bat sheet that everybody gets to review the day after a game,” Kleindienst said. “We have a goal every game to have a certain amount of good at-bats. We hit our mark again, and we’re playing clean defense.”

To this point, Kleindienst has liked how the new faces have integrated into the team, including Hickman transfer Bassett. He has at least one RBI in each of the first four games and at least one hit in those last three games. 

CJ Cunningham is a new face to the program this season but not to Kleindienst. Cunningham hasn’t played baseball since he was 14-years-old, according to Kleindienst, but did play youth baseball for him when he was 10-years-old. The senior struck out two and allowed one hit in two innings pitched and “picked up right where he left off.” He also has at least one RBI and one hit in each of the first four games. 

“I know he’s got it in him,” Kleindienst said. “That’s the first time he’s pitched since he was 14-years-old. It gave me chills to see him throw strikes and be right in it.”

After winning pitcher Tucker Sheets allowed two earned runs on five walks and one hit in his start, Bell pitched two perfect innings with three strikeouts. Bell pitched five shutout innings in a 13-0 win at South Callaway on the season’s first day. The Thunderbirds allowed two runs and eight walks in three games following the Hallsville win.

“Our biggest thing is locating strikes and making a team beat us with the bat instead of giving up free bases,” Bell said. “I’ve always hated free bases. Make them beat you.”

North Callaway plays two games Saturday in Hughesville against Class 2 No. 1 Iberia (2-1) at 11:30 a.m. and Northwest (Hughesville) (2-2) at 2 p.m.