North Callaway baseball had plenty of energy in the tank this season.

North Callaway at Duchesne Photo Gallery

However, the Thunderbirds’ season stalled on Thursday after a 14-1 loss to Duchesne in a Class 3 state quarterfinal game in Bridgeton. North Callaway had won their first district championship since 1999 and advanced to their second ever quarterfinal game since that year, three hits from its offense loomed large all day.

On the mound, North Callaway (18-10) had seniors AJ Haubner and Sam Pezold and junior Carter Moore combine for seven walks and five hit by pitches as the Pioneers ran away with the game with nine runs in the final two innings. Timothy Griese didn’t walk or hit a single batter in his seven innings pitched for Duchesne (23-10), throwing 78 pitches scattered with six strikeouts, three hits and one earned run.

“They came here not only ready to throw strikes but to hit, and they did both very well,” head coach Kirt Kleindienst said. “That’s what happens when you get ahead on hitters. It was a phenomenal game by their pitcher. He mixed up how he started hitters, and he just did a great job.”

Kleindienst said North Callaway didn’t hit anything “with authority” until the fifth or sixth inning, counting two barrelled balls before the fifth inning. Senior Kyle Pennell had the Thunderbirds’ first hit in the fourth inning before he was caught stealing second base, and they didn’t get a hit until they were close to losing in six innings due to the 10-run rule.

When Duchesne had a 10-0 lead after five and half innings, North Callaway was down to its last out but then Keaton Bell hit a double down the left field line. Coltyn O’Neal followed with a triple to bring him home and extend the game.

North Callaway did well to extend its season beyond what the program has accomplished in the past. After running the table in the Eastern Missouri Conference with a 10-0 EMO record, the Thunderbirds won its district and won in sectionals thanks to 2-1 victories against New Bloomfield and Clark County, respectively. Kleindienst said there haven’t been many disappointing days in what was a tremendous season.

“I’m disappointed with today, but I’ve had very few disappointments this season,” Kleindienst said. “The game of baseball teaches you how to be tough for life.”

Kleindienst had a lot of his seniors playing today, including Carsyn Sheets in the lineup with the southpaw Haubner on the mound. Haubner walked five batters — more than he’s walked against Class 4 schools such as Southern Boone, Mexico and Wright City. So despite his condition, Kleindienst thought Haubner was a good matchup against a Class 4 caliber lineup and battled through to keep the Thunderbirds in the game with a 4-0 deficit after four innings — three earned runs and three hits.

“My awesome senior pitcher has been battling some sickness issues,” Kleindienst said. “He told me he was ready to go and I trusted him and I still trust him right now. He battled through something a quicker-triggered coach would have pulled him, but he settled in and got through a couple more innings that we needed him to do.”

As the game grew further out of reach, Kleindienst noticed that the team’s “energy and body language” trended downward. The low run output is strange for a team that scored 204 runs —  an increase from the 170 and 154 runs of the past two years — but low energy is also a rarity for the Thunderbirds, who swarmed the baserunner that crossed the plate for a celebration at the entrance of the dugout.

Kleindienst is a coach who is always moving around the dugout or the third-base coaches box whenever North Callaway is hitting. He is always yelling encouragement for his players whenever they barrel the ball, throw a nice pitch or make a stellar play. His words toward the dugout about equals his instructions on the field, encouraging everybody to cheer for a teammate or compliment them on a job well done.

“I have a fantastic team, and a group of kids that are unselfish and play the game the right way,” Kleindienst said. “A prouder coach in Missouri, there is not. I’m so proud of what we’ve done this year.”

Kleindienst finishes his first year as a head coach at the school where he played baseball. He admitted he wished he could still pour some of his energy into playing again in this rare opportunity for the program.

“I’m ready to play in the 40-and-over league,” Kleindienst joked. 

On the morning of the game, Kleindienst expressed jealousy but, at the same time, gratitude to his players for advancing so far. Without the type of kids he had, he said North Callaway wouldn’t have won a conference title — winning five of those EMO games by at least 10 runs — and wouldn’t have gone into Thursday with four straight games decided by two runs or less for the program's most wins since a 20-5 record in 2012.

“I’m incredibly proud of our season and just wish it could’ve wrapped up in a better way,” Kleindienst said.