The Thunderbirds appear to be in their “true form” after late last week. 

North Callaway vs Fulton Photo Gallery

Class 3 No. 7 North Callaway went 1-2 in pool play in Mexico for the Southern Boone Classic tournament but played three games with margins of three runs or fewer. North Callaway lost to Mexico 2-1 on Thursday and then lost 5-2 to Class 4 No. 2 Moberly on Friday before beating Class 4 No. 5 Fulton 1-0. The Thunderbirds earned a spot in the third-place game against Class 4 No. 7 Southern Boone on Saturday in Southern Boone, which they lost 7-2 after allowing the final four runs of the game in the sixth inning.

Head coach Kirt Kleindienst said North Callaway (17-4) is coming into its true form close to districts and assured his team after the 1-0 win that it is a really good team after three competitive games against really good teams. 

“I’m excited for everybody that we are throwing strikes and catching the ball like we should,” Kleindienst said. “To know we have played right with three of the best teams in Class 4 baseball or baseball period makes me ecstatic because that means we’re right there with them.”

North Callaway had lost six of its previous seven meetings against Callaway County rival Fulton (17-6), including a 10-0 five-inning loss earlier in the season in Fulton. Keaton Bell made sure this meeting would be a victory with seven innings of four walks, three strikeouts and two hits. Coltyn O’Neal scored the game’s only run in the sixth inning when he slid into home plate on a force play. 

Bell outdueled Gage Tiffany, who finished with six complete innings of nine strikeouts, four hits, two walks and one earned run. Kleindienst said Bell didn’t have his best stuff, and his longtime go-to arm agreed with him. 

“I didn’t have my best fastball, but my curveball was working well,” Bell said. “Sometimes, you don’t have your best stuff, but you’ve got to pitch as well as you can without your stuff. That’s just how it is.”

Bell actually didn’t have any strikeouts through four innings after Moberly hadn’t struck out once in six innings against Tucker Sheets, but Bell picked up three strikeouts in the next two innings. Kleindienst said Bell competed well with each pitch.

“That was the best I’ve ever seen him pitch when he didn’t have his best stuff,” Kleindienst said. “He did not have his best fastball today. It was a sequence thing, and we figured it out at about the third or fourth inning. I’m really excited for his next start because he’s going to be sharp-sharp.”

Bell would need one run, and North Callaway used small ball to get the job done. In the previous day’s one-run loss to Mexico, the Thunderbirds — Bell specifically — bunted O’Neal over before Carter Moore drove him in with a single. Kleindienst said the Moberly game would have been even closer if not for four of Tucker Sheets’ six walks happening in a four-run first inning for the Spartans that followed a two-RBI home run by Moore.

On Friday, O’Neal was 0-for-5 and looking to help the team in some way against Fulton. O’Neal laid down a bunt to lead off the sixth inning. Moore singled, Tiffany balked and then O’Neal slid in safely ahead of the throw after a ground ball by Caleb Sheets.

“He is a ballplayer,” Kleindienst said. “He walked up to me before his at-bat and said, ‘Hey, what do you think about this or that?’ I’m like, ‘Be a ballplayer. You are a ballplayer. If you see it, do it.’ He saw it, he did it and he was safe by three steps.”

Bell said North Callaway has done well playing up a class by winning against good Class 4 teams like Kirksville, Wright City, California twice and Fulton this past weekend. He said the close losses even make the Thunderbirds feel good about themselves going into districts, where they have the No. 1 seed in the Class 3 District 7 tournament to be played at South Callaway in Mokane. North Callaway plays at 4 p.m. Monday against either Centralia (16-12) or New Bloomfield (10-12).

“We’ve been competitive against really good Class 4 schools for the past two games,” Bell said. “It’s tough to lose them, but you want to stay competitive so that’s good.”