North Callaway’s final game of the year on Monday was just out of reach.

North Callaway vs South Callaway Photo Gallery

The No. 4 Thunderbirds struck out 10 times against top seed and state-ranked No. 5 South Callaway to lose 6-2 in the Class 3 District 7 tournament at South Callaway in Mokane. Davis Woods had two of North Callaway’s three hits, including a solo home run, and Jordan Fishburn had a double prior to him scoring.

The Thunderbirds had the first meeting against South Callaway get out of hand this season 12-4 because of six errors. It was also the team’s first game after several weather postponements, but Ryan Lepper was sharp on the mound for South Callaway this time, North Callaway head coach Zeth Lavy said. North Callaway watched strike three go by in their first five punchouts at the plate but also drew five walks — including two by Fishburn — against Lepper.

“He was able to paint the corners, and we weren’t able to adjust whenever he was able to get off the corner an inch or two,” Lavy said. “We didn’t do a good enough job of getting up on the plate and battling with him, and he kept going after it.”

While North Callaway was trying to figure out Lepper, South Callaway was able to run Sam Pezold off the mound in the second inning. Four straight singles brought home a run and then six Bulldogs out of seven reached via hit, including a two-RBI single by Lepper and a two-RBI triple by Owen Rees. 

The southpaw Woods was called upon to record the final out in the inning and was able to stay atop the mound the rest of the game. He allowed three hits and walked one to allow one unearned run to score while striking out two — the only times South Callaway wasn’t able to put the ball in play.

“He did a great job of being ready when his number was called,” Lavy said. “I thought he did a good job of attacking the zone and keeping guys off-balance — kind of a different look Pezold was giving them from the other side and velocity-wise.”

Woods put his bat to good use as well in the sixth inning when he teed off on a pitch from reliever JT Thomas, following eight strikeouts in five innings by Lepper. The ball landed in the trees behind the fence, which was a familiar sight for Woods’ teammates and the North Callaway fans as Woods has hit all four of his career home runs at South Callaway’s field. The first three have come via the grand slam, including two in one game last year in an 18-8 victory against Kirksville that also made him the first in school history to accomplish the feat.

“He’s come on the last few weeks with the bat,” Lavy said. “It’s something about this place with him.”

Pezold went into Monday’s game with the team’s second-best ERA of 2.04 while striking out a team-high 32 batters and walking only six in 24 innings, helping him earn a second-team Eastern Missouri Conference nod along with his second-best batting average at the plate. South Callaway flipped the script as Pezold walked two batters in his just over an inning of work while not striking out. Much of those innings have been logged the last three weeks.

“Pezold is a competitor, and he’s been used quite a bit the last few weeks,” Lavy said. “I don’t think he was feeling quite as good as he let on. The first inning he looked pretty good and then I think they started feeling it. He just wanted to go out there and go help his team. He didn’t quite have it today, but he didn’t let anybody know that. You’d much rather have that than someone you have to talk into going out there and pitching.”

North Callaway posted a great season when it was all said and done as it finished with its most wins since a 19-5 conference-title season in 2012. Speaking of conference, the Thunderbirds were only one game from sharing a conference title and ended up tied with Wright City for second with an 8-2 Eastern Missouri Conference record.

Lavy said the seniors have been an integral part in progressing the program since the lost 2020 COVID-19 pandemic season as North Callaway won 11 games, then 12 and finally 15 this year. Braydn O’Neal made the first team all-conference team after leading the Thunderbirds in several offensive categories including batting average, RBI and extra-base hits prior to him taking the field for Columbia College next school year. The team’s other seniors like Woods, Fishburn, Matthew Weber and AJ Siegel were either at or near the top in certain offensive categories.

“The seniors in this group held us together in key moments,” Lavy said. “Today, we gave up a five-spot and there’s nobody in the dugout looking around for someone to come help. Those seniors have been a big part of our program the last several years. Three of those guys started as sophomores after their freshman year was taken away because of COVID. With that group, you’re losing a basketball district championship, and we’ve got guys that have placed in state for FFA so we’ve got guys who do a whole lot of things other than baseball, putting a mark on North Callaway that will be missed for sure.”