Van-Far was more aggressive at the plate on Saturday.

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The Indians were also more productive at the plate when they beat district foe Paris 11-0 in five innings and Missouri Military Academy 18-2 in three innings to win the MMA Baseball Classic on Saturday in Mexico. Reece Culwell hit a milestone on the mound against Paris when he picked up his 200th career strikeout. 

Van-Far (5-4) has been on the receiving end of lopsided scores this season, but those all came against quality opponents, head coach Cameron Huff said. The Indians lost 15-4 to New Bloomfield (5-5), 15-0 to Class 1 No. 3 Wheatland and 18-3 and 17-2 to Eastern Missouri Conference foes Class 4 Wright City (4-5) and Class 3 No. 5 North Callaway. They had 26 hits and 13 extra-base hits on Saturday.

“We attacked early,” Huff said. “With Paris, we came into it knowing it’s a district seed game and must-win baseball game. We got a pretty good scouting report from (Joel) Krato at Community R-6, so I knew they were going to pump strikes.”

Huff said Van-Far typically has the approach “if you get your pitch, hit” but emphasized this time to attack early and not fall behind in the count. He said Culwell, Landon Flowers, Carson Huff, Ronnie Stanich and Tyson Douglas are some hitters doing well so far.

Against Paris (3-4), Tyson Douglas went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, a triple and a double, Carson Huff had three RBIs, and Malik Douglas went 2-for-3 with three runs, two stolen bases and an RBI in his third game back in the lineup after recovering from a torn ACL from football season. Van-Far kept the pressure against MMA (0-5) as Culwell went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a double, Gibson Condie went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two doubles, Easton Sharp finished 2-for-3 with three runs and three RBIs, and Gaven Gaston went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a double.

Basically this season, Huff said wants to apply the HOGS philosophy he learned from a University of Central Missouri coach. It stands for hard on ground shots. 

“We want to keep the ball at a 20-25 percent launch angle or lower,” Huff said. “We want hard line drives.”

Culwell wasn’t allowing many HOGS against Paris as he struck out six and allowed four hits and one walk in four innings. One of those strikeouts was his 200th career strikeout so he took a moment to shake Huff’s hand on the mound while the MMA PA announcer called attention to his milestone.

Culwell celebrated his 100th career strikeout last season. He said he was nervous about whether he would hit 200 on Saturday but is now “ready for 250.” He said his strikeout numbers have gone up each year, and there are reasons for that.

“Huff and I do a little winter work in the offseason,” Culwell said. “That helps a little bit. I had a really big junior year last year, and that’s where a lot of them came from — 83 last year.”

Huff said Culwell has been better every single season, striking out around 30 his freshman year and then 60 as a sophomore and finally 83 as a junior. He said Culwell has over 20 strikeouts through nine games this season.

“It goes to show he has put in his work year in and year out, and he’s consistently gotten better,” Huff said. “We’re going to chase that 100 in a season this year.”

Culwell said the reigning district champion Van-Far has lost to some good competition but is full healthy now that its leadoff hitter Malik Douglas is back in the lineup. The Indians (1-2 EMO) play at conference foe Wellsville-Middletown (0-7, 0-3 EMO) at 4:30 p.m. today.

“We’re at 100 percent now,” Culwell said. “We’ll go far as long as stay at 100 percent.”