Webb City is back in the Class 5 state quarterfinals but this time, the format is a little different.
The Cardinals punched their ticket to the quarterfinals with a matchup against Platte County after a district run that included a 14-2 win over Grandview in the opening round before an 11-1 win over Belton in the semifinals. Webb City concluded the tournament with a 3-1 win over local rival Carl Junction.
“You know, it was just a really great effort by our team,” Webb City coach Andrew Doennig said. “In our championship game with CJ, you know, got down 2 to nothing early, but it didn't seem to really bother our kids too much. We've played in a lot of tight games this year and so I think that they were pretty calm about it. They knew going into that game it wasn't going to be just a one inning be, it was going to be a full seven-inning game. So, they continued to put together some real good bats at the plate.”
As the Cardinals have shown all year, they have perseverance as a team. They can’t quit, won’t quit mentality is a large reason they’re in the position they're in this season.
“I think that's something that we've kind of improved upon quite a bit throughout this year,” Doennig said. “You know, earlier in the year, we won our first game and then lost our next six. So, we kind of got down on ourselves and we just tried to continue to remind them every day at practice that we're going to get a lot better towards the end of the year, and we've kind of continued to preach that to them. I think once the guys saw that we could win games and even win close games, guys saw that they were capable of playing against quality teams and quality opponents and quality arms.”
The quarterfinals will look different this year in the Class 5 and 6. Instead of a single game, it will now be a best-two-out-of-three series.
“I think it's a challenge,” Doennig said. “It's something that nobody here has ever really been up against. I think it's a challenge from a head coach standpoint as far as ‘do I use this pitcher here? Do we pull this guy out here?’ Because of the pitch count situation if you take a guy out after 30 pitches, he can't pitch on Saturday. So, you might think, ‘well, do I ride this guy a little bit longer? Do I use this guy here?’ So it's a little bit more gamesmanship, it's probably a little bit more like a college and major league situation where I gotta have a little bit more gamesmanship as far as managing my pitchers.”
One other aspect to a possible three-game series is the overnight stay. Fortunately for the Cardinals, who haven’t made an overnight stay in several years, they’ll be playing in front of the home crowd at Chuck Barnes Field.
“You know, the travel in high school and baseball is not like college,” Doennig said. “In college you're used to going somewhere for a three-game series on a weekend. You travel multiple times a year. So you're used to it. Well, we haven't had an overnight trip here since I think 2022. Being able to stay at home, sleep in your own bed, you know, eat food at your own house, you know, take a shower at your own place whenever you get home, all your stuff's there. You don't have to worry about packing all your stuff. I think just some familiarity with just being at home is a positive for us, too. I think it's good for this first year to host these things.”
Game 1 is set for 5 p.m. on Friday, while Game 2 is slated for 11 a.m. on Saturday. If Game 3 is necessary, it will be played at 1:30.”