FINAL FOUR

In fifth straight trip, St. Elizabeth to face top-ranked Cooter in state semifinals

St. Elizabeth is back in the Class 1 semifinals for the fifth straight time.

The St. Elizabeth Hornets are making it look so darned easy.

But they want to assure you it most certainly is not as easy as it looks.

St. Elizabeth, the defending Class 1 baseball state champion, is returning to Ozark this week to play in its fifth consecutive Final Four. No other high school baseball program in Missouri has a longer active Final Four streak than the Hornets.

“I know last year we made it seem easy when we were blowing teams out in the postseason,” St. Elizabeth coach Caleb Heckemeyer said. “We were run-ruling our way through.

“But this year, we’ve had a couple of tough games, one in districts and one in the quarterfinals. And in the quarterfinal game, we had to come from behind down two, twice.”

So far this postseason, St. Elizabeth is outscoring opponents 42-5, starting the state playoffs with a 16-1 win in five innings against Weaubleau in the sectionals. However, the Hornets were six outs away from having their “Drive for Five” cut short in last Wednesday’s state quarterfinal game at Liberal.

St. Elizabeth showed its resiliency, scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to beat the Liberal Bulldogs 6-4.

“These boys had to show some fight in them and prove they are worthy of continued success, trying to defend our state title,” Heckemeyer said.

Now St. Elizabeth (21-7), ranked No. 2 in Class 1 by the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association, will face the top-ranked Cooter Wildcats (24-6) in the state semifinals at 10 a.m. Monday at Sky Bacon Stadium — formerly U.S. Ballpark — in Ozark.

St. Elizabeth had a 15-2 record in the fall baseball season, but the Hornets started the spring season by losing five of their first six games.

“We had a week of practice after the Final Four in basketball, and then all of a sudden, the next week we had rain, we didn’t get on the field,” Heckemeyer said. “We had a little rust.”

Then, starting in the New Bloomfield Tournament in midApril, the Hornets got hot.

“Our guys were ready to hit, pitch and field,” Heckemeyer said. “The next thing you know, we won 13 straight games and 20 of our last 22.

“These guys have clicked at the right time.”

Cooter started the state playoffs by beating third-ranked Oran 2-1 in nine innings in the sectional round, then cruised to a 14-3 victory in five innings against Greenwood in the quarterfinals.

Hayden Nazarenus, a senior who will play next season at Crowder College, hit a walkoff home run for the Wildcats against Oran, a team-high eighth homer for the left-handed batter out of the No. 2 spot in the order.

Nazarenus is batting .465 (33for-71) with 41 runs scored, 38 RBI and 22 extra-base hits.

“To go to Crowder, you’ve got to be pretty darn good,” Heckemeyer said. “He’s going to be tough. We’re going to have to make sure that we get the guys out in front of him. We’re going to have to be extra careful with him, because he can flat-out hit.”

Race Lynn, Cooter’s leadoff batter, is second on the team with a .422 batting average, while Luke Barnes — who bats in the No. 3 spot after Nazarenus — is next with a .371 average and five homers.

“After that, they will look to bunt,” Heckemeyer said of Cooter, which has a total of 51 sacrifice bunts and flies this season. “They’ll do anything to try and get something going for themselves, so we’re going to have to be prepared for everything.” St. Elizabeth will likely face Barnes on the mound Monday. Barnes pitched against Oran and got the no-decision, striking out 14 and walking three in seven innings.

This season, Barnes has an 8-1 record with a 1.84 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 60⅔ innings.

Nazarenus earned the win on the mound in both state playoff games. He struck out five and walked two against Greenwood.

“They’re throwing mostly low- to mid-80s, something that we’re used to,” Heckemeyer said. “Hopefully we can get some good at-bats, score some runs early.”

Heckemeyer said he is leaning toward pitching senior righthander Caleb Oligschlaeger against Cooter.

Oligschlaeger, who will pitch next season at Southwestern Illinois College, has a 5-0 record this spring with 41 strikeouts and a 2.31 ERA in 24⅓ innings. He did not pitch in the first half of the season after suffering a leg injury during basketball season.

“He’s been there, he’s pitched in these games,” Heckemeyer said of Oligschlaeger, who pitched in the state championship game in 2021 against Oran and was the winning pitcher in last season’s state semifinal game against Platte Valley.

“He didn’t pitch his best game Wednesday night, he didn’t really like the mound (at Liberal). When he tried to throw hard, it wasn’t around the (strike) zone, so he threw less velocity and tried to hit spots more. Hopefully, being on a better field, a turf mound, he’ll get his groove back.”

Gavin Williams, a sophomore right-hander, is also expected to pitch at the Final Four for the Hornets. He has a 4-4 record with 68 strikeouts and a 2.30 ERA in 48⅔ innings.

“He pitched against Willard, he pitched against Fatima, he pitched against Russellville and he pitched against Father Tolton,” Heckemeyer said. “He’s pitched in some big games.”

St. Elizabeth has a team batting average of .360. The Hornets return six all-state players from last season. In addition to Oligschlaeger and Williams, the others on the 2022 all-state team were first-teamers Jace Kesel and Noah Chipman and second-teamers Levi Holtmeyer and Isaac Green.

“Our offense has been in a good spot since we started that win streak,” Heckemeyer said. “It doesn’t matter who we have up at the plate. When we need big hits, guys have been stepping up.”

Kesel hit three home runs against Weaubleau, giving him a team-high 11 homers this season. He is also batting .500 (40for-80) with 47 RBI in 26 games.

“Jace has had an outstanding year,” Heckemeyer said. “Those 11 home runs, we needed them in a lot of those games. He hit a home run off (Russellville’s) Charlie Miller to give us the lead.”

Kesel, one of St. Elizabeth’s five seniors, has also been a mainstay behind the plate for four years.

“He’s caught Brock (Lucas) and Dylan (Wobbe), Caleb and Carson (Kesel),” Heckemeyer said. “Those guys trust him, they can throw stuff in the dirt in the upper 80s and know that he’s going to be there to block it.”

Oligschlaeger, St. Elizabeth’s only left-handed batter in the starting lineup, is next on the team with a .494 batting average and 21 RBI.

After playing on small fields in the state playoffs, the Hornets will play their next two games in a spacious ballpark, where triples are much more common than home runs.

“I feel like playing on a bigger field will help us even more,” Heckemeyer said. “If they’re playing deep, we can still hit some gaps or get something to sink in front of them.”

The second semifinal game is at 1 p.m. today between fifthranked Platte Valley (19-2) and unranked Community (19-5).

Last season, St. Elizabeth defeated Platte Valley 10-0 in six innings in the state semifinals.

“They have their ace back from last year,” Heckemeyer said, referring to Memphis Bliley, who pitched against the Hornets last year.

The semifinal losers will play for third place at 10 a.m. Tuesday, while the winners will play for a state title at 1 p.m.

“It’s another chance to win a state title,” Heckemeyer said.