South Callaway gets past Mountain Grove in Class 3 sectional

MOKANE - The South Callaway Bulldogs knocked down a big barrier in their attempt to return to the Class 3 Final Four - the defending state champion Mountain Grove Panthers.

The Bulldogs - ranked second in the state - played from ahead, came from behind, then held off the Panthers in notching a 6-5 sectional win Monday.

South Callaway (25-5) will host the Strafford Indians in a Class 3 quarterfinal Wednesday. Strafford (19-6) shut out Stockton 8-0 in sectionals Monday.

After trailing 3-0 early, Mountain Grove (16-6) pieced together the game's next four runs, including a pair that put them in front in the bottom of the fifth inning. Brock Coffman's two-run double off South Callaway junior starter Kaden Helsel put the Panthers in front 4-3.

The Bulldogs answered with the decisive runs in the top of the sixth. Dylan Lepper doubled to start the inning, then moved to third on a picturesque bunt single down the third-base line by Drake Davidson.

"That was a great spot to put a bunt down," South Callaway head coach Heath Lepper said. "You can't ask for a whole lot more out of that situation."

With one out, Braden Lallier reached on a failed attempt to catch Dylan Lepper in a rundown at home, loading the bases. Helsel drew a walk to score Lepper to tie the game, while Peyton Leeper singled in the two deciding runs to put the Bulldogs ahead 6-4.

"They kept fighting, kept fighting every pitch, which is what we've talked about all year long," Heath Lepper said.

Coffman drove in Mountain Grove's final run with a two-out single in the sixth to make it a one-run game. South Callaway's Graysan Peneston hit Connor McNew with a pitch to start the Panthers' half of the seventh, but induced senior third baseman Austin Williams into their third double play of the day on a lineout to second.

Peneston (7-2) then struck out Raleigh Wakefield to end the game, picking up the three-inning decision. He gave up a run on three hits, registered a strikeout and walked one.

"I really enjoyed watching that boy come in," Heath Lepper said. "It's his senior year and that moment to get that save - or I guess the win because he came in beforehand - is really, really big."

The Bulldogs' bats set the tone early and barely gave Mountain Grove time to react. Williams began the game on the mound for the Panthers and plunked Helsel on the arm to lead off the game. Helsel scored easily just a few pitches later when Leeper laced a double to the warning track.

Peneston slapped an RBI double of his own, this one to right field and with one out to plate Leeper. South Callaway's big inning finished up on an RBI single by junior Landon Horstman that brought in Peneston to make it 3-0 and chased Williams from the mound after just one-third of an inning.

"We want to hit balls in hitters' counts and not let them get by us, which is what we did," Heath Lepper said.

The Bulldogs couldn't sustain the start as they notched just two hits and only put three runners on base over the next three innings. Senior catcher Treye Collins singled home junior first baseman Cade Coffman to put Mountain Grove on the board in the first, then drew within a run on senior left fielder Logan Sheppard's two-out single off Helsel in the fourth.

Helsel threw four innings, allowing four runs - three earned - on six hits, struck out five and walked two.

"(The Panthers') offensive lineup is really aggressive and anything over the plate they're going to put a good swing on," Heath Lepper said. "So you have to give them credit for kind of taking (Helsel) out of his game on the mound."

Davidson, Horstman and Leeper each went 2-for-4, while Dylan Lepper was 2-for-3 to guide South Callaway's nine-hit performance.