Zumwalt South Walks Off With Win Against Barat Academy

At one point during the bottom of the sixth inning of Wednesday’s home varsity baseball game against Barat Academy,  head coach Keith DeShurley rhetorically asked his team “did you guys forget how to play baseball for a day?”

Later in the inning, a frustrated DeShurley yelled, at no one in particular, “please someone do something, and put me out of my misery.”

Fortunately for DeShurley, and the Bulldogs, senior third baseman Ryan Light was able to do something. He sprinted home, after a Barat wild pitch, and scored the winning run in a 5-4 Zumwalt South win over the Eagles.

“We told the kids if they decided they were going to sleepwalk through the game, it wasn’t going to be easy,” DeShurley said. “Because [Barat] did the same thing to Howell Central earlier in the year. And we knew they were going to scrap around and stay in it. We definitely could’ve played better.”

And that’s why DeShurley was so frustrated with his Bulldogs during and after the game.

The home team made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes, including two defensive errors, two baserunning mistakes, and the scenario that really angered DeShurley, three straight batters taking called third strikes with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth.

“This was a game where we were trying to get some other kids some playing time, who hadn’t gotten much all year,” DeShurley said. “But that’s not an excuse why it was 5-4. We had plenty of our starters out there that could’ve scored more than five runs today.”

South certainly seemed destined to score more than five runs in the game. The Bulldogs scored three times on four straight hits in the bottom of the first.

Senior shortstop Dan Seddon delivered the big blow—a two-run double that gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead. He then scored moments later, when sophomore catcher Jeff Smugala drilled a basehit to make it 3-1 in South’s favor.

“I think we came out like we should’ve, and got those three runs in the first,” DeShurley said. “But then all of a sudden we decided we were going to put the bats up for the rest of the day. You just can’t do that.”

And that’s what allowed Barat to get back in the game.

The Eagles, who held a brief lead in the first, after senior Blake Besancenez scored on a hit by teammate Jake Campbell, cut the South led to 3-2 in the top of the fourth, when sophomore Brett Johnson scored on a hit by fellow sophomore Tanner Reid.

South got that run back though, in the bottom of the fourth, when Andrew Parks tripled to lead off the inning, then scored on a triple by teammate Tyler Rutledge.

That made the score 4-2, and it seemed like South would get more when it loaded the bases. But Barat’s Campbell was able to get out of the jam with only the one run scoring.

“One of the issues we’ve had this year is lack of focus,” DeShurley said. “And when you get in a game like this, that’ll catch up with you.”

And that’s what happened in the top of the fifth.  Barat was able to tie the score thanks to a hit, three walks, and an RBI groundball.

South probably had three chances to get out of the inning without any runs scoring. Instead, they let two Eagles cross the plate, and the score was tied.

That was when the frustration began to mount for DeShurley. It then multiplied when the Bulldogs loaded the bases in the fifth, but couldn’t take the lead because batters just didn’t put the ball in play.

“You can’t just take three called strikes like that,” DeShurley said.

In the bottom of the sixth though, South had Light leading off, and he clearly wasn’t planning on taking any called third strikes.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound slugger drilled the first strike he saw over the third baseman’s head and into the left-field corner for a leadoff double, his team-leading 14th two-bagger of the season.

Light later found his way to third, and seemed like he might be stuck there after Barat got two outs in the inning.

But with teammate Tommy Moran at the plate, Light broke for home following a pitch in the dirt by Barat’s Campbell.

The Barat senior’s breaking pitch caromed past his catcher and all the way back to the backstop, which allowed Light to score without a play, and gave South a 5-4 win.

“Even though it wasn’t pretty, you still have to be happy with a win,” DeShurley said. “I can’t be too mad when we get a win. Barat’s a good team, and this was a good win for us.”

South (14-11) will look to close out its regular season, and possibly claim a share of the GAC North title, Friday afternoon, when it travels to Warrenton High, for a 4:15 p.m. game.

If the Bulldogs win that contest, they would finish the season in a first-place tie with Fort Zumwalt East High, a team South beat 7-0 back on April 19.

Barat (13-8) will also close out its regular season at 4:15 p.m. on Friday, when it hosts Principia High at its home field in O’Fallon.