Dragons, Cardinals head to Ozark this week

By Jacob Meikel

Mid Buchanan and Benton’s baseball programs will both travel to Ozark, Missouri, this week attempting to cap off their seasons with state championships.

The Cardinals will take to the state semifinals this week for the first time since 2007. The last time they went, head coach Johnny Coy was a player instead of the man leading this new era of Cardinals baseball. The Cardinals will have the early game on Wednesday in the semifinals at 10 a.m. against MICDS.

“I know they got one good pitcher. That’s probably who we’ll see in the semifinals, but you know, we got good pitching as well. We got good defense, we got good hitters, our guys with as confidence as can be. At the end of the day, whoever we play down there is going to be good. So we know we’re going to be in for a dogfight and our guys are ready for it. We welcome that,” Coy said after the team’s quarterfinal win last Thursday against St. Michael the Archangel.

The Dragons of Mid-Buchanan make their first trip to the state semifinals in program history. The team that has kept winning despite the lack of senior leadership finds themselves in a position where they will play the team with the second best win percentage remaining in West County at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams are identical in the run-scoring category, averaging 6.6 runs scored per game. Defensively, West County has the edge, as it give ups over one run less per game to its opponents this season.

Two games are guaranteed for both teams while at state. Both Benton and Mid-Buchanan will play games on Wednesday and Thursday regardless if they win their semifinal matchups or not.