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Spring Sports: What would have happened?

By Jeff Yoder
Posted 5/19/20

This coming Friday, May 22, was supposed to be the first day of the state track meet at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City. The following Monday, June 1st, would have seen the opening games of the …

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Spring Sports: What would have happened?

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This coming Friday, May 22, was supposed to be the first day of the state track meet at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City. The following Monday, June 1st, would have seen the opening games of the state baseball championship in O’Fallon.

Instead, both venues will be empty and parents, coaches, and athletes will wonder how the season would’ve played out. I wonder too. I planned on spending a good chunk of my spring on the infield of a track, leaning up against the fence at a baseball game, or walking golf courses. There would have been some great stories, great photos, and great moments. Here’s what I think would have happened:

Harrisburg baseball would have won the Class 2 District 11 championship in Westran. The Bulldogs have appeared in the district final four years in a row, but couldn’t get over that hump. Harrisburg graduated just one of the seven players who had double-digit hits during a 14-7 season a year ago. The Bulldogs would have been deep, experienced, and talented. Senior Jonah Sanford hit .343 and led the team with 24 RBI as a junior. Senior Brayden Hudson led the Bulldogs with a .414 average and 35 runs scored in 2019. Senior Charles Strain batted .347 and led the team with 25 hits last year. The Bulldog seniors would have added a district championship plaque to the trophy case this spring… and maybe more.

Brayden Hudson would have had a first-team all-state season for a third straight year. Hudson was primed to have a stellar senior season before joining the Missouri Western baseball team in the fall. Hudson can do it all. He hit .514 with 19 RBI as a sophomore, he stole 26 bases and scored 35 runs as a junior. He also holds the state record for consecutive games with a hit at 36, a streak that began during his sophomore season and ended last year. The previous record was 28. “He’s a natural athlete, physically gifted,” Harrisburg head coach Chris Ackman said at his signing. “He has above average speed, above average arm, above average IQ as a player.”

Hudson has a bright future ahead either way, but he would have had a third all-state season.

The Fayette baseball team would have given Harrisburg all it could handle again on April 8th. The Falcons surprised the Bulldogs with a five-run sixth inning in a 12-10 win at Estes field last year on April 3. Harrisburg won the rematch 9-7 and took the district matchup 5-0, but the Falcons showed how they were going to play baseball under new assistant coach Andy Oeth and head coach Charlie Trick. “That’s just the way we play the game of baseball,” Trick said after the comeback win. “It was huge for us in the fact that they never once gave up. The really worked every aspect. Our pitching staff, offensively, defensively, it was a phenomenal win.”

De’Shonne Cowans would have crossed the finish line in first at the state track meet. Cowans finished third in the 200-meter dash, behind a pair of seniors, at last year’s state meet. Cowans also finished eighth in the 100-meter dash, after running the third-fastest time in the prelims behind the seniors that finished first and second overall. Cowans would also have swept the sprint titles again while leading the Glasgow boys to another CAC meet championship. He won the 100, 200 and 400-meter dash at the conference meet a season ago as the Yellowjackets finished 124 points ahead of second-place Slater. Dawson Yung would have added another conference title to his list of accomplishments. Yung finished first in the 300-meter hurdles and second in the 110-meter hurdles at the CAC meet last year.

Krista Monnig would have earned another state track medal and conference championship in the pole vault. Monnig cleared 7-06 to claim the CAC title last year and 8-03 to finish sixth at state. Hadley Sanders would have left the state meet with four medals for the third straight season. Last year, Sanders finished eighth in the 800 and 1600-meter races, as well as the 300-meter hurdles. The 4x400-meter relay finished fifth. As a freshman, Sanders finished sixth in the 1600-meter run, fourth in the 800-meter run, while the 4x200-meter relay took third. Sanders won a state title with the 4x400-meter relay of Makayla Fuemmeler, Alyssa Yung, and Kristin Stockhorst.

Tyler Perkins would have finished top-three in the boys class 1 800-meter run. Perkins was the top underclassman in the race a season ago, finishing in fifth with a New Franklin school-record time of 2:04.4. Just 2.1 seconds separated tenth place from third place in the tight race. Perkins easily won the 800-meter run at the CAC meet last year with a finish of 2:14.

Fayette’s discus and javelin school records would have been updated again. Josh and Zach Henderson set records in the events as sophomores and were back, bigger and stronger, for their junior seasons. Josh Henderson finished last year with a sixth-place medal in the discus. Zach Henderson finished 13th in the javelin. Both of their record-setting throws from the district meet would have been good for third place at the Class 2 state meet.

Zoe Carr and Alee Thornhill would have finished their Bulldog track careers with another medal in Jefferson City. Last season, Carr and Thornhill set a school record with a fourth-place finish at state in the 4x400-meter relay along with Kate Weil and Madeleine Gillman. Carr, Thornhill, Weil, and Baylie Combs also picked up medals with an eighth-place finish in the 4x800. Without a spring season, the pair of Harrisburg seniors ended up running the last race of their high school careers at the state cross country meet in the fall.

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