In the bottom of the seventh inning of the regional tournament, with a trip to the Class A fall baseball state tournament on the line, Ripley coach Donnie Hoffman did something he hadn’t done all season.
Hoffman moved his infield into the grass, which the Warriors work on every day in practice and in pregame, but hadn’t done in a game. But two outs away from state, with the tying run third, it was just the time. And it worked just as planned.
On the next at-bat, a ground ball was hit straight to Ripley shortstop Kam Melvin, who looked the Cameron High runner back to third and threw the out at first. Then, after a walk that put the winning run on first, Axton Pickering ended the game with a strikeout to give Ripley the 8-7 win last Wednesday and send the Warriors to the Class A state tournament for the first time in 19 years.
No. 8 Ripley will play No. 4 Wright City at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Shawnee High School in the Class A state quarterfinals.
“The kids showed a lot of poise there at the end,” Hoffman said. “Real proud of them for the poise that they showed to finish up the ballgame there. … It is such a big accomplishment. I’m really super proud of my young men. Played their fann...