Spoofhound baseball off to hot start

By Morgan Guyer

There was a level of expectation for Maryville Spoofhound Baseball heading into this season with such a strong group returning. Now with just under 10 games played, it is so far, so good for the ball club after a 13-0 victory against East Buchanan in Maryville April 3.

The Spoofhounds were able to hand the Bulldogs their first loss of the season in dominating fashion, holding them to just two hits and committing no errors throughout the game. Maryville was able to apply some pressure early, getting the bases loaded with no outs in the first inning, and were able to open the scoring early as Senior Blake Katen scored on a walk. It was the second inning where the floodgates were opened, as the Spoofhounds scored nine runs to jump out to a 10-0 lead after two innings. Seniors Adam Patton and Cooper Loe drove in runs during the inning, as well as Juniors Cooper Gastler, Boston Hageman and Don Allen. Three more insurance runs were added for Maryville to make the result certain. Katen pitched 4 and 1/3 innings for Maryville, giving up zero hits and striking out eight batters. Sophomore Cannon Creason came in for relief to strike out the final batter of the game.

The combination of strong pitching and hot bats have been on display so far this season. Maryville has scored more than 10 runs on six occasions already, and have four shutouts this season. The Spoofhounds were able to take first at the Plattsburg Tournament on April 1 as well with a dominant display, beating Maysville 6-2 and beating Plattsburg 16-0 in the championship game.