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Poplar Bluff baseball makes history with win over Rockwood Summit, first ever quarterfinal berth
POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Ronin Rice's biggest strike came from right field Tuesday.
On the mound, the Poplar Bluff starter held Rockwood Summit to a run through five innings then kept the game tied by throwing out a runner at the plate in the sixth.
Michael Anagnostopoulos led off the bottom of the sixth with a double and later scored on a two-out balk as the Mules edged Summit 2-1 in the MSHSAA Class 5 playoff at Bobby Strenfel Field.
"They just made history," Poplar Bluff coach Steven Edwards said. "That's history for Poplar Bluff."
The Mules (21-5) advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in the program's third playoff appearance. They will face third-ranked Vianney (30-6) at 2:30 p.m. Friday in Kirkwood, Missouri.
Poplar Bluff, which fell out of the state rankings after a 1-4 start to the season, knocked out the second-ranked Falcons (26-5) facing their hard-throwing ace.
"Everybody counted us out," said Anagnostopoulos who had three of Poplar Bluff's five hits.
"We knew we could win this game. ... we believed in ourselves and we got the job done."
For five innings, Rice matched Summit's Jackson Rutledge, who has committed to play at the University of Arkansas if he does not sign with a Major League team in a few weeks.
Anagnostopoulos, who will walk-on at Three Rivers College, led off the sixth with a liner down the right-field line on a 2-1 pitch, beating the throw into second base.
"We knew this kid was going to throw against us and Coach Edwards brought the pitching machine out and was cranking it up to 93 (mph)," said Anagnostopoulos who raised his season average to .446 and is 7 for 10 in the postseason.
Rutledge got his sixth strikeout before Tanner Tibbs moved Anagnostopoulos to third on a groundout, getting tagged by the first baseman who was pulled off the bag with a wide throw from his third baseman.
Rutledge hit his third batter on the next pitch but got ahead in the count 0-2 to leadoff hitter Jared Moses. Austin McIntosh, who scored Poplar Bluff's first run from second on an infield groundout in the third, took a big lead at first and headed for second, trying to draw a throw. Instead, Rutledge balked and Anagnostopoulos scored the go-ahead run.
"I don't think they're use to seeing that, we do it all the time," Anagnostopoulos said.
Summit coach Jason Schneider said it was on the scouting report.
"We've practiced just about anything and everything coming in," Schneider added.
Rutledge's next pitch hit the front of home plate as McIntosh was stealing third and was stuck at the top of the netting, saving a run. Moses drew a walk after fouling off a two-strike pitch, but Jaxon Passino ended the inning with a strikeout in relief.
Rutledge suffered his first loss after winning six of his 10 starts with a 1.19 ERA.
"He pitched a helluva game," Schneider said.
Rice, who was recently named SEMO Conference Pitcher of the Year, allowed an unearned run, six hits, three walks and hit a batter in five-plus innings. His lone strikeout came after Passino started the game with a double to the left-field gap.
The Falcons left Passino stranded at third when Rice got a groundout to short before catcher Mason Libla threw out a runner stealing second on a ball in the turf.
Libla also picked off a runner at second base for the second out of the second inning following consecutive singles by the Falcons.
An 88-minute weather delay interrupted the bottom of the second.
"I thought it was going to bother me more but I stayed loose, kept pitching," Rice said. "I was alright."
Rice gave up a double to clean-up hitter Coltyn Kessler to start the sixth, ending his day after 75 pitches. The senior took over in right field as Tibbs came in to face Rutledge, who missed two chances to bunt before lifting a 1-2 pitch to right. The ball landed just out of Rice's reach as he slide under a leap-frogging second baseman Turner Fritts.
Rice quickly got the ball as courtesy runner Tanner Jennings rounded third base and threw a strike to Libla, throwing out Jennings by two steps. The Poplar Bluff catcher then turned and threw to first base to get Rutledge coming back to the bag for a double play.
"It hit the ground and it stuck because it's wet so I knew exactly where it was," Rice said. "I looked up as soon as I went for the ball and saw him rounding (third). I was just firing home regardless."
Tibbs (7-2) got a flyout to Rice to end the sixth then struck out the first two hitters in the seventh before another flyout to right field started Poplar Bluff's celebration.
"It shows what heart and character does when you never give up and believe, a lot of good things can happen," Edwards said.
Both teams scored a run after avoiding inning-ending double plays by the slimmest of margins.
McIntosh reached on an error to start the third when Rutledge lost the handle on a ball hit back to the mound. Rice drew a one-out walk after falling behind 0-2 but was erased on a grounder to the second baseman. Tyson Cox beat the throw for an inning-ending double play at first as McIntosh rounded third and scored, sliding across home as the throw pulled the catcher up the third-base line.
"We knew Cox would be able to run out that double play," McIntosh said. "He runs that out nine times out of 10."
Summit tied it in the fifth by also avoiding an inning-ending double play.
With one out, pinch-hitter Connor Giles reached on an infield hit to the first baseman, beating Rice to the bag, before Chase Abeln walked. Passino beat the throw to first base on a fielder's choice to the shortstop to keep the inning alive.
Three pitches later, Libla picked a ball out of the turf but his throw to second to get the runner missed, allowing the trying run to score.
Rice got out of a first-and-third jam when Cox caught a one-hop liner at short.
"That's a hell of a ball team over there," Schneider said. "They came out and completed. I thought our guys did too."
Anagnostopoulos' at-bat in the second was stopped by the sound of thunder and during the mandatory 30-minute wait rain soaked the field. The majority of the 437 paid in attendance stuck around to see Anagnostopoulos hit the first pitch after the delay up the middle for Poplar Bluff's first hit.
Kyler Carr got a two-out single and seeing the ball slip out of the right-fielder's hands, Edwards gave Anagnostopoulos a green light for third but he was tagged out to end the inning.
Turner Fritts started a double play after a leadoff single by Ablen opened the third and center fielder Cameron Jones made a running catch to start both the fourth and fifth innings.
Hosting their first state playoff game in program history, the Mules improved to 17-1 at their new home that has seen four walk-off wins but none bigger than Tuesday.
"Crowd kept us going the whole time," McIntosh said. "Without them we didn't have the momentum we had that last inning to score the final run."
This story has been updated with additional information.