NEOSHO, Mo. — Neosho earned the eighth spot inside the top 10 of the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association's Class 6 rankings released earlier this week. When you look at the run differential for the Wildcats, its no surprise.
Opponents facing Neosho have been outscored 142-45 this season. That isn't a typo. You read correctly. The Wildcats are averaging nearly 11 runs per game and have held opponents to three to four runs per game while posting a 12-1 record.
Head coach Keith Kilgore talked about his team's success through 13 contests this season.
"We have great kids. They're very coachable kids who have bought into our philosophies and priorities," he said. "We made team culture a priority this year. We're still finding our identity and using the motto of 'we before me.' We're getting rid of selfishness. What I like about this team is the tenacity and grit they play with.
"That showed (Thursday) night against Glendale."
Neosho topped Glendale 12-8 to improve to 2-0 on the week. It will look to get a third win as it visits Southside High School in Fort Smith, Arkansas, at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Kilgore thinks his team has been led by pitching and defense. He says this group "applies the pressure" on offense. The Wildcats are an aggressive team with a lot of speed led by senior Finn Versluis and his base-stealing ability.
Top pitchers on the team are senior Bostyn Patterson and junior Brody Crane. Those two and the rest of the pitching staff have worked to hold the opposition below four runs in seven different games this year. Meaning, the offense has only needed four runs in most of their games to get the win. But it has averaged 10.9 runs a contest.
Part of the strong defense the coach mentioned is led by Versluis in center field, Hudson Williams at shortstop and Kanten Smith behind home plate at the catcher position.
When it comes to the ranking, Kilgore tries not to focus too much on that.
"That's great recognition. We don't pay a whole lot of attention to that because we still have to take it one game at a time," he said.
As the Wildcats continue to navigate their schedule, they'll be seeing more Central Ozark Conference teams in the coming days. Next week shows four games on the schedule and two COC opponents. Tuesday's game is against Kickapoo (6-6) at home, and Thursday's game is at Ozark (10-2).
The last two weeks of the month and into May 1 feature games with Joplin (4-7), Republic (8-6), Carthage (7-4) and Willard (11-1).
"We understand that we're getting into the teeth of our schedule and the COC is tough. There are a lot of very talented teams. It seems every team has a couple very good arms (pitchers). We have to limit swings-and-misses and play the small game," Kilgore said. "We're trying to score one run per inning."
