Bearcat baseball to host Missouri Western series

RIVER BOYD Sports Reporter | @RiverBoyd5

Northwest baseball will return to Maryville after dropping its three-game series against Newman March 31-April 2 in Wichita, Kansas. The weekend wasn’t all doom-and-gloom, as the Bearcats scored 20 runs in the second game of the series April 1 — the first time they have scored 20 runs in an MIAA game since 2015.

After another up-and-down series for Northwest, the team will try to turn its season around during a five-game homestand against Highway 71 rival Missouri Western April 6-8, Washburn April 11 and Quincy April 11.

Senior outfielder Ryan Koski had seven RBIs in the series against Newman. Koski said being away from home is tough and playing at home gives the Bearcats an edge. Northwest is 2-5 at Bearcat Baseball Field, compared to 2-13 on the road and 3-6 at neutral sites.

“It’ll be nice,” Koski said. “This was kind of a heavy stretch during our season where we had a couple of away series in a row. It’ll just be nice to be back at home playing in Maryville with our fans there.”

The Bearcats (7-24, 5-15 MIAA) will kick off the five-game stretch against Highway 71 rival Western (7-24, 4-16 MIAA). The last time the Griffons and ’Cats clashed, Western took the series 2-1 April 8-10, 2022.

Koski said the Bearcats need to come together and play a full series of good baseball.

“Just sticking with the process of how to win baseball games, ‘skip’ talks about the process a lot, and we’ve shown flashes of great baseball,” Koski said. “It’s just we need to keep continuing to work to put it together for a whole series.”

After the matchup between the in-state rivals, the Bearcats have an MIAA matchup against Washburn (21-13, 14-6 MIAA) April 11 in Maryville. The Ichabods have defeated the Bearcats twice this season — each time by two or less runs.

Most recently, the Ichabods bested the Bearcats 4-2 March 29 at Bearcat Baseball Field. Even during the loss, the ’Cats were very vocal in supporting their teammates from the dugout or on the field.

“It’s extremely important — we treat everyone like we’re brothers on this team, and we always want to see that person next to you succeed,” Koski said. “It’s extremely important, especially if we’ve lost a couple of series, we just have to stay positive and stay with each other to not waver.”

This season, neither Northwest or Western have won a series. The conference bout will feature two teams in the MIAA struggling to generate success at the plate. Heading into the series with Western, the Bearcats are No. 11 in the conference in batting average (.263) and the Griffons are No. 10 (.269). Koski said the Bearcats just needs to focus on what’s in front of them.

“It’s really important,” Koski said. “Every series that we have going forward and even the ones in the past have always been number one priority, and we just have to focus on this series coming up. One game at a time and play the best baseball we can.”

Next on the docket is Quincy April 12 in Maryville (20-6). The game will mark the first time the Hawks have played in Maryville since their 11-8 win over Northwest May 3, 2016.

Coach Darin Loe took over the program in 2000 and has been at Northwest for the last five matchups against Quincy. Loe said the ’Cats need to be more consistent.

“That’s kind of been one of the big things in our season — we’ve been inconsistent,” Loe said. “Whether that’s in a game or individual players, we just need our players to be the same guy everyday (and) give us their best day everyday. A lot of it is we just need to stay focused.”

Transfer-athlete talks about first outdoor meet with Northwest

WESLEY MILLER Sports Editor | @wesleymiller360

Northwest track and field was 232 miles away from Maryville, yet, some athletes made themselves right at home in Southwest Baptist’s Plaster Stadium, perhaps because it was another “home of the Bearcats.”

In the Southwest Baptist University Bearcat Invite March 31-April 1, Northwest’s record books were rewritten three times. Additionally, the women’s team won the meet with 146 points — 45 points more than second place. Coach Brandon Masters joked there may have been some familiarity in Bolivar, Missouri, and he said the Bearcat Invite is always a good meet.

“We like that meet,” Masters said. “It’s still a little bit early to have some of the marks that we’re having, but we’ll take them because maybe it’ll be pretty good later.”

Among those marks were Northwest’s record-breaking men’s 4x100-meter relay, women’s 4x100 relay and the women’s 4x400 relay.

A mark of three minutes, 42 seconds and 66 milliseconds by sophomore Luisarys Toledo, sophomore Chloe Saenz, sophomore Jaedy Commins and sophomore Kaylee Harp during the meet would have set the program record in the women’s 4x400. However, during the same event, the quartet of junior Olivia Sattlefield, junior Tiffany Hughey, sophomore Bailey Blake and freshman Kennedi Cline finished with the program’s top finish of 3:42.24.

“It was really fun to watch because we planned it where they could push each over in every single rep,” Masters said. “I swear at some point they were holding hands — holding hands, they were so close together. It was really fun.”

Sophomore Lexie Gilbert, sophomore Ally Hammond, Hughey and Cline, with a time of 45.95 in the women’s 4x100, passed the mark of 46.45 set by Hammond, Gilbert, Cline and freshman Reese Brown.

Senior R.J. Williams, sophomore Joel Dos Santos, sophomore Enrico Cavagna and freshman Dominic Sedlacek set the program-best time in 4x100 with a time of 40.40 in the men’s 4x100.

Among the athletes to find success in Bolivar, transfer- athlete from Oral Roberts, junior Kemuel Sloan, competed in his first outdoor meet for Northwest and earned his first Division II provisional qualifying mark with a leap of 14 feet and 81 inches in the men’s triple jump. Sloan said he has enjoyed the support during his first season in a new environment.

“I’m not a very talkative person, so I’m kind of quiet,” Sloan said. “People will come up to me and talk a lot, so I talk back to them. So it’s pretty family-oriented around here.”

“(Sloan) says he’s a quiet guy — doesn’t talk a whole lot — but you get that boy on the runway, and all of our guys and gals come over to watch him jump,” Masters said. “It was probably 25 of our athletes or so, and he’s back on the runway, calling for a big clap, so he isn’t as quiet as he says sometimes. He’s a showman.”

For Masters and assistant coach Nikki Wetstein, Sloan’s impact goes beyond his jumps or showmanship.

Wetstein, who has helped Masters with hurdles, jumps and multi-events since 2020, said her favorite memory of Sloan was during the fall when he gave a teammate shoes after their shoe busted. She said Sloan even chose to run barefoot alongside his teammate.

“He’s a team guy,” Wetstein said. “He gives (support) every day, so it’s easy for the team to give it back.”

As Sloan and the rest of the Bearcats prepare for a pair of meets in California April 12-15 and the Kansas Relays April 1315, he said he’s grateful for the team he has around him.

For Masters, finding athletes who are team-oriented has been a focus. The sixth-year coach said he feels that’s exactly what the program has done.

“We’re doing something right by getting the right people into this team,” Masters said. “This team is the closest team I’ve had here by far — not even close. And I think that’s part of recruiting. That’s part of getting the people that want to be here, want to be good and want that type of atmosphere.”