Bowen Brantingham, blazing bats lead Burroughs past Springfield Catholic for Missouri Class 4 baseball championship

Air Force signee Brantingham strikes out 13 in 6 1/3 innings

Author:
Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports
Publish date:
Jun 2, 2023 1:47 AM EDT

OZARK, Mo. – Before the biggest game of his life, John Burroughs senior right-hander Bowen Brantingham had a problem.

His glove.

As he began to warm up before the Missouri Class 4 baseball championship game on Thursday night, the home-plate umpire made Brantingham change his glove. The glove, as well as his back-up glove, both have grey on them so he wasn’t allowed to use them.

“That was the first time I had to change my glove this year,” he said, “but it wasn’t that big of a deal once I found one that fit and was good.”

Brantingham borrowed teammate Hall Chapman’s brown glove and proceeded to turn in a dominant performance. The Air Force signee struck out 13 batters over 6 1/3 innings as Burroughs rolled to an impressive 9-4 victory over Springfield Catholic to capture the Class 4 championship at Sky Bacon Stadium.

The title was the first for John Burroughs (28-3) since 2002 and the fourth in school history. After opening the season with three losses in their first four games, the Bombers reeled off 27 straight wins.

“We were 3-3 coming out of Florida and then just to roll off all those wins, it’s been something to watch,” Burroughs coach Scott Deken said. “These guys play so hard, they work so hard.”

And they hit.

The Bombers pounded out nine runs on 12 hits against three Springfield Catholic pitchers. Junior shortstop Calvin Gelle went 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Senior center fielder Julian Schenck, junior right fielder Griffin Barnett and sophomore second baseman Ahmad Muhammad added two hits apiece. Muhammad scored twice, and he and Barnett each drove in two runs.

Those four helped Burroughs jump out to an early lead with six runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Gelle and Schenck started the rally with one-out singles. Barnett followed with an RBI single before senior left fielder Will Chapman singled to load the bases.

Jack Enger, a senior third baseman, followed with an RBI single. Senior first baseman Tucker Desloge plated a run with a fielder’s choice groundout and throwing error. Senior designated hitter Brady Schenck followed with an RBI groundout to first base.

With two outs, sophomore second baseman Ahmad Muhammad blasted an opposite-field two-run triple into the right field corner to make it 6-0. Muhammad tried to score but was out on a close play at the plate.

That proved to be enough run support for Brantingham (10-0).

“Bowen Brantingham did fantastic,” Deken said. “He’s everything that we wanted him to be. He’s going to be really, really special at the next level. He was really, really special at this level. He was one of the best to ever put on this uniform and my hats off to him for sure.”

Brantingham allowed four runs (three earned) on three hits and walked seven in addition to his 13 strikeouts.

Most of the damage against the Burroughs senior came in the second inning, as a fast-moving weather system left him on the mound during a downpour as fans ran for cover.

A pair of two-out walks turned into three runs when Catholic first baseman Cole Schoen smacked a two-run triple to center field and then scored on a throwing error.

“I feel like that three up there is a little bit weather-aided,” Deken said. “It was raining really hard. I’m really surprised they didn’t at least pause it for a little bit knowing it would quickly pass through.”

Burroughs added a run in the third on a Julian Schenck two-out RBI single and two more runs in the fifth as Gelle and Barnett came through with RBI singles to make it 9-3.

Springfield Catholic (21-8), which finished second in Class 3 a year ago, threatened in the top of the seventh inning.

Brantingham walked the first two batters he faced before recording his 13th strikeout and reaching his pitch limit.

Enger replaced Brantingham. The first batter he faced reached on an error, which allowed a run to score, but then the closer struck out the next two batters he faced to close out the championship victory.

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