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Harrisburg seniors relish final games together

By Jeff Yoder
Posted 7/18/20

Trailing Tolton by four runs in the final inning, Harrisburg pushed a run across the plate and loaded the bases with the tying runs in the final home game of the season.

With two outs, Bulldog …

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Harrisburg seniors relish final games together

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Trailing Tolton by four runs in the final inning, Harrisburg pushed a run across the plate and loaded the bases with the tying runs in the final home game of the season.

With two outs, Bulldog senior Jonah Sanford drilled a ball to deep center, but it hung up in the air just a little too long and the Tolton centerfielder was able to snag it for the final out.

Sanford paused for just a few seconds of reflection on his final trip back to the Harrisburg dugout.

Despite the score and the situation, the stakes were low. All 13 Bulldogs had an at bat in the game. Most of them had played multiple positions on Tuesday as well. The game didn’t count, the stats weren’t going in the record books. Still, Sanford would have liked his final at bat at Simpson Field to have gone differently.

Harrisburg gave up 17 hits and fell 12-1 to Russellville in the first game on Tuesday. The Bulldogs held Tolton to two hits in the nightcap, but still lost 5-2.

It was a less than perfect senior night during a far from perfect senior season. But the Harrisburg players had accepted the reality of the canceled postseason long ago, and were grateful for the opportunity to play together.

“It really meant a lot,” said senior Austin Bruns. “We all put in the work in the offseason.

“We all had our hopes set on going to state and eventually getting a ring, that’s what we were planning on, but we still had a great time out here competing. It’s not seeing what we could have been, but still seeing the results from the work we put in in the offseason.”

Sanford had three of Harrisburg’s six hits in the double header on Tuesday. He finished 13-24 in 11 games and led the Bulldogs with ten RBI.

“It was great. It was like playing with a bunch of my brothers,” Sanford said about the season. “We’ve been really close. We’ve played on a lot of the same teams, and even when we’ve split up - when we played each other, it’s just like old times. It just felt like I was playing with my brothers.”

Sanford will continue his baseball career at William Jewell College next year.

Dustin Gipson hit .500 in 12 games and struck out 35 batters in 21 2/3 innings over the season.

 “It was awesome,” he said about playing with his fellow seniors. “They’re family to me.”

Gipson will also continue his baseball career, at North Central Missouri College.

Brayden Hudson played in nine games over the summer, going 10-22 with five extra-base hits. The two-time first-team all-state selection will play baseball at Missouri Western next season.

Hudson was grateful for the chance to play with his teammates this summer after an uncertain spring.

“We just hoped for one more game on this field,” he said. “The seniors, we’re all best friends, we all love playing together. To come out here on our home field and get one more chance, it’s a big deal.”

On Thursday, Harrisburg traveled to Centralia and picked up a pair of wins to finish summer league play with a record of 8-8.

Wyatt Robinson had the game-winning triple in the early contest, a 6-5 Bulldog win. Brayden Ott picked up the save. Ott allowed a leadoff single before recording the final three outs. He struck out the final batter of the game with the tying run at third base.

Harrisburg scored seven runs in the third inning of the second game to take an 8-0 lead. Hudson was 3-3 with a pair of doubles in the 11-3 win for the Bulldogs. Bruns was 2-5 on the day and drove in three runs. Joshsua Cochran was 2-3 with two RBI in the blowout win.

Twenty-five players had an at bat for Harrisburg during the summer season. Trevor Smoot, who will be a junior, was the only player to see action in all 16 games. Smoot had an on-base-percentage of .429. On the mound, he led Harrisburg with over 22 innings pitched and three wins. He struck out 22 batters.

“There are a lot of teams across the state that didn’t get a chance to play,” Harrisburg coach Chris Ackman said.

“So whether we play eight or 16… that’s 16 more than the majority of the teams in the state got to play. It didn’t replace the school year, but at the same time it gave some guys a chance to see what it looks like against some pretty tough competition this summer.”

In addition to the seniors who played over the summer (Bruns, Gipson, Hudson, and Sanford), Charles Strain and Damien Fulner would have played their senior season in the spring. Senior Bailey Bexten was the team manager, and she was recognized on senior night as well.

“For them, I’m just glad they got the opportunity to play a few times,” Ackman said. “And for the younger guys, I’m glad that they got a chance to play with them and see how big of an impact that they’ve had on the program and how big those shoes are going to be to fill next spring.”

During the senior recognition on Tuesday, it really hit Hudson that this was his final game on Simpson field with his fellow seniors.

“I’ve played baseball with them since tee ball,” he said. “We’re all going our separate ways, but I hope that we stick together. I hope we talk, I hope we hang out still. Those friendships, I don’t want to lose.”

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