Mehlville Baseball Ends Season With Loss to Hillsboro

After the Hilllsboro Hawks took a commanding 4-0 lead in Wednesday's district baseball game, the Panthers battled back, but still fell short to lose 5-3 at Hillsboro. The Panthers end the season 11-17, 3-13 in the Surburban West. 

"We made some mental mistakes on the base path," Mehlville coach Tim Ode said. "It was a tight game and further than a lot of these kids have gone."

Junior Kurt McGuire was at the mound for the Panthers, and was key in several infield plays. Hillsboro scored once in the third and then three runs when Ryan Deckard hit a home run with two on base. In the middle of the seventh, senior Mark O'Moran came in to pitch. 

"Kurt came out and threw one of the best games he's done all year," Ode said. "It's hard to come back from a three-run homer."

Mehlville scored in the fourth when Hillsboro erred on O'Moran's hit, bringing in two runs. They added one the next inning off another O'Moran hit, allowing Grant Steiger to score. 

Ode is hoping his young players come back next year to fill the leadership roles that will be missing when the seniors leave. 

"We have some youngsters that got to see a lot of time," he said. "They'll see areas to improve on for next year. I hope they come back and fill those leadership roles."