Timberland Baseball Turns in Milestone 2011 Season

The bitter irony is most great seasons end in defeat.

But the reality behind Timberland’s 2011 season is a focused attitude of just taking the next step, ultimately leading to milestone achievements for the young program.

“To be honest, we came in with such a young team – playing three sophomores and two freshmen at one point – our expectations were just to get better,” said Timberland coach Frank Masters. “It took us awhile to find certain roles for the kids, both in pitching and the lineup. But we got into a groove and found some nice spots for the kids, and I thought we overachieved. I think we all noticed that we got better from day one to the end of the year, and I’m proud of them – that’s all I can ask for.”

Living up to those expectations and then some, the Wolves caught fire at the perfect time, stringing together five straight wins through the postseason and advancing to the quarterfinals of the Missouri state playoffs. There the Wolves fell 6-1 to Ozark, finishing 19-11 on the season, but not before setting a new mark in school history. To even reach that game, Timberland knocked off Lebanon 6-1 in the round of 16 to achieve the program’s first-ever sectional win.

“We told the kids, we won our first conference championship last year, we’ve won a couple district championships, but we’ve never won a state sectional game,” Masters said. “When we beat Rock Bridge, we said ‘Okay, that’s a district championship. Now let’s do something we’ve never done before.’”

Despite the sectional milestone, that district championship over Rock Bridge might have seemed even more monumental. The Bruins had reached the state final four in 2009, the quarterfinals in 2010 and, with a 25-2 record, waltzed into the 2011 Class 4 District 9 title game as the state’s No. 1-ranked squad.

But the 2-1, extra-inning upset that Timberland served up proved to be the timely product of everything coming together at the right time – including the emergence of sophomore pitcher Shane Cooper.

“He had never had a start, but he had been closing for us,” Masters said of Cooper, who tallied a 2-1 record and three saves, and allowed just two earned runs in 10 appearances for a 0.72 ERA. “I figured he could give us some innings, and he ended up going seven. He’s a laid-back kid, he went out and just pitch, didn’t worry about it being a big game. Threw strikes, kept the ball down, and when they hit the ball, our defense made the plays.”

Cooper pushed Rock Bridge to its final at-bat before surrendering a game-tying solo home run, but senior Clay Miller laid down a perfect bases-loaded bunt in the eighth inning to squeeze in the go-ahead run. And for the first time all season, Cooper handed the ball over instead of taking it in the final frame. Junior Zach Gonzales sealed the victory with a 1-2-3 inning.

As much as the postseason run will be remembered, it wasn’t as if the Wolves were unaccustomed to winning. The squad put together 10 wins in 11 games across a month span midseason, the only loss a one-run game to St. Dominic. And for a squad that spent most of the season tinkering, the Wolves went 4-2 in the stacked GAC South, including a second-best mark of just 4.8 runs allowed per game.

“We tip our hat to some great teams who beat us, but we went through much of the season without our pitching in order,” Masters said. “We were still trying out some guys until it just kind of clicked toward the end, and we finally had a one, two, three guy. And the great thing is: two out of those three are going to come back for me.”

Timberland will lose shortstop David Masters to the University of Arkansas next year – issuing a double-whammy to his coach and father. Masters put together a fantastic final two seasons, including a senior year leading the team in average (.436), hits (44), doubles (15), RBI (35) and runs (31). He shared the team lead with 10 stolen bases. The Wolves will also miss Devin Johnson who, after not playing his junior season, hit .422 with 9 doubles, a triple, 3 homeruns and 20 RBI; as well as utility man Adam Bainbridge.

But next season should see the return of Cooper, who added 7 doubles, 3 triples, 2 triples and 25 RBI to his pitching performances, as well as his sophomore battery-mate  Brandon McGill. Also potentially returning is the younger Bainbridge, Ryan, who led the team with 4 homeruns and was second with 30 RBI.