ELLINGTON — Saxony Lutheran centerfielder Brayden Moore set a state record and tied four more as the Crusaders rolled to a 30-11 victory over the Ellington Whippets on April 14.
Moore, a senior committed to play at Westminster College next year, finished 4-for-6 at the plate with 14 RBI and 4 runs scored to lead the Crusaders (6-4) to their sixth victory of the season.
Moore’s four hits were all home runs, with the first two — both 3-run home runs — coming in the first and fourth innings. His final two home runs were both fifth-inning grand slams.
Moore’s 14-RBI total set a Missouri State High School Activities Association state record for RBI in a game, topping the previous mark — set by Van Buren’s Cody Rector in a 2011 game against Eminence — by 1. His home run total against Ellington also tied the records for most home runs in a game (4), most grand slams in a game (2), most home runs in an inning (2), and most RBI in an inning (8).
“That’s half your offense right there,” said Saxony coach Paul Sander. “I’ve never seen a day like Brayden had at Saxony in 20 years. Three of his home runs would have been out anywhere. I mean, they were just powdered. And the other one, there may have been some parks that would have held it, but it was a home run yesterday.
“A home run’s a home run wherever you’re playing that day.”
Sander said watching Moore’s fifth-inning performance put him in mind of former St. Louis Cardinal Fernando Tatis, Sr., who holds the record for most grand slams in an inning (2), a feat he accomplished in a 1999 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers and pitcher Chan Ho Park.
“That’s the only time I’ve ever heard of that happening,” Sander said.
The MSHSAA record book doesn’t have a category for most grand slams in a single inning, but the National Federation of State High School Associations does. According to their records, Moore is just the 28th player to accomplish the feat since 1955 and the first in Missouri.
The Crusaders finished with a total of 19 hits in 34 at-bats and 29 RBI in the game. Freshman Kai McDowell led the rest of the lineup, finishing 4-for-4 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored, earning his own praise from Sander.
“He’s really starting to hit the ball well,” Sander said. “I think he kind of feels like now that he fits in really well in the lineup. He’s not at all intimidated by it. He’s kind of playing more like a sophomore or a junior now instead of a freshman. Those four hits yesterday gets him almost up to .300 average and that’s really, really good for a freshman starter.
“We’re getting really good play out of Kai McDowell.”
Saxony second baseman Baylor Wilson finished 3-for- 3 with 4 RBI and 1 run scored, leftfielder James Hope was 2-for-2 with 2 walks and 5 runs scored, and Korby Engert was 2-for-3 with 2 walks and 3 runs scored. Engert, Sparks, McDowell and Wilson all hit 1 double each. Four other Crusaders had one hit each.
“We hit the ball all over the ballpark,” Sander said. “Up and down the lineup yesterday, we had a lot of guys do a lot of things, but Kai and Brayden were kind of the standouts among a lot good things on offense.”
Sander also leveled praise for all his players for their improved performance at the plate.
“In the last three games, they’ve recognized the offspeed pitches better,” Sander said, “and they’ve done a better job of working counts. Instead of getting behind in counts, they’re hitting earlier in the count when a good pitch is there and not letting themselves get 0-2 or 1-2 all the time like we were early in the year. That makes a big difference.”
Saxony led 16-7 after four innings, then scored 14 runs on 7 hits — including Moore’s two grand slams — in the top of the fifth to put the game out of reach. Moore hit a grand slam to center field; McDowell hit an RBI double, Wilson hit a 2-RBI double; Sparks drew a walk, scoring one run; Moore hit his second grand slam to left field; Isaac Koenig was hit by a pitch, driving in a run; and Seth Stageberg was hit by a pitch, driving in another.
Ellington managed 4 runs in the bottom of the fifth.
With both teams combining for 41 runs in the game, Sander felt obliged to discuss pitching.
Stageberg, who started on the mound for Saxony, gave up 6 runs, 1 earned, on 2 hits with 2 strikeouts and 4 walks in 2 innings. Reliever Cole Roth earned the victory after giving up 5 earned runs on 2 hits with 3 strikeouts and 6 walks in 3 innings of work.
“They gave us quite a few walks,” Sander said. “They had trouble throwing strikes, as did we. We had trouble throwing strikes yesterday. There were way too many walks in the game to suit me on Saxony’s side. But, you know, those days happen and we move on and make adjustments and hopefully our guys that pitched yesterday would be better next time out.”
In the meantime, Sander said he hopes Moore gets all the recognition he deserves.
“This is a pretty big deal,” Sander said. “I mean it’s pretty special for a young man to be able to do this. He had 9 RBI is on the season. He was having a nice year. He really hadn’t gotten on track, but he was doing OK. But you go from 9 RBI to 23 RBI in one day, and people are talking about you all over the state, it’s quite an accomplishment.”
KELLY 10, SAXONY LUTHERAN 2
JACKSON — Saxony Lutheran’s hot streak at the plate didn’t last long, as the Crusaders (7-5) came up against a tough Kelly Hawks squad that handed them a 10-2 loss on April 16, ending a four-game winning streak.
Shortstop Jake Sparks was the only Crusader to get more than one hit, finishing 2-for-4 at the plate. Centerfielder Brayden Moore was 1-for-4 with an RBI double, while Korby Engert, James Hope, and Seth Stageberg had one hit each. Hope and Stageberg scored the Crusaders’ two runs.
On the mound, Zach Roth took the loss for Saxony, giving up 3 runs (1 earned) on 2 hits, while striking out 8 and walking 7 in 4 innings. Hope worked 3 innings in relief, giving up 7 runs, 4 earned, on 5 hits with 2 strikeouts and 2 walks.
Kelly took a 3-0 lead in the top of the third, added three more in the fifth, and closed out the victory with 4 runs in the seventh. Saxony committed 5 errors in the game.
Ross Peters earned the win for Kelly after allowing 2 runs, 1 earned, on 7 hits, while striking out 11 and walking 2 in 6-plus innings of work.
Saxony Lutheran was scheduled to play at Oran on April 22.
SAXONY LUTHERAN 17, EAST CARTER 2
JACKSON — Saxony Lutheran scored 15 runs in the third inning to blow past the visiting East Carter Redbirds on April 15.
Leading the way for the Crusaders, Jake Sparks drove in 4 runs on 2 hits — a three-run home run and an RBI single — to highlight the surge, aided by an error and 9 hits.
Hope had a 2-RBI double and an RBI single in the third, while Korby Engert and Cole Roth had two RBI singles apiece. Seth Stageberg had an RBI single, and Kai McDowell hit an RBI double. Two more runs scored on an error to close out the high-scoring inning.
After one inning, the score was tied 2-2, with Saxony closing the gap thanks to a single by Brayden Moore and a wild pitch.
Engert earned the win for the Crusaders, allowing 2 runs, 1 earned, on 4 hits while striking out 3 and walking 1 in 3 innings of work. Chayse Bradshaw took the loss for East Carter.
Saxony Lutheran accumulated 19 hits in the game, led by Zach Roth, Moore, and Hope, who each finished 3-for-3 at the plate. Moore stole two bases in the victory.
