Local baseball players earn Missouri All-State honors

The Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association has released its All-State honors for the 2022 season.

The below local players have earned All-State recognition.

Class 6

OF Kyler Stokes (Joplin) 2nd team

Class 5

P Levi Helm (McDonald County) – 1st team

C Cole Martin (McDonald County) – 1st team

INF Cy Darnell (Webb City) – 2nd team

Class 4

INF Jaesik Friggle (Aurora) – 1st team

OF Case Sanderson (Nevada) – 1st team

P Trey Mulholland (Aurora) – 1st team

C Cade Beshore (Nevada) – 2nd team

OF Aaron Fisher (Aurora) – Honorable Mention

UT Hayze Hoffman (Aurora) – Honorable Mention

Class 3

OF Mason Gastel (Lamar) – Honorable Mention

Class 2

INF Ezequiel Garcia (Purdy) – 2nd team

OF Travis Hughes (Purdy) – 2nd team

Class 1

INF Justin Payne (Liberal) – Honorable Mention

OF Payton Morrow (Liberal) – 2nd team

Jasper dominates Liberal to capture district tournament title

WATCH: Jasper rolls by Liberal 15-3 to claim class 1 district 6 championship. The Eagles punch their ticket to the state tournament and will play Miller in the quarterfinal round next Tuesday, May 17th.

Jasper, Liberal advance to meet in district championship

LIBERAL, Mo. – (WATCH) Jasper tops Northeast Vernon County 12-2 and Liberal gets by Osceola 10-9 Tuesday night in the district semifinals.

Jasper and Liberal will meet in the Class 1 District 6 championship Wednesday at 4:30 PM.

Liberal enters first season under head coach Garrett Zoucha

LIBERAL, Mo. – It’s a new era for the Liberal Bulldogs under head coach Garrett Zoucha.

Zoucha has a long history with eight-man football.

“It’s all I’ve known,” Zoucha says. “I’ve actually never taken a snap or coached 11-man football. It was a good position. Liberal’s in their third year in eight-man football, so I’m hoping to bring down some knowledge to them.”

He has quickly built chemistry with his new team.

“I feel like it’s more of an opportunity than a challenge,” says junior quarterback Payton Morrow. “He’s really adapted to us more than we’ve had to adapt to him. He brings energy everyday and makes us motivated to want to work hard for him.”

“I was fortunate to meet them this summer and I’ve spent a couple months with them now,” Zoucha says. “When football came around, those relationships were already in place. Everyone has bought into what we’re doing around here. It’s been a fun process.”

His coaching philosophy begins with discipline.

“One thing I always tell the boys is if you want to be a good football player, if you want to be a good athlete, you have to have character. Don’t be a character,” Zoucha says. “We’re coming out here and hopefully we’re well disciplined and doing things at a high level.”

The Bulldogs are building off a 6-3 season.

“We lost a couple seniors, but I feel like we have a lot of players that are willing to step up this year and are fully capable of stepping up for us,” Morrow says. “I think if we play our best every night, there’s not many teams that are going to be able to beat us.”

Their first test is right around the corner.

“I think it’s crucial to set the tone,” Morrow says. “The past couple of years we’ve had slow starts and we want to change that this season.”

Liberal will be at home for its season opener on Friday against the Archie Whirlwinds.