Tigers play in Baseball State Sectionals

Last Tuesday the Macon Tigers went on the road as they had entered play in the State Baseball Tournament for the first time in the history of the Program. Macon had punched its ticket to the Tournament by winning the District Title in Moberly the week before. The Tigers were rewarded with a trip to St. Charles to battle the St. Charles West Warriors. The Tigers would take the field as the visitors as the Black and Orange of the Macon faithful cheered them on to the field. The Tigers would go down in order to start the game and then would send Chrisjen Riekeberg to the mound for the start. The first two Warriors would reach on walks and after a strikeout, both runners would score on a double. After one inning of play the Tigers would trail 0-2. The Tigers would again go down in order in the top of the second as the Warriors pitched effectively to a wide and low strike zone. After a strikeout and a walk, Riekeberg would settle-in and strikeout the side. The Tigers would go down on strikes in the third and after a leadoff single by St. Charles West the Tigers would turn a double-play to turn back the Warriors. In the top of the third with one out Blake Murr singled on the ground into center. Jacob Nelson would then follow suit with another single into center. The Tigers were not able to advance the runners and would still trail by a pair of runs. Riekeberg would take care of the Warriors in the bottom of the inning with a pair of strikeouts and a groundball back to the pitcher. In the top of the fifth, Gage Lewis single into right to leadoff the inning. Preston Stewart would then rip a pitch over the bag at third to score Lewis and cut the Warrior lead in half. The Tigers would not be able to push the tying run home and would trail by one. Jacob Swallow would then come into the game in relief and would be greeted with a leadoff double. After a out and a walk, the Warriors would add another double to increase their lead. St. Charles West would add another run with an RBI groundout to lead 1-4 after five innings. Neither team was able to reach base in the sixth, so the Tigers had one last at bat to remain alive. It would not be in the cards for Macon as the Tigers would go down in order to win the game. Macon has built a foundation for success in the 2021 season and we look forward to the next chapter. Congratulation’s Tigers! "We definitely were hoping for a different outcome and felt like we weren't at our best tonight. Offensively, we just did not make the adjustments at the plate like we had been doing for the most part this season. We struggled getting the ball in play and that really made it tough on us to get runs across the plate. Even though this game had some frustrating moments for us, the kids really put together a great season overall. We were able to achieve something our school has never done before by winning districts and we had a lot of other great moments along the way this season as well. We appreciate all the time the kids put in this year and especially our five seniors. A lot of different guys contributed this year and we will have a lot of players coming back next year. We will hope to make another postseason run next year and build off of the experiences we gained this year." Head Coach Kyle Robuck