All Eyes On Us

By superadmin | April 3, 2025 |

Last season, the Rams rocketed their way to a district championship, a sectional win, and an Elite Eight appearance, all while chanting the motto “Why Not Us?” This year, the perspective from the players and coaches is at a different angle. With last season’s success, they are all well aware that the expectations are higher. This season, the mantra is “All Eyes On Us.” Was last season a fluke, or are the Rams building a legit program?
In the first regular season game, the Rams handled the Highland Cougars, 10-2. Next, they edged past the Clark County Indians 5-4. In their third game of the season, they dropped their guard and lost in extra innings to the Kirksville JV Tigers, 7-8.
The very next day, the Rams surged past the Sturgeon Bulldogs 16-1. This pairing marked the first matchup between these two opponents; maybe that accounts for why this game had a slightly different script. The Rams and Bulldogs each scored one point in the first inning. Then both teams remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning when the home-team Rams put up 15 points. Thus, effectively ending the game in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Juniors Gage Brownell and Mason Windy led the Rams at the plate with two hits apiece. Lathan Martin, Cohan Meade, Elliott Sevits, Brody Weaver, and Bryson Wilson each had one hit. The Rams had active bats and a good eye, collecting nine hits and six walks. However, it is the RBI column of the stat sheet that tells the tale of the game. Sevits and Windy had three RBIs, Brownell, Meade, and Weaver connected for two RBIs apiece, while Colin Olliver and Parker Dabney each batted in one run.
The Rams were supported on the mound by Brownell. He faced 16 batters in four innings, striking out five and walking three. He allowed only one hit and one run.
The Rams’ defense put their stamp on the win by committing zero errors, handling whatever came their way. Sophomore Travis Wise is learning on the job behind the plate. The vacancy at the catcher position came due to graduation and injury. Both of the primary catchers during last season were seniors, and while Caden Veatch was poised to take the top spot behind the plate, he was injured during basketball season; his return this season is questionable. Wise’s first appearance as catcher came during the game at Kirksville, and the learning curve for that position is steep.
On the last day of March the Rams faced off against a very familiar foe, the Scotland County Tigers. Since 2010 these teams have met on the diamond 33 times. Entering this game, the Rams were riding a 3-game win streak versus the Tigers, although they have a ways to go to even up the win-loss columns. The Tigers were winning the overall record at 23-10.
The Tigers entered the game with one win, defeating the Highland Cougars 15-0. However, the game versus the Rams would just be the second game on their schedule, while it is the fifth game on the Rams’ schedule.
In the first inning, it looked like it was going to be a slugfest. In the top of the inning, Logan Buford hit a two-run home run over the left field fence. Not to be outdone, the Rams’ Elliott Sevits and Gage Brownell each hit solo home runs to left. Bryson Wilson added another RBI to make the score 3-2 at the end of the first.
Lathan Martin started on the mound for the Rams. He settled in nicely for the Rams and didn’t give up any more points through the rest of the second or third innings. Sevits scored in the bottom of the second and Mason Windy added another RBI to make the score 5-2 at the end of two.
In the top of the third inning, Sevits took over on the mound for three innings. He gave up one run in the top of the fifth as the Tigers temporarily edged closer, 5-3.
While the Rams remained scoreless in the third, fourth, and fifth innings, they found their stride again in the sixth, adding four more runs to cushion the lead, 9-3.
Brownell closed on the mound for the Rams, facing three batters and striking out all three to end the game.
Lathan Martin started the game and got the win for the game, pitching the first three innings, facing 12 batters and striking out five. Sevits provided some mid-game relief. He pitched three innings, faced 13 batters, struck out three, and left three runners stranded on base.
Sevits is the lead-off hitter in the Rams lineup, and he led in the stat column as well, with three hits in four at-bats, scoring three times, and adding an RBI.
Martin and Brody Weaver both went two for four on the night. Martin had three RBIs, Weaver scored and had an RBI as well.
The win on Monday extended the streak versus the Tigers to four. Additionally, with four games to play this week, the coaching staff managed to watch the pitch counts and keep their pitchers available for other games later in the week.
The Rams will get a few days of rest and then they will be back at it with games scheduled for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Thursday the Rams travel to Green City, on Friday they will head to Marceline, and Saturday they will face Clark County for the second time this season. The week day games start at 5:00 pm, while the Saturday game is scheduled to start at 10:00 am.