MCMS: Road to the 'Ship
Front: Head coach Bradly Chapin, Nick Smith, Sawyer Boyce, Grayson Hill, Keaton Fanning, Brantly Chapin, Ezra Barnett, Wyatt Byrom, Laken Wade Middle: Assistant coach Chris Everett, Caseon Casteel, Jace Deal, William Thompson, Lucas Preston, Joseph Graham, Cody Burton, Austin Scherff, Ryland Stovall, Hunter Alford, Harrison Norman, Assistant coach Caleb Bryant Back: Assistant coach Chris Scherff, Assistant coach Patrick Hill (Not pictured: Scout Murray)
The Moore County Middle School baseball team captured the Duck River Valley Tournament championship in dramatic fashion – working its way through the losers' bracket and then winning the title game in eight innings. Here's how it happened:
Wednesday, April 9
MOORE COUNTY 5, CASCADE 1
Moore County held Cascade to only five hits and committed just one error in posting a victory in Game 1 of the Duck River Valley Tournament.
The Raiders scored three times in the bottom of the third, highlighted by RBI singles from Ryland Stovall and Austin Scherff.
Scherff had two hits to lead the More County offense. Stovall added two RBI. Cody Burton had the team’s only extra-base hit, a lead-off double in the second inning.
Scherff pitched four innings to garner the win. He gave up one hit and a walk while striking out three.
Saturday, April 12
EAGLEVILLE 5, MOORE COUNTY 2
The Raiders jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but Eagleville answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame.
Moore County tied the game in the third but yielded what proved to be the game-deciding run in the bottom of the inning as Eagleville took a 3-2 lead.
The Eagles added one run in the fifth and sixth to account for the final score.
Hunter Alford had the only hit for the Raiders, and Caseon Casteel scored both runs.
Starting pitcher Austin Scherff took the loss, yielding three runs on three hits and two walks. He struck out six.
Monday, April 14
MOORE COUNTY 9, LIBERTY 2
Caseon Casteel went 3-for-5, scored three times, and knocked in a run as the Raiders began climbing through the losers’ bracket.
Liberty took a short-lived 1-0 lead in the top of the second, but Moore County responded with four runs in the home half.
The Raiders added four runs in the fourth to forge ahead 8-2.
Ryland Stovall also had three hits, while Austin Scherff had two hits and knocked in three runs.
Casteel picked up the win, tossing 3 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on a hit and two walks. He struck out five.
Tuesday, April 15
MOORE COUNTY 9, WESTWOOD 6
Lucas Preston led the Raiders’ 10-hit attack, going 4-for-5 with three RBI.
Ryland Stovall had three hits, including a double, scored twice, and knocked in two.
Moore County jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, but Westwood responded with four runs and added another in the third for a 5-2 advantage.
The Raiders began chipping away, ultimately scoring twice in the top of the seventh for the victory.
Hunter Alford won in relief, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks across 5 1/3 innings. He struck out three.
Thursday, April 17
MOORE COUNTY 11, EAGLEVILLE 2
Pitching with an injured left knee, Jace Deal spun 5 1/3 frames of no-hit ball as the Raiders avenged the first-round loss to Eagleville.
Moore County put up crooked
numbers in four of seven innings, taking a 7-0 lead into the sixth before salting away the game with a four-run seventh.
Caseon Casteel and Ryland Stovall each had four hits – and a double apiece – to pace the Moore County offense.
Austin Scherff and Joseph Graham added two hits.
Scherff, Stovall, Graham, and Alford had two RBI to power the Raiders’ offense.
Deal allowed one run, and the only other blemish on his pitching line was a second-inning walk. He whiffed seven.
MOORE COUNTY 6, FORREST 4 (8)
Forrest took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning against Raiders starter Cody Burton, who pitched two innings. He allowed five hits and a walk. He struck out four.
Moore County scored once in the top of the third as Caseon Casteel led off with a single, moved to third on a base hit by Ryland Stovall, and scored on Lucas Preston’s single to right field.
The Raiders scored three times in the fifth to take a 4-2 lead. Casteel again jump-started the frame with a base hit. Joseph Graham and Hunter Alford put the ball in play to plate Casteel, Austin Scherff, and Preston.
Forrest responded with two unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth inning against MCMS reliever Scherff to knot the ballgame at 4-all.
The winner-take-all game remained tied through the sixth and seventh innings and forced an extra frame.
Graham began the inning at second base. Alford reached on an error to put runners at first and second. Casteel delivered a two-out, two-run single for the difference-maker.
Casteel finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Nick Smith added two hits.
Scherff muscled through 5 1/3 innings while allowing two unearned runs on no hits and three walks to pick up the victory. He struck out 10.
Stovall struck out two of the three batters he faced in the eighth to earn the save and secure the Raiders’ championship.
Ryland Stovall, Austin Scherff, Caseon Casteel, and Jace Deal were honored after the Duck River Valley Tournament for their performance in 2025. Stovall, Scherff, and Deal were tabbed All-Conference and Casteel named Team MVP.
