For the first time in the 26 year tenure of head baseball coach Danny Payne, Bourbon High School’s baseball team finished its fall season with an undefeated record. The Warhawks were 4-0 heading into its final week of the season and defeated Bismarck, Viburnum and Steelville in a three day stretch to secure a perfect 7-0 record. It may have been the first time Bourbon has ever had an undefeated fall season, but statistics and records aren’t available prior to the year 2000.

After finishing last spring with a 3-11 record and losing senior stalwarts Ian Mueller and Chase Perschbacher, it’s fair to say that this run of excellence wasn’t expected by many, despite playing the majority of games against teams with a losing record.

Payne said that the foundation of success for his team began during its 20 days of practice allowed during the summer and that their confidence rose as they began winning once the season started. 

“What I’m proud of is they put a lot of time in the summer with our 20 contact days,” Payne said. “They came in with a good attitude, they came in willing to be coached, and they came in willing to learn and get better. And I think the best thing for them was seeing success early, and it just kind of carried through. It was like ‘we can do this’, so that’s what I’m proud of.”

The Warhawks also had multiple players competing at the varsity level for the first time, who Payne said were impressive, despite their limited experience.

“Blake Wallis as a freshman had three hits last night and put the ball in play tonight, got on base and made some things happen,” Payne said after the win over Steelville. “And our 6, 7, 8 and 9 guys haven’t played a lot or had many at bats, and they’re giving us runs in the bottom half of the lineup. That’s all I can ask for.” 

Bourbon didn’t just squeak by their opponents, they finished with a 65-17 scoring advantage in their seven games of action.

The Warhawks won many of these games this fall using a patient approach at the plate, backed by continuous strong efforts from its pitchers Anson Hormann, Emmett Jones, Dawson King and Garrett Wallis. Bourbon’s quartet of arms only allowed more than three runs in just one game, a 9-7 Oct. 5 win over Bismarck and all finished with earned run averages under 2.50. 

“When you get two quality starts from Garrett (Wallis) in the fall, a quality start and a quality close from Dawson (King) and quality two or three starts from Emmett (Jones), you should be winning a lot of games and stuff,” Payne said while reflecting on the fall season.

“But what I’m proud of is them consistently getting ahead, throwing strikes and pitching with confidence and trusting the guys behind them. I mean, there’s a lot of guys that are still learning, but how Anson, Dawson, Garrett and Emmett have kind of taken those guys under their wings and been very positive with them.”

Hormann, Bourbon’s lone senior, who was primarily used as the team’s closer earlier in the year, saved his best for last, dazzling against Steelville with six shutout innings.

“Anson (Hormann) did what Anson’s supposed to do as a senior,” Payne said after the Steelville game. “I mean, when you’re 6-0 and he gets the ball for your team to have a chance to go undefeated and throws six innings of shutout baseball, that’s huge. But that also comes with big pitches, and it also comes with guys making plays behind him, and it also helps when your offense puts a lot of runs up early for you. That just relaxes everybody, and you can just see the confidence go through for the entire team.”

While Payne isn’t expecting a perfect season in the spring, he does want his team to be competitive with a tougher schedule looming.

“Looking forward, hopefully we can do this in the spring and beat some teams and be competitive,” he said. “You know, playing quality baseball every day is what we’re hoping for.”

Oct. 5 vs. Bismarck

Bourbon welcomed the Bismarck Indians to town for its final home game of the fall season and the Warhawk faithful were treated to an exciting game. The matchup was a back and forth high scoring affair that came down to the final inning.

With a three-run lead heading into the seventh and final inning, Bourbon senior pitcher Anson Hormann slammed the door on a Bismarck comeback. The Indians were able to scratch across one run in the final frame, but Hormann was able to get a Bismarck batter to strikeout and end the game with a 9-7 Bourbon victory.

Emmett Jones started on the mound and struck out 10 Indians in 4 2/3 innings on 102 pitches. Dawson King struck out three batters in 1 1/3 innings on 41 pitches. Hormann also whiffed three Bismarck batters and earned the save after throwing 27 pitches.

Jones had four hits including a double, reached base five times and scored twice to lead the Warhawk offense. Garrett Wallis and King each had two hits and Chase Bouse walked three times, singled and scored one. Jayden Booker walked twice and scored twice, Jonathan Poole walked twice and scored and Hormann chipped in a single out of the leadoff spot.

Oct. 7 vs. Viburnum

The Warhawks took the bus ride to Viburnum to take on the Blue Jays in a Gascondade Valley Conference (GVC) matchup on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon. Wallis took the mound for Bourbon and tossed five dominant innings, striking out 11 Blue Jays while allowing just one hit.

Bourbon strung together five consecutive hits to start the game to score four immediate runs. Hormann, Wallis and Jones each doubled and King and Bouse followed with singles to give Bourbon an early 4-0 advantage. The Blue and White continued to methodically score throughout the contest and the Warhawks cruised to an 11-0 victory for its sixth win of the fall season.

Hormann doubled twice, walked and scored three times. Wallis singled, doubled and drove in two runs. Jones doubled twice, scored twice and drove in two runs. King singled, drove in a run and scored twice. Allan Studeny doubled and walked, Blake Wallis singled and doubled and Poole singled and scored to round out Bourbon’s offensive production.

Oct. 8 vs. Steelville

Bourbon played another road game the following afternoon against another GVC foe, the Steelville Cardinals.

In the first inning, each team put multiple runners on base but starting pitchers Carter Grandstaff of Steelville and Bourbon’s Hormann were able to navigate their way out of trouble and keep the game scoreless.

After both teams didn’t score in the second inning, Bourbon exploded for nine runs in the third inning to blow the game open. After each team went down without a run in the fourth inning, the Warhawks had a runner at third base during the fifth inning with a chance to end the game via the run rule. But Steelville pitcher Carter Wallis bore down and the game ended up going all seven innings.

Heading into the seventh inning down 9-0, Steelville scratched across two unearned runs off Bourbon relief pitcher King, but it wasn’t enough, as Bourbon secured a 9-2 victory as the sun set. 

Hormann dominated on the mound for the Warhawks, tossing six shutout innings, allowing three hits while striking out 12 Cardinals. Hormann also reached base three times, drove in two runs, stole a base and scored once.

Bourbon’s junior catcher Jones had a game-high three base hits along with two runs batted in, a stolen base and two runs scored.

King singled, stole a base, scored and drove in a run. He also struck out two Cardinals on 20 pitches on the mound. 

Garrett Wallis singled, walked twice, stole a base and scored twice. Bouse walked twice and scored once and Studeny and Blake Wallis each walked and scored. Ripken Halbert led Steelville with two hits and a stolen base