An up and down season for Bourbon High School’s baseball team came to an end on May 14 when the Warhawks fell to Cuba in the quarterfinals of the Class 3 District 8 Tournament at Belle City Park.

Bourbon finished with a 3-11 record after falling 10-1 in its regular season finale on May 12 versus St. James. The Warhawks never seemed to get into a rhythm as its schedule consistently changed throughout the season due to numerous rainouts. Bourbon was scheduled to play 19 regular season games, and ended up playing just 13.

The Warhawks will lose seniors Ian Mueller and Chase Perschbacher due to graduation and Bourbon head coach Danny Payne reflected on what his seniors meant to him and his program following the loss to Cuba.

“I love those guys. They go about their business the right way,” Payne said. “One of them had a chance to maybe play a little more at the next level, but chose just to go to school. They’re both good kids. I like their demeanor and have enjoyed having a relationship with those two guys the last four years. It’s not just baseball related, but they’re good people, and they’re going to do a lot of good things.”

Mueller, junior Anson Hormann and sophomore Emmett Jones were all named to the Gasconade Valley Conference (GVC) first team for their performances throughout the season.

Despite losing their top starting pitcher, Mueller, and starting second baseman, Perschbacher, the Warhawks will bring back sophomore stalwarts, Jones and Dawson King, junior shortstop and pitcher, Hormann along with ascending players Garrett Wallis, Tariq Moore, Chase Bouse and Lane Perschbacher.

Payne said that he expects Jones and Hormann to take leadership roles going forward.

“I mean, obviously Ian is a workhorse on the mound and that’s a lot of innings to replace. But with Anson (Hormann) and Emmett (Jones), both of them being all-conference, as a junior and a sophomore, they’re obviously going to have to put the team on their back next year and be the leaders,” Payne said. “And for them to continue to do things the right way, which they do and another year being stronger and faster, they have a bright future ahead of them.”

Payne also added that the improvement from King and Wallis has been noticeable throughout their first two seasons.

“What I really liked about throughout the year was the improvement of all the sophomores. Dawson King, offensively, from last year to this year is a huge improvement. Garrett Wallis came through this year offensively and made himself a better player at the plate and on the mound. So there’s a lot of work to be done, but if we just keep improving,  we’ll be able to compete.”

Warhawks fall to Cuba in district quarterfinal

A strong pitching performance and a five-run third inning powered the Cuba Wildcats to a 10-0 victory in five innings over Bourbon.

The Warhawks were shut out on May 8 by Cuba’s ace, Braden Gipson and had to face him again in districts.

Bourbon had their best chance to score in the second inning when Wallis, Moore and Bouse all drew walks from Gipson to load the bases. However, Gipson bore down and didn’t allow a Warhawk to cross the plate.

Bourbon was held to just two base hits all game, both singles off the bat of King. Wallis stole a pair of bases and Moore and King each swiped one bag.

Mueller started on the mound, scattering eight hits and four earned runs while striking out five in his final outing as a Warhawk.

Cuba plated four runs in the fifth inning to earn the victory via walk-off due to the run rule on a base hit to right field from freshman Chase Hanes.

Payne spoke about his team’s missed opportunities in the second and third innings.

“We had our chances in the second and third,” Payne said. “We had the right guys at the plate. And sometimes you either come through with a hit or you don’t. And today we just didn’t get the best big knock when we needed it.”

Despite the lopsided score, the game felt closer than the final score indicated for the most part. Payne added that he felt like his team was a couple plays away from being in contention, but was still proud of the effort from his squad.

“The score didn’t really dictate the type of game that it was for four and two-thirds (innings)” he said. “It was one or two plays here and there, and one or two swings here and there with guys on and it’s a totally different situation. But what I liked was the guys competed all the way through, from the first pitch of the game to the last play of the game. I thought our guys competed well and went about things the right way.”