Northland Christian HS baseball team wins MSHSAA Class 1 District 11 Championship
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In just its second season of existence, the Northland Christian High School baseball team claimed its first piece of hardware during the 2022 season, as the Trailblazers took home the MSHSAA Class 1 District 11 Championship!
Northland Christian, under the guidance of head coach Dave Starns, began play in the 2021 season as the school looked to expand its offerings for a rapidly growing student population. The Trailblazers finished the inaugural season with a record of 10-9, which included a 9-4 win over Leeton in the district tournament and 8-4 record over the final 12 games.
Year two for the Trailblazers began with lofty expectations and a date circled to make more history. The team had the opportunity to play at Kauffman Stadium, sharing the same facility and experience of countless big leaguers. Despite a slow start to the season, the experience alone was one that brought the team and school memories that will last a lifetime.
The first win of the season came on April 4 against Santa Fe, 6-5, an opponent and score line that would play into later accomplishments. A youthful team that fielded as many as six underclassmen in its starting lineup at times, worked to find its way and build the chemistry necessary to achieve postseason success.
Oftentimes, those moments occur in a loss. For the Trailblazers, a 16-12 setback against Wellington-Napoleon saw the team claw back from an early deficit and rally to nearly take the lead. The lessons learned in that game, however, set the tone for a historical postseason run.
Northland Christian was the second-seeded team in its district and opened postseason play on May 17th against Santa Fe. The Chiefs jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the Trailblazers came to the plate, but freshman starting pitcher Jayson Hill settled in and gave the team 5 2/3 strong innings on the mound. The Blazers chipped away at the deficit and trailed 5-4 heading into the final inning.
Another freshman would take his chance to make history in the bottom of the 7th inning as Caden Monnig smacked the game-winning single to complete the comeback and post another 6-5 win over Santa Fe.
The district championship game saw Monnig take the ball on the mound, and the semifinal hero dominated Concordia for six innings. The team that had knocked off the Blazers at Kauffman Stadium was shell shocked early as senior catcher Josh Hudson blasted a three-run home run to spark an early 6-0 lead. Junior Carter Dalton took over in the 7th inning and recorded the final three outs to complete the memorable run to a championship.
A sectional round trip across the state to Cairo ended the team’s postseason run and history had been made by a youthful group of Trailblazers!
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