Bell City baseball heads to Class 1 final four seeking, but not discussing, three-peat

From left to right, Bell City seniors Bobby Wright, Austin Hicks, Taylor Ogden, Cole Nichols, Jesse Smith and Quentin McCutchen pose for a photo on Friday at Capaha Field.

Andrew J. Whitaker

Before each season, Bell City baseball coach Justin Simpher gathers his team together and delivers a message.

"Last year's over with," Simpher tells his bunch. It's a new group with a new dynamic.

While that may sound cliche, the Cubs take his words to heart, and it helped keep the two-time defending Class 1 state champions grounded this season.

Heading into its final four matchup against Hurley at 4 p.m. Monday in O'Fallon, Missouri, Bell City doesn't talk about the possibility of a three-peat. Simpher's pregame message is, 'It's just like any other game.' That doesn't mean the Cubs don't think about the past. It's hard not to, even for the taskmaster who keeps his players focused on the future.

But they understand that previous accomplishments mean nothing this time around.

From left, Austin Hicks, Bobby Wright and Cole Nichols pose for a photo during practice Friday, May 26, 2017 at Capaha Field in Cape Girardeau. Bell City is headed O fallon for state semifinals on Monday, May 29 against Hurley.

Andrew J. Whitaker

"Who cares what's happened in the past? It's in the past," Bell City senior Cole Nichols said. "Yeah, it's great, and you can celebrate before the next season starts. But when this season starts, it's this season. No one cares anymore."

Simpher is certainly right that this year's iteration is different from past years. The Cubs lost four senior starters from last season's championship squad. They graduated just one starter from the first squad that claimed a championship in 2015. With four new starters this year, plus Nichols recovering from arm troubles, the Cubs had some growing pains early in their 2017 campaign.

They enter the semifinals with a record of 19-6. The past two years, they reached this point with more than 20 wins and just three losses.

"There's been a lot of people who said the three-peat can't be done because we've lost so many seniors last year, but I feel like the guys that are coming up are just doing their part. And our seniors are just doing our part, too," senior Bobby Wright said. "Our seniors are just carrying a heavy load, and our younger players are just helping us out and getting us where we need to be."

While there is youth, Bell City can also lean on five returning senior starters -- Nichols, Wright, Austin Hicks, Jesse Smith and Taylor Ogden. Smith, Hicks, Wright and Nichols have been starters on all three final four teams.

"You got a good core of your starters that have been there several times, so it will help," Simpher said. "They know what to expect."

Bell City baseball team hosts a practice Friday, May 26, 2017 at Capaha Field in Cape Girardeau. Bell City is headed O fallon for state semifinals on Monday, May 29 against Hurley.

Andrew J. Whitaker

Bell City's foes will likely be prepared for quality pitching. Nichols is the 2016 Southeast Missourian Player of the Year. Hicks is "the most dominant high school pitcher" Bell City superintendent Matt Asher has seen in his 15 years in Southeast Missouri, and Asher saw plenty of arms as the former Cubs baseball coach. Simper can also turn to Wright and junior Chase Dembowski if he needs to bring in a reliever.

"Going into the year, I think everybody thought we would pitch the ball well," Asher said. "If we were going to hit would be the question, and I think we've hit good enough to win games. And here we are again with a chance to do something historic."

Less than five schools have won three straight state championships in Class 1, according to Asher. Bell City now looks to join that exclusive group.

"You can't say it hasn't been great and hasn't been a great ride," Simpher said. "I've been fortunate to be a part of it and have good kids that wanted to work towards it. But I don't talk about [the three-peat] because this team is totally different. We just go out and play and see what happens."

In order for a three-peat to happen, Bell City first has to get past Hurley (15-6), which has four players batting .300 or better. The Tigers were in the final four two years ago, the year the Cubs won the first title. They didn't meet as Hurley fell in the semifinal round on the other side of the bracket.

This is a new year and a new team. As Simpher preaches, the past doesn't matter.

Plus, there's a new surface at CarShield Field in O'Fallon, Missouri. After last year's state championships, an artificial turf field has been installed, according to Simpher. Bell City has played a handful of games on turf this season and practiced at Capaha on Friday so they could get used to the surface, which Simpher said plays faster. Simpher hopes that experience will prepare Bell City for Monday's semifinal.

Bell City's Taylor Ogden catches the ball during practice Friday, May 26, 2017 at Capaha Field in Cape Girardeau. Bell City is headed O fallon for state semifinals on Monday, May 29 against Hurley.

Andrew J. Whitaker

The seniors want to go out on a high note. After a sub-.500 season as freshmen, the six seniors have only known state championships. They want that to continue before they all go their separate ways after high school.

"It's been a fun time, don't get me wrong," Wright said. "The only time we haven't won so far is my freshman year, and we've been through the lows of lows and the highs of highs. And hopefully we can end on a high note."

Asher simply hopes the players appreciate what they've accomplished once the dust settles.

The former coach knows how fast success can evaporate. He was at the school when the boys basketball team advanced to the final four each season from 2004-2007, and he was there when the program went through some lean times in the following years.

So Asher knows not to take anything for granted -- not a state championship, a final four appearance or even a district title.

Right now the Cubs aren't focused on the past, just the present. But in a few years, Asher hopes the Cubs look back at these years with pride.

"It's not as easy as it looks, winning state tournaments is not easy," Asher said. "In 10 years, when you're talking with your buddies about high school, (if) you can say, 'I'm back-to-back-to-back state champs in a sport with a school with an enrollment of 67.'

"That's just crazy to me. That's hard to even wrap your head around really."