Menu
Another season, another challenge for Cooter High grad
Monday, July 1, 2024
Cape Catfish hitter Hayden Nazerenus swings at a pitch recently at Capaha Field.
Tony Capobianco ~ Tcapobianco@semoball.com
Hayden Nazerenus has done nothing but challenge himself over the past 12 months since graduating from a stellar athletic career at Cooter High School.
He left the tiny school (enrollment 128) a year ago and immediately spent a couple of weeks testing his skills with the Cape Catfish but signed on for the entire season this summer.
“It hasn’t been easy coming from such a small school,” Nazerenus said after helping the Catfish earn an 8-3 win over the Jackson (Tenn.) Rockabillys at Capaha Field. “But the game gives back to you if you work hard.”
Nazerenus has certainly done that.
He signed just a temporary contract a year ago with the Catfish, and when his time expired with the club, he almost immediately regretted not signing for the entire season.
“When I had to leave,” Nazerenus said, “I really wished I had taken that full contract. It was hard to leave. The connections that you have here you never forget.”
That is precisely why he let Cape General Manager Mark Hogan know “early on” that he wanted to come back following his freshman season at very tough Crowder College in Neosho.
“It’s awesome being here,” Nazerenus continued.
In Sunday’s win, Nazerenus played both right field and second base, displaying his versatility defensively. He also recently started a game at third base.
“His transition started slower,” first-year Cape assistant coach Nolan Davenport said of Nazerenus, “but we have always known that he would come around.”
Nazerenus connected for a double, scored a run, drew a walk, and drove in a pair of runs against Jackson. After hitting .299 for a 49-win Crowder team this spring, he is hitting .250 for the Catfish.
“He has done a good job of coming around and staying, mentally, levelheaded,” Davenport said.
Davenport said that the young player tended – early – to be too hard on himself, and he allowed mistakes to linger in his mind.
“He would get super frustrated,” Davenport said, “and mentally, he would blow up sometimes. (Cape manager Phil Butler) sat down with him and told him he needed to be more levelheaded. It will come. It’s a failing game.”
You’ll have to forgive Nazerenus if he doesn’t accept failure because it rarely happened at Cooter, and it didn’t happen at Crowder.
In high school, during his four seasons (his freshman baseball season was lost to COVID) of basketball and (three in) baseball, the 5-foot-11 athlete was on a basketball team that won 78 games, a pair of District titles (one in Class 1 and one in Class 2), and a Class 2 Sectional.
In baseball, Nazerenus was part of Wildcat teams that won 64 games, three District championships, one sectional, one quarterfinal, and finished third in the 2023 MSHSAA Class 1 Final Four.
“It’s tough to play at Crowder,” Nazerenus said of the talent level. “You have to have some tough skin to play there. I feel like (Cooter High basketball and baseball coach David Mathis) helped me with that.”
JJ Williams paced the Cape (14-15 overall, 1-0 second half) offense with four hits, two stolen bases, and a run scored on Sunday while Southeast Missouri State player Brooks Kettering (two hits, one run), Redhawk player Gunnar Doyle (one hit, one run, one RBI), SEMO athlete Bryce Cannon (two hits, two runs, one RBI, one walk), Easton Moore (one run, one RBI, two walks), former Jackson High player Steven Schneider (one hit, one RBI), Trace Harrington (one hit), and Carson McCaleb (one run, one walk) were also productive.
Doyle, Cannon, and Nazerenus each notched doubles, while Kettering and Cannon also stole bases.
On the mound, Catfish starter Jesse Komoroski was excellent in throwing five innings, allowing five hits, no runs, no walks, and striking out three to earn the victory, which was Cape’s second straight.
In the past six games, aside from a 5-0 loss to the Full Count Rhythm on Saturday, the Catfish have scored a combined 46 runs.
The Catfish will visit the Dubois County Bombers (12-17) on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. before returning to Capaha Field on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. against Jackson (17-10).