Meet Tristan Hunter: The star pitcher who had a dozen MLB scouts flocking to Forsyth

Zigging and zagging through the windy roads about 10 miles east of Branson, over a dozen Major League Baseball scouts recently made their way to Forsyth to watch a small-town pitching prospect put on a show.

Lined up across the bullpen, the scouts stood with their radar guns and phones recording each pitch and each batter whiff in ways you'd imagine when baseball was being played in cartoons. As has been the case all season, it was almost comedic to see batters try to take on 95 mph fastballs or the off-speed pitches with movement that very few high schoolers are used to seeing.

Tristan Hunter, a senior righty signed with Kentucky, has left no doubt this season. He's been southwest Missouri high school baseball's biggest attraction.

"I just want to win," Hunter said. "I'm not worried about runs. I just want to win. As long as we get in the game and we win, that's all that matters."

Hunter's dominance on the mound has Forsyth ranked among the top teams at the Class 3 level while having the Panthers in a position to make their deepest postseason run since they finished in fourth in the state in 2000.

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It took 19 games and seven appearances on the mound for Hunter to give up his first earned run of the season, which came with two outs in the seventh when he wasn't on the mound after hitting his pitch count limit. After Tuesday's 4-2 win over state-ranked Strafford, he had thrown 34.1 innings with a 0.20 ERA, 64 strikeouts and 12 hits allowed.

Hunter didn't allow a hit through his first three appearances this season. In his fourth outing, against a good Clever lineup, he allowed just one hit while striking out 16 batters which tied the fifth-most thrown in a game in the state's history.

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No one's stood a chance against a pitcher who somehow plays better under pressure. If a runner is lucky enough to get on, Hunter finds a different level of focus, making sure they won't make it near home plate.

"It's something most coaches dream of, having a guy that throws mid-90s," Forsyth head coach Byron Richardson said. "It doesn't happen every day. It's been a great ride. We love it."

Hunter's arsenal includes a fastball that's between 90 and 95 mph with the curveball sitting around the low 80s. He said his change-up hangs around 84 mph and into the low 80s. A sinker, that he doesn't throw as often, is between 90 and 91 and can touch 92 mph every once in a while.

Braxton Gross, a junior bat in the middle of Forsyth's lineup who's having a great season in his own right, has the honor of catching for Hunter every game. He took the duties over from his brother who caught Hunter in previous years.

Against Strafford, it wasn't uncommon to see Gross take a second to wave his hand around after hearing the hard pop of the mitt. He admitted he had to ice his thumb after several games when it got too swollen.

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Training for the season, Gross and Richardson went into the gym and turned the pitching machine all the way up so that he could get used to the high velocity he was going to have to catch.

"It's been a lot of fun and we're putting up a lot of runs," Gross said. "It just makes catching easy sometimes. It's fun seeing the work we've put in since we were nine, 10 and 11 and showing everybody else what we're capable of."

Hunter said he's talked to the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers the most. The MLB Draft takes place from July 14-16. If he doesn't hear his name called or opts to play collegiate ball, he'll join a Kentucky program currently ranked in the top five in the D1Baseball and USA Today Coaches Poll.

Before he thinks about the future, Hunter is locked in on helping Forsyth go on a postseason run and collecting some hardware. Tuesday's win over Strafford was the Panthers' seventh-straight victory before traveling to state-ranked Mansfield on Thursday. They have plenty of momentum nearing the Class 3, District 11 postseason that also features the likes of Strafford, Sparta and Fair Grove.

With Hunter on the mound, Forsyth knows anything is possible.

"We've all grown up playing together and it's just the team chemistry and all of us playing as a unit," Hunter said. "All it is right now is playing ball and having fun."

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Tristan Hunter: Kentucky pitcher prospect shining in high school