Speeches, bus rides and Katy Perry: Behind the scenes with top-ranked Willard baseball

Once the final bell rang at Willard High at 2:25 in the afternoon, players on the Tigers baseball team rushed to their vehicles and drove to their facility at the elementary school about a mile and a half down the road. They only had about 30 minutes to swing at the batting cage before getting on the bus.

Coach Scott McGee waited for them, loosening his arm to throw batting practice. Some teams in the past preferred to get in swings once they arrived at the away venue, but the 2024 Tigers prefer the after-school rush and the ability to calm down before the 4:30 p.m. first pitch.

Every team is different, McGee has found, but the one thing that remains the same is the expectation of winning and competing for championships. The players know it means something to be a Willard Tiger baseball player in southwest Missouri.

"I always think back to when I was a little kid and I thought that playing varsity baseball for Willard is like playing in the MLB," senior infielder Drew Quinlan said. "So many people look up to you when you're playing in this program."

Quinlan stood in one of the two batting cages with McGee whipping the ball in for 30 minutes straight. Those not taking B.P. were packed outside the netting shoulder-to-shoulder with the junior varsity members trying to prepare for practice.

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Some found chairs to chill in while others prepped their equipment for the 35-minute bus ride to Meador Park. A neutral-site matchup with Springfield Catholic, an opponent the Tigers could meet in the district semifinals, awaited them.

Players rushed to collect the hundreds of baseballs once the half-hour was up before a quick scout on the opposing pitcher. Assistant coach Trevor Bowling, a 2012 Willard graduate who played on a fourth-place team his senior year, told the huddled-up Tigers they would get from the Fightin' Irish's ace. McGee said the pitcher could be similar to one they'd see in a state quarterfinal. Putting the ball in play could turn into positives considering the Irish featured plenty of youth coming off back-to-back state runner-up finishes.

"This is their biggest game of the week when this might be our fifth-biggest game," McGee said, noting a big conference win over Branson from the night before and a Saturday doubleheader against teams from the Kansas City area. He told the Tigers they needed to lock in, knowing it could be easy for their minds to wander off.

It was then time for the Tigers to get on the bus.

"Did Kaelin find his phone?" McGee asked before it took off.

"It was in his bag," multiple teammates replied with a bit of laughter. The Tigers then pulled out of the parking lot en route to Springfield.

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A quiet bus ride, a focused sophomore star and a speech

Silence swept over the bus. Some players were nose-deep in their phones. Others looked forward. Some conversed with the teammate in their row, but it was a focused group on the work ahead. The only noise came from the speaker playing Drake, Big30, Big Yavo and a few other rappers as the Tigers locked in.

Not all teams choose silence on the way to the game, McGee said, noting there was no team rule telling them what they needed to do. "I let every team take on their own identity," McGee said. It was another little thing that made the 2024 Tigers different than the other ones of the past. Senior Landon Moore, who controlled the music, promised a different atmosphere on the way home if the Tigers got the win.

When the Tigers arrived at Meador Park, it was business. They went to their dugout and went through their pregame routine. McGee posted the starting lineup with sophomore Levi Hilton getting the call on the mound.

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Hilton isn't at the top of Willard's starting rotation, yet. He's already commanding Division I interest and will pick up scholarship offers soon after college coaches can talk to him later in his career. He's a hard-throwing righty who's comfortable locating his curve. He isolates himself from others when it's his day to pitch, keeping his mind focused on the task at hand.

Meanwhile, in the outfield minutes before the first pitch, the Tigers huddle up for a prayer and their ritual pregame speech. Past teams may have had a dance-off in the middle of the huddle but this team went a different direction. It was Kaelin Adams' turn to deliver, who said things that can't be printed in a family newspaper.

The team continued to laugh as Adams returned to the dugout, chugged the rest of a half-gallon of chocolate milk, and was ready for the game to begin.

No sunglasses, information gathering and the game within the game

On a pop fly in the bottom of the first inning, Quinlan, at second base, used his glove to block the sun as the ball fell into the mitt. Quinlan had sunglasses on the back of his head instead of over his eyes.

"It's for style," Quinlan said. "They're for emergencies. That's what I have a glove for. The sun there? That wasn't an emergency." The advice might not be what McGee's looking for when he's constantly trying to gather information and pass it on to his assistants and players throughout the game.

All coaches in the dugout have different responsibilities, whether tracking what pitches are thrown, how many times the Tigers are taking strikes and other tendencies. Injured players and reserves are responsible for sitting behind home plate and recording pitch velocities on a radar gun while noting how much pitches are moving. They relay the information to the dugout between every half inning as McGee or Bowling will instruct his batters on adjusting to what they may see.

"Our job is to then filter the information to them, so they're not paralyzed by the information," McGee said.

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After Catholic got a hard hit on a triple to the outfield gap in the second inning, the same batter stepped into the box later on. McGee asked an assistant what pitch Hilton threw that was hit and was told it was a fastball. McGee called for a curveball on the first pitch. Swing and a miss. He called for a curveball on the second pitch. Swing and a miss. McGee smiled as he called for a curveball on the third pitch. Strike three.

"We're just trying to figure out how to look for the little advantages that help the guys," McGee said. "I think that's what our job is to do as coaches. We can't make the plays for them or do anything, but if we can help them rethink about some things and can have a positive impact on their careers and maybe they can play this game a little bit longer than they would have otherwise."

Short memories, encouragement and growing confidence

Hilton wasn't the happiest when he returned to the dugout after allowing a leadoff triple in the second inning, which led to an early one-run deficit. McGee encouraged the Tigers saying they would get a run. Hilton still found a seat on the bench or a spot away from others against the railing attempting to move on.

It worked. Hilton retired the next 10 batters in order, leaning on the curveball that put a smile on his coach's face.

"I get better as the games go on," Hilton said. "I don't know why or what it is."

Encouragement is aplenty out of the Willard dugout. The Tigers care about each other's success as much as their own. During different stretches, McGee will walk out of the dugout to cheer on his pitcher, hoping it gives them the confidence to get through the next batter.

The encouragement from others has done wonders for different players on the team, including Quinlan who started the season off slow and has turned into one of Willard's most consistent players. He doubled down the left-field line in the top of the fifth and was squeezed in with two outs to tie the game.

"I found a routine that I really like and I just stuck to it," Quinlan said. "I find stretching really helpful. I just get my body loose so I can get more bat speed going. My confidence is really growing."

Extra inning heroics, Nori Japan and Chick-fil-A

Extras began two hours after the first pitch as the entire Drury baseball team leaned against the fence along the third-base line waiting to practice on its home field. The Panthers had to wait a little bit longer.

Back-to-back walks led off the inning, to McGee's delight. He told the dugout throughout the evening that they were having too many bad at-bats. If they were more patient, maybe the Tigers would've won by more.

A wild throw to first scored the go-ahead run, the third Irish error of the game. Good things will happen at the high school level if you put the ball in play, McGee said. The Tigers went to the dugout with a 2-1 lead and Bryton Towe was called on to close the game.

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Towe had the tying run at first with two outs. The Willard dugout isn't one to lean against the fence and yell after every pitch or chirp at opponents like other teams in the area. But when Towe threw three straight curveballs and had the final out of the game spinning in circles, the Tigers couldn't help but cheer and then run out onto the field in celebration.

"Obviously, it was an ugly win," McGee began in the postgame huddle before telling his team everything they did well. Hilton faced the minimum in four of his innings, putting the one inning he was hit hard behind him. The defense, which McGee thinks is the team's strength, was as solid. Offensively, the lineup played "into its worst traits" with some batters chasing or others being too passive.

"Keep working and we're going to have a chance to win it," McGee said of the state championship. "When you guys are 34 remembering back to when you won a state championship, you're not going to ask 'What was the score against Catholic?' You're going to say 'Did you win it all?'"

Drury took its home field while the Tigers took the bus for a quick trip to the Battlefield Mall food court. Players dispersed with Moore getting teriyaki chicken and noodles from Nori Japan and Quinlan being among the many in the Chick-fil-A line for an eight-count of nuggets with fries and a Dr Pepper. It was almost as enthused as the Tigers were all day. Well, until the bus ride when Moore kept his promise — it was much more lively than the one to the game.

Dixieland Delight, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga

The Tigers cranked up the speakers and clapped their hands off-rhythm to Alabama's Dixieland Delight. They added their own words in-between lyrics that won't be repeated, much like what Crimson Tide fans do in Tuscaloosa but localized. The 35-minute ride home also included hits from Lady Gaga and a singalong to Katy Perry's Firework.

"We overplay a lot of songs," Quinlan laughed. "But it's so much fun to be a part of."

Once the bus rolled up to the Willard baseball facility at the elementary school, McGee told his team what to expect the next day. A road trip to Webb City awaited them in a more meaningful game when trying to chase down championships. He told them what uniforms to bring and to look up the opposing pitcher's film. Another opportunity for another fun bus ride home awaited the Tigers in less than 24 hours.

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Players scattered to their vehicles to head home for the night. McGee walked toward the baseball field where future Tigers were still playing. He already had a lot of his scouting done on Webb City from the days before but he'll go back and reevaluate the decisions he made throughout the day and see what he could do better tomorrow.

Willard baseball means something in southwest Missouri. It's earned respect across the state as a program capable of winning a state championship each year through hard work along with its quiet bus rides, pregame speeches, postgame Chick-fil-A and singalongs along the way.

"This team is absolutely incredible," Moore said. "This is probably my favorite team I've been a part of. We just have so much fun out there with each other. We always know, no matter what, our backs are never against the wall. We will come through, we will score and we will beat you."

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Behind the scenes with the Willard High School baseball program