Ozark coach Justin Sundlie never did catch the name of Kickapoo’s starting pitching Tuesday. He was just happy it wasn’t former Chiefs ace Colin Muldon
“He owned us,” Sundlie said of the 2025 Kickapoo grad who beat the Tigers twice, once at Districts in 2024 and again in 2025.
Sundlie did know to expect fast balls and more fast balls from Kickapoo’s pitcher. Ozark countered with a pair of solo home runs and three-hit pitching by Caden O’Donnell and Brody Julian to pull out a 3-1 COC East victory.
Right fielder Rylan Sutton and designated hitter Jared Dalton both belted solo shots. Sutton also tripled and scored on an RBI-single by O’Donnell.
Sutton felt the scouting report Sundlie compiled paid winning dividends.
“Coach Sundlie watched a load of film on him and knew he was dead-red fast ball most of the time,” Sutton said. “He was spot-on with (his scouting report). We were sitting on his fast ball. When you’re sitting on a fast ball and get it, rarely are you going to miss it. If I get a fastball I’m going to hit it.”
“Anybody who throws in the upper 80s is going to throw his fast ball until you prove you can hit it,” Sundlie said. “We did a good job putting good swings together. We hadn’t put good swings on fast balls like that in a while. From the very beginning of the game, we were going up there trying to be on time. We got into hitters counts and ran into a couple.”
Sutton continued to collect extra-base hits at a prolific pace. Through Ozark’s 22 games, he has 18 extra-base hits. His home run count is up to four, his doubles are at six and his triples total is an astounding eight already.
Sutton’s third-inning homer to right field was hit into a 15 mph wind.
“I thought the wind was going to kill it. The wind was howling,” Sutton said. “(The pitch) was down and in where, if I stroke the barrel on it, it’s going to fly. It felt go... Click here to read full article
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