Hall of Fame
“One more in ‘84” was the Parkwood baseball battle cry 42 years ago.
“To win one more conference championship and play one more game in the state tournament,” Bears coach Dan Garringer said. “We know everybody will be out after us, and I think we’re ready for the challenge.”
The Bears, who had won or shared the previous three Ozark Conference titles, came up short this time with a 3-1 loss to Kickapoo in the fourth game of the season.
However, Parkwood did play one more game in the state tournament, and a 7-3 victory over Mehlville earned the Class 4A championship.
“After the year before and having all the guys back, expectations were high,” pitcher-first baseman Fred Warden said. “We were all really good buddies. We took it serious when the game started, but we were just a bunch of cut-ups. We just liked to play, and we didn’t like to lose.”
“We only started one sophomore, a couple of juniors, and all the rest were seniors,” outfielder Steve Phillips said. “Our two workhorse pitchers, (Mike) Parker and (Brian) Pink, were seniors. And you throw in Mark Stephens; we had a triple-threat option with pitching.”
The Bears finished 23-2. After Kickapoo, they won nine straight before a 6-5 loss to Memorial. The Bears then won their last 11 games.
They defeated Parkview 9-5 in the district title game at Neosho after the Vikings upset Kickapoo in the semifinals.
In the state tournament, Parkwood beat Hillcrest 3-2 and St. Charles 6-2 to return to Columbia for the second straight year.
A Friday rain-out forced the last two rounds to be played on Saturday, and the Bears beat Independence Truman 6-4 in the semifinals and Mehlville in the final.
The semifinal game was tougher because Parkwood faced David Haas, who went on to pitch at Wichita State and for parts of three seasons with the Detroit Tigers (1991-93).
“That dude was throwing gas, and he was a big old boy,” Phillips said. “But it’s nice to look back and say we faced somebody like that and beat him. … It was a lot tougher than the championship game for sure.”
Steve Cole hit run-scoring doubles in the first and third innings. Stephens, Warden, and Pink combined on the pitching, striking out 11.
A three-run fifth inning proved to be the difference. Bryan Elliott walked and later scored on David Amayo’s squeeze bunt that went for a hit. Sean Sadler walked, and after a double steal, an errant pickoff throw to third base allowed both runners to score.
In the championship game, Mike Parker fanned nine while pitching a four-hitter.
The Bears scored five runs in the third inning. Phillips walked, Elliott singled, and both scored on Cole’s double. Amayo, Sadler, and Greg Stuck—the three non-seniors in the lineup—followed with RBI singles.
Jody Hunt led a strong offense, batting over .500 and getting a hit in every game except Hillcrest.
The roster: Scott Frogge, Dan Young, Tony Sherrill, David Brock, David Amayo, Sean Sadler, Mark Stephens, Brent Koeshall, Bryan Elliott, Fred Warden, Mike Parker, Pat Denny, Brian Pink, Jody Hunt, Kevin Cartwright, Steve Phillips, Greg Stuck, Pat Irwin, Shan Luton, Scott Pink, Wes Endicott, and Steve Cole.
Bill Gatlin was the assistant coach.
“I vividly remember Bill Gatlin looking up at Dan and saying, ‘We did it, Dan,'" Warden said. “I remember that look on his face.”
