Justin Caldwell will never forget last year’s Class 1 state quarterfinal game against Leeton.

His Wellsville-Middletown baseball team was one out away from going to the Final Four before it lost 9-8 in eight innings. The Tigers had an 8-6 lead going into the bottom of the seventh.

“The Leeton loss was gut-wrenching and heartbreaking and will leave an impression on my coaching mindset for the rest of my life,” said Caldwell, who was the Tigers’ assistant coach. “Being the assistant last year and not having the final say in what could have or should have happened in that Leeton game will stay with me forever.”

Now as the new W-M head coach, Caldwell is setting his sights on trying to help his team clear the state quarterfinal hurdle. The Tigers return eight players from last year’s team that finished 11-10.

“I think last year really showed the level of disappointment when you lose in a situation like that,” Caldwell said. “I think we’re going to use that as a learning experience and a stepping stone to hopefully make this community and this school proud and get our third banner for the school in a year. That will be amazing. That is the plan. Anything less than that, I feel like it will be a disappointment.”

The returning players are seniors Keaton Mayes and Lucas Peak, juniors Dylan Alsop, CJ Curd, Mason Guzy, Keaton Marshall and Kaleb Peak and sophomore A.J. Sherwood.
Last year, Alsop earned all-state and all-Eastern Missouri Conference honors after finishing with five wins and 103 strikeouts and hitting .373 with 27 runs scored and 23 RBIs at the plate. Guzy won three games on the mound.

W-M began its 2022 season on March 21 with a 4-3 loss to Community R-6 on the road. A year ago, the Tigers beat the Trojans in the Class 1, District 12 finals.

Caldwell said he was pleased with the way his team played against Community despite having just two full team practices.

“ I couldn’t believe the game was so close,” Caldwell said. “We had only two full team practices because the boys basketball team decided to break the 35-year curse and get back to the Final Four. That limited us because we have so many dual-sport athletes. Fortunately enough, the team came ready to play defensively. I had a couple ready to come offensively. We made the best of a bad situation for the opener. Losing that game by one run in the fashion that we did was a heck of a game. They showed a lot of heart. You can tell that the boys are looking forward to another successful season.”

Caldwell, who is also the Wellsville police chief, is in his sixth year on the W-M baseball coaching staff. He replaced Brandon Moeller as head coach. Alex Thull is Caldwell’s assistant coach.

“It’s an honor and a privilege,” Caldwell said. “I absolutely love doing this. I love helping to shape and mold these student athletes into being contributing members to society and teaching them life lessons and teamwork and responsibility, community pride and self-determination. All of those things are important in being an adult. I’m just hoping that a little bit of that can stick with them once they graduate and go into the real world.”

The Tigers’ first home game is scheduled for April 5 against Marion County.