St. Pius, Grandview, Jefferson start baseball playoffs on KJFF

(Festus) The high school baseball postseason begins Monday with a doubleheader on KJFF.

The St. Pius Lancers face Valley Park, and the Jefferson Blue Jays battle the Grandview Eagles.

In game one, St. Pius will look to shake off their late-season woes.

The Lancers might have the top seed in the district and boast a dynamite one-two punch in pitchers Tate Ramey and Zander Street, but they’ve lost six of their last 8 games.

Head coach Dan Oliver says he intentionally made sure the schedule was tough for his team down the stretch.

Valley Park is 5-8 after being DuBourg in the lone district quarterfinal.

In the second semifinal, conference rivals will collide.

Jefferson won the JCAA Small-School Division at 13-8 as part of a red-hot second half of the season.

Behind seniors Dylan Schnitzler, Daylen Whitener and Colby Ott, the Blue Jays are hoping to win their 12th of the last 15 games.

Head coach Robert Kuehnle says they’ll get there with good defense.

Grandview is 7-8, but sophomore Trenton Cookerly and junior Eric O’Brien have helped the Eagles win four of their last seven.

Head coach Jeff Ketcherside says a trip south tends to have this effect on his team.

The winners move on to Wednesday’s district championship game.

It’s St. Pius against Valley Park and Grandview versus Jefferson in the Class 3 District 4 semifinals Monday afternoon.

Pregame coverage starts at 3:45 on AM 1400 KJFF.