Mizzou Baseball Recruits

■ Gaden steps into role as captain, senior in final year at SHS (Stillwater News Press):

Kale Gaden, the son of Tami Gaden and Corey Nicholas, has led by example on the field and off. He has a .418 batting average with four home runs and 28 runs batted in. He’s scored 27 times, hit 11 doubles, tripled twice and stolen eight bases.

“Kale had a lot of preseason recognition and accolades, but he’s never put himself above the other kids and that’s very important to us,” said coach Tony Holt. “His strengths are obvious. He’s a great athlete with above-average speed and he’sa left-handed hitter, who hits the ball really well. And, he’s solid behind the plate. He brings a lot to the game.

■ Anderson, Mountain Vista dominant (Denver Post):

Mountain Vista's big horse of a right-hander, 6-foot-5, 210-pound Eric Anderson, dominated his team's district rounds Saturday. In the finale, the Missouri-bound Anderson pitched a five-inning perfect game and belted two home runs in a 10-0 whipping of Dakota Ridge as the host Golden Eagles (17-4) flew into Friday's beginning of Class 5A double elimination.

"I was feeling it," Anderson said. "My stuff was working and I was just going with it."

Anderson did whatever he wanted. He struck out nine Eagles, including the side in the fifth inning, the final four hitters he faced and at least one in every inning. No Dakota Ridge batter came close to a hit — there were five harmless flyballs and just
one groundout.

His stuff was as nasty as yet another cold, damp and rainy day in Colorado springtime. Dakota Ridge, which ended 11-8, was late on his high heat and had zero success chasing his breaking balls.

■ From an e-mail:

The regular season has ended for Missouri recruit Eric Anderson. The Colorado RHP/SS led his team to a 15-4 record, the conference championship and a post season state ranking of 4th.

At the plate he compiled a .556 batting average while hitting 6 homer runs, driving in 26 runs and had league highs in slugging and on base percentage (.963 & .657). On the mound he went 5-0 with three complete games (including a nine inning win against a top five ranked team), saved two games and had a 2.15 ERA.