How Rock Bridge baseball got back to form as it prepares for a district title game

Blue Springs deterred Rock Bridge baseball's plans Tuesday evening.

The Wildcats tagged starter Toby Scheidt for two runs in his two innings of work. That's when the Bruins called on their ace, and Payton Messer led the rest of the way.

Messer was originally being saved to start the Class 6 District 5 championship.

As the Bruins took care of business against Blue Springs with a 12-3 win in the district semifinals, the Wildcats may have switched around Rock Bridge's pitching plans. But the Bruins were already ahead of schedule.

Rock Bridge has gotten back to its dominant form ahead of Thursday's title game at home against Blue Springs South.

"We've only burnt one arm in two games," Rock Bridge assistant coach Andy Hight said. "Every pitcher on the roster is available for the championship game."

Messer and Scheidt combined to allow three runs on eight hits, both allowing four hits, as Rock Bridge's offense came on in the fourth and fifth innings to down the Wildcats.

The Bruins tied the game at 2 after Blue Springs went up early.

That's when Rock Bridge turned to Messer.

Scheidt is one of the Bruins' usual starters, but the coaches could sense he wasn't at 100% Tuesday. The decision to go to Messer was more of a testament to Messer's ability to win games.

"He was giving us everything he had," Hight said of Scheidt. "Those two guys are our front-end guys."

That still won't hinder Rock Bridge on Thursday. The Bruins will have their entire staff ready for a chance to claim a district title.

The offense has regained its potency, the pitching remains efficient and the team has regained some of the swagger it had lost in its five-game skid near the end of the regular season.

A loss at home to Hickman was the start of that skid, and a win over Willard righted the ship just enough going into districts. But districts are unpredictable, as evidenced by Hickman's upset loss to Fort Osage on Monday afternoon.

Four of the dozen runs Rock Bridge scored Tuesday were unearned as Blue Springs committed five errors. The Bruins have been taking advantage of mistakes like those all season long.

Still, Rock Bridge recorded seven RBIs. Scheidt helped his own cause by driving in three of those runs, while Kaiden Stoffer drove in two.

But it wasn't simple as Rock Bridge getting back to its top form. The team needed an introspective look at itself.

"There's not many teams that are in the position we're in," Hight said. "That's very humbling. We're very grateful. Our kids have worked extremely hard to get to this point."

The biggest thing for Rock Bridge is to "be themselves," Hight said. The team has the talent to play any team and win any game, he added.

Now that the Bruins are back to playing how they were through the first two-thirds of the season, they're on the doorstep of achieving a goal set before the first pitches of the season were even thrown.

"We're 21 outs away from a really, really big goal," Hight said, "and hanging another banner."

Chris Kwiecinski is the sports editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune, overseeing University of Missouri and Boone County sports coverage. Follow him on Twitter @OchoK_ and contact him at CKwiecinsk@gannett.com or 573-815-1857.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How Rock Bridge got back to form, earning a district title game berth