Rogersville baseball's Missouri State commits make it the most dangerous team in the area

After falling in the state championship game a year ago, Logan-Rogersville star pitcher Ross Lawrence was already looking forward to trying to climb back to the top. He knew the Wildcats would be capable of doing so.

A look at the roster and many from the Class 4 runners-up were set to return. That included a Missouri State commit Curry Sutherland and another all-stater in Noah Carrow.

It was the type of returning core that would make Logan-Rogersville a state championship contender. But after Lawrence got word that more reinforcements were coming, it further confirmed to him that the Wildcats could make it back to the state championship and finish the job.

"We knew going into the season that we were going to be pretty good," Lawrence said.

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Logan-Rogersville is the No. 1 ranked team in Class 4 this season and is 11-2 after a 10-0 win over Marshfield on Thursday, played at the Wildcats' beautiful new home field.

The Wildcats are led by three Missouri State commits in Lawrence, Sutherland and Brody McNiel — who moved to Rogersville over the summer. The latter two could make an impact on the Bears as soon as the 2024 season with Lawrence having one more year with the Wildcats.

"These kids come to work every day," head coach Casey Ledl said. "They just love the game. There were a lot of expectations put on these 16, 17 and 18-year-old kids but they've really adapted to it well and they just like to go out there and have fun."

Brody McNiel

McNiel was the first of the three to commit to Missouri State but he was the last of them to join Logan-Rogersville.

Over the summer, McNiel's mother took a job in Rogersville which moved him into the district when he was a dominant lefty at Hartville. He already had a friendship with Sutherland which made the move even easier while getting to know Lawrence and other teammates through playing on the boys' basketball team.

McNiel has brought in his four-pitch repertoire with a consistent fastball in the upper 80s when it was in the lower-to-mid 80s a year ago. Against Marshfield, he showed off his command by striking batters out with all four — a fastball, curveball, change-up and two-seamer — while finishing the game with seven strikeouts. He threw a complete five-inning 52-pitch game and picked off the only batter who got a hit off of him. He finished the game with zero walks.

"He's just one of those dudes who's a very low-key kid and he fits right into this group," Ledl said. "He just goes out there and gets the job done while he's on the mound. I think he's liking the idea that he's got a great lineup around him to where he can just go out there, have fun and not necessarily have to have a lot of pressure on him a lot of the time."

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There were times when it appeared Marshfield didn't want to get into the batter's box with McNiel on the mound. McNiel noticed he had batters uncomfortable as he struck out five consecutive batters between the first and third innings.

The opportunity to play against bigger schools has made McNiel a better pitcher as he's already faced the likes of Republic, Joplin and Nixa with tough dates to come. With Missouri State in need of left-handed pitchers, McNiel is setting himself up well to be someone who will earn innings as a true freshman.

"When I'm pitching against these bigger schools, I have a higher expectation for myself," McNiel said. "I want to pound the zone and if they hit it, they hit it. I think that's been my goal all this time in high school is just pound the zone and I don't think they can catch up with me."

Curry Sutherland

Nearly four months after McNiel committed to the Bears in 2020, Sutherland followed

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound infielder, with an athletic build, projects as a third baseman while playing shortstop this season for the Wildcats. After having Tommy John surgery that sat him out for the first bit of the 2022 season, Sutherland is back on the mound this year and could have a shot at contributing to Missouri State both in the field and on the pitcher's mound in 2024.

At the plate is where Sutherland seems to shine the brightest. With his towering presence at the plate, Sutherland does nothing but barrel baseballs and hit them hard in all directions of the field. He was 3 for 3 with a double on Thursday.

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"He's just very, very consistent," Ledl said. "I get on him quite a bit in batting practice because he can hit the ball out of this Cracker Jack box anytime he wants. We're getting him to work during BP and get him really defined and I think he does his thing up there. You don't see him taking too many bad swings. If he does, he is usually spinning off and I'll say something to him and he usually is a quick self-reflection guy where he'll correct mistakes and he won't take a bad swing two times in a row."

Sutherland had to sit out the entirety of the 2021-22 basketball season but he returned as one of the Ozarks' best. He was a News-Leader Dominant Dozen selection while averaging 24.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

When he didn't have a basketball game, Sutherland would go straight from hoops practice to working on his swing. In his family barn, he'd lift, work on his swing, get some batting practice in and do exercises to take care of his arm. McNiel and Lawrence frequently joined him with the night typically ending around 11:30.

"I try to strive myself and be in the cage all winter and then stay in it during the spring," Sutherland said. "I really don't think I would be where I'm at if I didn't put the time I did in the cage. I try to hit every single day we don't have a game and then I try to hit either before or after practice. I'm just trying to keep my swing refined and make sure it's at the top of my game."

Ross Lawrence

After the 2022 season, Lawerence, then a Mizzou commit, wasn't feeling too comfortable with his decision to play for the Tigers. The 2024 prospect then decided to reach out to MSU head coach Keith Guttin.

"Everything he was saying, I kind of just fell in love with," Lawrence said. "I had Curry on my back constantly telling me to come switch. It got to the point where I was like 'alright, let's just do it. Why not?'"

Six days after backing out of his commitment to Mizzou, the left-handed pitcher announced he was staying in southwest Missouri to be a Bear. The later move from McNiel gave Rogersville its Missouri State trio for the 2023 season.

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"It's just awesome," Lawrence said. "It's brought us super close to each other. We're always lifting, going out to eat and hanging out with each other. I think we all have a really good bond together, so it's nice."

Lawrence has dealt with a minor back injury over the last week or so but is expected to be back on the mound next week. When he's back to 100%, Lawerence will complete maybe the most dominant pitching staff in the state.

When healthy, Lawrence's fastball is touching the high 80s and lower 90s. A soft-spoken kid turns into a fiery competitor on the mound that Ledl is even trying to settle down at times. His competitiveness is something that Ledl sees as an explanation for his greatness.

"Man, that kid can pitch," Ledl said. "He can set people up and then he can throw any pitch he wants to for a strike at any time. He's tough. When Ross gets in the zone, he's got a little flare to him and he likes to have a little flare to his game a little bit."

Living up to the high expectations

The three seem to already be ready to be coached at Missouri State by Guttin as they already preach the "one game at a time" mentality that the Bears' legendary skipper preaches. While the chip on the shoulder is there from coming up short a year ago, the Wildcats' Bears are focused on one game to the next.

However, the three are aware of the challenges that lie ahead. If all goes according to plan, it could be Logan-Rogersville and Catholic meeting in a district championship — meaning one of the best teams in the state isn't going to come out of the year with even a district championship. The two meet at Catholic on April 25 in their lone regular-season showdown.

Behind the scenes, Logan-Rogersville and Catholic parents have group chats with each other keeping up with how they're playing.

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"It's one of those things where I think both of us are hoping to see each other somewhere else down the line," Sutherland said. "We knew it was inevitable that we could see each other. You know, now we just have to fight."

The fate of the Wildcats' season won't all come down to the three Missouri State commits either as the entire team has shown it's capable of stepping up in the biggest spots. A well-coached, experienced, hard-hitting lineup one through nine will be ready when it's time for them to shine.

The likes of Carrow, Zach Higdon and others know what it takes. A run back to a state championship is an obtainable goal for a special roster.

"I think one through nine, we're extremely dangerous," Ledl said. "You cannot pitch around anybody because the next guy can hit too. To be that dangerous, with our pitching, I think we're gonna be solid most nights."

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Logan-Rogersville is No. 1 in state behind Missouri State commits