Coach brings winning attitude home

Former Northwest High School baseball coach Tim Edwards led his second team to the Final Four last week.

Edwards, in his first season as Boonville’s head coach, guided the Pirates to a 21-2 record.

The Pirates, who went 8-0 in the Missouri River Valley Conference, beat Kirksville 12-1 to win the District 13 title. They beat Excelsior Springs 9-6 in the sectionals and Harrisonville 8-6 in the quarterfinals.

Boonville will face Webb City (23-5) in the semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday at Meador Park in Springfield.

Notre Dame of Cape Girardeau (19-6) and St. Dominic (24-3) will square off in the other semifinal at 10 a.m. Friday.

The championship game is set for 1 p.m. Saturday.

Edwards led Northwest to a fourth-place finish in 1999. He led Northwest to a 21-2 record in 2000 but lost in the district final to Santa Fe. They reached the state quarterfinals the next year.

“I thought we had the best team in the state, but that goes to show you that you’ve got to catch a few breaks, too,” Edwards said.

Boonville has a short history in high school baseball. The school didn’t form a team until 1997.

When Edwards attended Boonville High School, he played Babe Ruth baseball and was one of three players from his class to become college pitchers, he said.

“We’ve always had good summer league baseball here,” Edwards said. “That hasn’t changed. We’ve got good Babe Ruth and Cal Ripken programs.”

Forty-seven players came out for baseball this season, a testament to the summer program, according to Edwards.

“We have a lot of kids playing baseball,” he said.

Edwards, who graduated in 1987, knew the Pirates had talent but would only go as far as their sophomore pitchers would take them.

Those 10th graders haven’t disappointed. Chucky Jones is 10-0 with a 3.25 ERA, and Brett Quinlan is 7-1 with a 1.70 ERA entering Thursday’s victory.

“I knew we had some talent,” Edwards said. “Nobody thought we’d have this kind of record. I was pretty excited about our talent.”

The Pirates will be making their first trip to the final four. They won a district championship in 2002 and won a playoff game before being eliminated in the quarterfinals by eventual state champion Platte County.