Moniteau pitcher Dawson Cook had the right recipe for winning.

Composure.

Only a sophomore, Cook drew the starting assignment on the mound for the Warriors’ District 9 Class 2A semifinal baseball game against rival Karns City on Thursday at Pullman Park.

The Gremlins defeated Moniteau twice in the regular season, 13-7 and 6-5, and were threatening to pull out a victory late in this game. After allowing just three hits in five innings, Cook was tagged for a lead-off triple and one-out, run-scoring single in the sixth. The potential tying run got to second base.

It got no farther, Cook recording a strikeout and and inducing a fly ball to center to escape further damage.

Still nursing that 2-1 lead in the seventh, Cook walked the lead-off batter after having him down 1-2 in the count. With two strikes on him, KC’s Colton Christie reached base on a swinging bunt to third that he beat out for a hit.

With the tying and winning runs on base and no one out, Cook calmly fielded a sacrifice bunt attempt and fired the ball to third base to nail the lead runner, then struck out the next batter before his time on the mound ended via pitch count.

Dawson Wallace, a senior, came on to strike out the final batter as the Warriors came up winners over the No. 1 seed.

Thinking back to when I was a sophomore in high school, I doubt I could have thrown a strike in those situations. My legs would have felt like spaghetti.

I admire young athletes who have the composure and confidence to come up big for their teams when it’s all on the line.

I certainly respect Dawson Cook after watching him that day.

Tough decision

This may depend on which is your favorite sport, but if you had a chance to go back in time and be there live — as it happened — which of the following would you have loved to be there in person to see?

Your choices: Bill Mazeroski’s home run to win the 1960 World Series, the Immaculate Reception play by Franco Harris in the 1972 NFL playoffs or the United States Olympic hockey team’s stunning upset of Russia in the 1980 semifinals.

The first choice was one of the most famous homers in baseball history, the second choice the most bizarre play in NFL history, the third perhaps the greatest upset in sports history.

Or maybe you have a fourth option out there.

My choice is the Mazeroski home run. Pittsburgh had gone 33 years without playing in the World Series and were heavy underdogs to the powerful New York Yankees. Mazeroski’s home run culminated a crazy last couple of innings.

Witnessing such an atmosphere at Forbes Field — a place I was able to see a few games at as a child — would have been one of those lifetime moments.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle