A crowd at Hartville High School witnessed the Conway varsity Bears ending their fall baseball season with a victory against the Fordland Eagles that brought them the championship title of the Summit Conference Tournament.
Conway beat Fordland 7-4 in the final seven-inning game of the Summit Conference Tournament Thursday. Head Coach Clay Bilyeu said this was likely the first fall conference tournament the team had won in a couple years.
“You should have a lot of confidence that you can play, and play with anybody,” Bilyeu said to players Gentry Bilyeu and Griffin Cornelison after the game during a conversation with the Record.
The varsity Bears ended their fall season with a win-loss record of 14-7, according to the program’s section of the Missouri State High School Activities Association website.
In the Summit Conference Tournament, the website noted that Conway had previously beaten Sparta Oct. 6 (22-4) and Hartville Oct. 7 (4-1). Before the tournament, Conway had lost their Sept. 9 game against Fordland 9-3.
Fordland began with an early two-point lead in the first inning, but that lead fell away as the game progressed and the Bears racked up runs.
Gentry Bilyeu joked that the players being loud was a key lesson that the team learned this season –yells from the Bears’ dugout were frequent during the Fordland game. Clay Bilyeu said the team had learned how to stay in the fight during tough games.
“You guys should have a lot of confidence that you can win close ball games,” Bilyeu said. “We’ve played a few tough opponents that are solid, solid teams and been able to play our best at the end of the game whenever it’s a tough spot.”
For Gentry Bilyeu and Cornelison, this was their favorite game of the season along with beating Hartville – Conway beat Hartville in the tournament as well as their last two games against them before the conference.
The two players thanked their fans for their support during the season.
