Through 17 games, North Callaway baseball already has more than 10 wins.

The Thunderbirds 11-6 record following a 15-0 three-inning victory last Wednesday at home against Louisiana was yet another dominant performance from the offense. After the victory, North Callaway was averaging 9.8 runs per game — just a bit shy for its first 10-run season since when it averaged 10.5 runs in 2011.

Head coach Kirt Kleindienst stepped into his first year as head coach after a few as an assistant in the program. The Thunderbirds have several that slotted into bigger roles as well, gaining starting jobs and hence more at-bats. Still, the offense has worked like a machine for the most part.

“They’re starting to compete with one another a little bit,” Kleindienst said. “Who can have a better at-bat? Who can get more barrels in a game? Getting the barrel to the ball is the key. What happens after that is up to the baseball gods. As long as we compete, whether it be on the mound or at the plate, it’s fun baseball.”

Kyle Pennell owned a batting average above .460 through 17 games and owns the team lead at 21. He is on track for what could be his first all-conference season and hasn’t been part of an offense that has been this potent at this point of the season.

“As a team, we are on the same level,” Pennell said. “Coaches are giving us ways to fix swings as a team. Throughout the lineup, you’re getting guys that can poke it up the middle, hit in a gap, and sometimes, it doesn’t hit a gap, but we figure out ways to score runs even when we’re not getting lucky.”

The dugout has stayed fun for North Callaway, especially through its first seven conference games. The Thunderbirds have scored at least 10 runs in every one of those games, defeating five of those opponents by double-digits to trigger a run-rule, and own a conference run differential of 97-14. Five Thunderbirds own an OPS over .900 and at least six have driven in at least 10 runs.

Pitching hasn’t been too shabby either with a team ERA of around 3.00, and the most runs North Callaway has allowed in conference was seven runs in the first game at Wright City. Almost everybody on the staff has an ERA below 4.00 and the one above 4.00 is still below 4.40.

“It’s a little bit of a mixture between our preparation and our confidence as a group moving forward,” Kleindienst said. “At the same time, we’re catching a lot of conference games off of a two-or-three game bang-bang-bang, and we’re hitting our way in.”

Pennell said North Callaway has done well not to fall in “trap games” by maintaining good effort throughout its conference schedule.

“There’s more sustained and consistent energy that helps us get the job done every day instead of just dragging along on some of those,” Pennell said.

Pennell added three more RBI in the lopsided victory against Louisiana, recording his fifth multi-RBI game and sixth multi-hit game. His career average is over .350, but it has never finished above .400 in a season, which Pennell said can be attributed to better focus. He said he’s not ruling out college baseball in the future, but he’s not allowing that to pressure him anymore.

“In the past, I always had college baseball in front of me, but with the shoulder injury last year, it kind of fell off,” Pennell said. “This is the last ride, for sure, so I put a lot of work in this winter just doing what coach says and helping myself. I’m taking it in as much as possible and not trying to do too much.”

Kleindienst said a couple other returning hitters in the lineup are progressing this year along with Pennell, including Sam Pezold and Carter Moore. Pezold’s OPS is above .900 and his average is above .370 and he had 13 RBI after the Louisiana game. Moore only needed two at-bats against Louisiana to pick up four RBI, crushing a pair of two-RBI doubles to the dead-center-field fence to arrive at 20 RBI to go with his OPS above .900.

“Sam is Sam, which is great, but now he’s showing us he can go oppo(site field) with pop,” Kleindienst said. “That’s a new element to his game, and Carter Moore is hitting with power now.” 

He said younger and more inexperienced players have stepped up, including junior and first time varsity starter Caleb Sheets, who owns around a .390 on-base along with eight RBI. Coltyn O’Neal, who is the younger brother of current Columbia College Cougar Braydn O’Neal. His on-base percentage is above .500 — like Pennell — and is one of the five with an OPS above .900.

“He probably averages about five or six pitches seen per at-bat,” Kleindienst said. “He’s seeing a lot of pitches and he’s getting a lot of hits and getting on base a bunch. He is a key player for our ballclub.”

The Thunderbirds have only been shutout once through 17 games in a 4-0 loss to School of the Osage on a “real good effort” from a “solid” Chris Nicholson, Kleindienst said. So North Callaway needs to continue to grind to combat “the right person off the bump” that “can shut her down” and manage its pitching staff.

“Our pitchers are fresh, so if anybody is getting in trouble, we’re going to have some fresh arms behind them,” Kleindienst said. “I won't let anything get away from us, as far as leads go, with one pitcher when we have a lot of them needing innings. As long as we grind at-bats out and throw strikes, conference will take care of itself.”