First-year Coach Shannon Wells couldn’t believe what he was witnessing.Simple fielding plays that had been routine for his team up until this point were suddenly erroneous blunders.It was as if Wright City felt the weight of the world on its shoulders during a 7-2 defeat against North Callaway in the opening round of the Class 3 District 8 Tournament.“The kids came in tight and were treating it like it was the end of the world,” said Wells. “They were trying a little too hard and not letting the game come to them.”North Callaway immediately capitalized on the Wildcats’ errors, taking a 4-0 lead in the first inning.“Once we had that bad first inning defensively, it kind of set the tone for the game,” said Wells.Wright City finally got its bats rolling in the third inning, as Justin Bote and Dallas Deroy reached home.“For a short time, we put the ball in play,” said Wells. “We were patient and weren’t swinging at bad pitches. When we got on base, we were doing the things we’ve worked on in practice.”But the rally was short lived, and the Thunderbirds quickly resecured their lead by another pair of runs in the third inning.Senior Austin Marsh started on the mound for the Wildcats.Meanwhile, North Callaway’s starting pitcher Paul Zerr maintained control during the remaining innings, allowing Wright City to put the ball in play while his defense cleaned up. He struck out four and walked just two batters through a full seven innings.“Their pitcher settled down, and we kind of fell into a slump,” said Wells. “We couldn’t hit very well, so that combined with our fielding struggles really set us back.”The Wildcats managed four hits, considerably below the season average of what has been a traditionally strong hitting team.“In those kinds of games you’ve got to be a little bit more selective, and I felt we didn’t do a very good job with that,” said Wells.Saturday’s contest actually doubled as an Eastern Missouri Conference game, because the original meeting was interrupted by storms and never made up. Wells says having played against the Thunderbirds already may have helped, but he was confident.“I liked our chances,” said Wells. “I liked our matchup with them.”Wright City was, however, without the services of starting infielder Kyle Tuepker, who batted exclusively due to elbow pain.Wright City finished the season 14-11.“I was pretty happy with our record,” said Wells. “It could have been a little better if we could have shored up our defense.”BOTE BATSDerrick Forsythe Photo.