The Hornets ended their season with a 12-2 five-inning loss to Liberty on Monday night in the opening round of District play. While the team ended on a sour five-game losing streak note, a 15-11 finish on the year signals the high water mark for the club in nearly two decades and a sign that Hornet Baseball is turning the corner. It was going to be a tall task to walk away with a title in the Class 6-District 8 tournament with seven of the eight teams having double-digit win totals. But the Hornets fought to the end. Liberty jumped ahead with a six run first inning under murky skies sending ten to the plate in the frame.
Northtown got their offense rolling in the third after Kevin Pelico reached on an error and Dayton Horn ripped a double to the alley at the new Creekside Baseball Complex in Parkville, Missouri. A nifty double-steal led by Diamond Cooper faking a steal to second, while Horn snuck home would be the Hornets second and final run. Northtown would be limited to five hits on the night and Liberty pulled away in the fifth scoring four to run rule the game.
There is still plenty to celebrate in the season, however. On the same day, however, All-Conference awards started to roll in for the Hornets. Northtown would receive ten recognitions - the most of any team in the Conference. Those receiving awards:
All-Conference Honorable Mention - Layne Campbell, P
All-Conference Second Team - Wes McFarland and Nick Ward, Outfield; Kevin Pelico, Catcher; Brett Kamler, Infield; Andrew Krueger, Pitcher
All-Conference First Team - Anian Nicolas-Zamora and Bobby Grado, Infield; Diamonds Cooper, Outfield; Noah Devero, Pitcher

The Hornets will celebrate their season with their end of year banquet next Wednesday. They'll say goodbye to their senior class and recognize the leadership the junior class now needs to provide. The break will be short, however, as summer workouts are already planned for June.

In a year where we welcomed baseball back, the Hornets did even more with what they had. Let us hope that North Kansas City, once again, is now considered a "baseball school" and that we never have to endure a season without baseball again.