During his 35 years as Potosi varsity baseball coach Ron Kading has coached more than his fair share of games; nearly 700 varsity games, almost as many J.V. contests and countless summertime American Legion games.
     But last week the legendary Kading may have witnessed a first during his illustrious and lengthy coaching career. The long-time Chieftain skipper had the best seat in the house - the third base coaching box - as he watched his junior catcher Mitch Langkamp racked up seven hits, two doubles, a solo homer and a whopping 11 RBI in a sweep of previously undefeated Barneveld.
     Wearing Potosi’s “new” bright yellow and maroon throwback uniforms Langkamp’s big day brought back memories of the offensive juggernaut days of the Potosi Hitmen in the late 1980s.
     The junior right-hander was hot from his first at-bat driving in a pair of runs with a one-out single in the bottom of the first. He added an RBI single in the second and smacked a solo homer in the fourth.
     Langkamp finished Game 1 3-for-4 with four RBI and led Potosi to a 7-4 win.
     In the nightcap he was even better. Langkamp tallied four hits in five at-bats, two of them doubles, and drove in seven runs - more than the entire Barneveld team - in a 15-6 victory.
     “We’ve had some pretty big RBI games (at Potosi) in the past because we have traditionally scored a lot of runs, but I honestly can’t remember a day like that for anybody,” said Kading. “To have 11 RBI is one thing, but to do it against a team and program like Barneveld; that is quite a feat!”
     With the sweep Potosi (ranked 6th in Division 4 by wissports.net) improved to 9-0 overall and 9-0 in the Six Rivers Conference, while Barneveld fell to 11-2, 9-2.
     “Barneveld has had our number recently. I even know when the last time we beat them was,” added Kading. “So to take two from them is a pretty big deal. I know our kids were excited about it.”
     Monday night the Chieftains improved to 10-0, 10-0 when they picked up a forfeit victory over Six Rivers West rival Cassville. The Comets were forced to forfeit the game because they had just eight available players.

Potosi 8, Belmont 5
(from Tuesday, April 24 @ Potosi)
Belmont    030    001    1    -  5   8  2
Potosi    530    000    x    -  8   8  3
Leading hitters - B: Jeremy Richardson 3x4, David Stoney 2x3; P: Mitch Langkamp 2x4, Chase Kruser 2x3, Logan Udelhofen 2x3. 2B - B: Richardson; P: Kruser, Udelhofen. W - Tyler Udlohven (4-0, 6 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 8 SO, 2 BB). L - Kyle Van Bogaert (0-5, 6 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 7 SO, 5 BB).

Potosi 7, Barneveld 4
(from Thursday, April 26 @ Potosi)
Barneveld    100    003    0    -  4   8  3
Potosi    320    110    x    -  7 11  0
Leading hitters - B: Hodgson 2x4, Carmody 2x4; P: Tom Keene 2x4, Tim Fritz 2x4, Mitch Langkamp 3x4, Hunter Leibfried 2x4. 2B - B: Hodgson, Carmody 2; P: Fritz. HR - P: Langkamp. W - Tim Fritz (3-0, 7 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 13 SO, 3 BB). L - Lee (4 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB).

Potosi 15, Barneveld 6
(from Thursday, April 26 @ Potosi)
Potosi    160    140    3    - 15 15  2
Barneveld    202    020    0    -  6   6  4
Leading hitters - P: Spencer Hawes 2x4, Tom Keene 3x5, Tom Fritz 2x3, Mitch Langkamp 4x5; B: Carmody 2x4. 2B - P: Fritz, Langkamp 2; B: Carmody. W - Tyler Udelhoven (5-0, 7 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 9 SO, 3 BB). L - Schult (1.2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 0 SO, 2 BB).

Potosi 7, Cassville 0
(from Monday, April 30 @ Cassville)
Potosi wins by forfeit (Cassville did not have enough players to field a team)