The Pleasantville baseball team fell to Chariton 7-1 in the opening round of the Class 2A State Baseball Tournament in Carroll on Tuesday afternoon, a game heard live on 95.3 KNIA.

The Trojans had seven hits and base runners in five of the seven innings in the contest, but struggled to push runners across. The lone run of the game for Pleasantville came on a base hit by Dylan Aldrich in the sixth inning to score JJ Phillips. Defensively the Trojans struggled as they recorded seven errors in the game. Aldrich was the starting pitcher for Pleasantville in his last game of his high school career, and Caylor Jones and Brayden Kennedy came in for relief appearances in the sixth and seventh innings. 

Chariton saw an impressive pitching performance from starting pitcher Kenton Jensen who went the full seven innings only giving up one run. Pleasantville just trailed 4-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, but the Chargers exploded for three runs to put the game out of reach. The Trojans finish their 2024 season with a 23-11 overall record. This was the last game for Pleasantville head coach Sheldon Card who has had a 24 year career as the Trojans skipper. Card says he is proud of his team, and is thankful for the contributions from everyone, especially the seniors. 

“It’s tough. I think of the seniors first. It doesn’t matter if it’s their first year or their last year. These four guys are going to be good and they’re successful because of who they are, and life means you’re going to graduate seniors every year, but it is hard to say goodbye. It’s hard to see their faces because this is it for them and now they pack up and go on to their next thing. For me, I’ll still be around just not the head baseball coach anymore. They won’t lose me.”

Pleasantville will graduate four seniors and will return seven players who were in the lineup on Tuesday.