BY KYLE TROUTMAN ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com

Through numerous ups and downs, the Exeter baseball team finished this season above .500, and the Tigers are hopeful for continued improvement in the future.

Matt Tripp, Exeter coach for nearly a decade, is moving away from coaching and taking a teaching job at Southwest. He said overall, his final season was a good one.

“There were a few games we gave away,” he said. “We had the potential to be so much better. We did not meet our goals for this season. New Heights was greatly improved and took the conference from us. We saw a much improved District 5 with three teams having a legitimate chance to take it.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to fill our graduation gaps better next season.”

The Tigers shined brightest in early April, going 6-1 in an 11-day stretch. One of those wins, Tripp said, was especially exciting.

“We beat Galena 23-20 one night,” he said. “That’s when I knew we had the potential for great offensive output.”

After that stretch, the Tigers managed to go 4-6 in their last 10 and fell to Lockwood 8-0 in the district opener. The up and down was indicative of the season grind.

“We didn’t see much in the way of gains,” Tripp said. “We were hit or miss all season. We never knew what type of hitting team we would be. The defense could be outright impressive, or we would kick it around all night.

“We need to see more consistency moving forward. We have the potential to be excellent; we just need to be the same beginning to end, night to night.”

Exeter will have to make those improvements without their No. 2 and No. 3 hitters next season, losing Kason Nelson and Kason Crowe to graduation.

“Nelson has been our catcher since his sophomore year when he captured Conference player of the year,” Tripp said. “He has been solid throughout. Kason Crowe grew into a great Center Fielder over his time here. These two were our second- and third-best hitters, respectively. They will be tough to replace.”

Despite the loss of the Kasons, Tripp said the Tigers still bring back some strengths.

“We saw a ton of potential in our underclassman,” he said. “We also return our best hitter and pitcher in junior Cason Antle.”

As he moves on from coaching, Tripp said he hopes the conference and district results are more favorable in 2026.

“We’re hoping the boys get right back at it and restart the conference and district championship mill,” he said. “It has been an honor coaching the Exeter Tigers baseball team over the last several years. I wish them the best moving forward and hope they can take things to new heights.”