By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Terrific pitching.

Flawless defense.

Great baseball game.

Those three brief sentences perfectly describe Wednesday night’s opening game of the 2025 City Series, played at Paul Smith Field in Community Park.

As it turned out, Jude Traub’s RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning proved to be the game-winner, as Effingham posted a 3-2 victory over St. Anthony in the first contest of this annual three-game set that determines bragging rights between the cross-town rivals.

Game 2 is set for tonight (Thursday) at 7 p.m. That game will be played at Evergreen Hollow Park.

“This was a good ballgame all around,” said EHS coach Curran McNeely. “It was a clean game all seven innings, which is nice to see.

“We’ll enjoy this one for a little while, then it will be time to lock back in and refocus on the game tomorrow night.”

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

The City Series softball trophy has not resided at Effingham High School since 2021.

The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs have captured the last three titles.

But the Effingham Lady Hearts took a first step toward regaining bragging rights by posting a 10-5 victory Wednesday afternoon on the EHS diamond.

Ryley Engel drove in four runs – three of which came on a fifth-inning home run in the decisive sixth inning – while Sydney Donaldson had three hits to lead a 14-hit barrage.

Game 2 is scheduled for today (Thursday) at 4 p.m. It will be played at Bulldog Field.

The Lady Hearts used a pair of four-run innings to build a commanding 10-1 lead. And had it not been for a terrific throw from St. Anthony rightfielder Ava Faber, cutting down Effingham’s Tessa Raddatz at the plate in the bottom of the fifth, the game would have been over due to the 10-run rule.

EHS started to take control in the bottom of the second inning. The score was tied 1-1 at the time.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

It was an exciting championship game.

Yes, there were missed scoring opportunities.

And, yes, there were a few misplays.

But the two teams battled from the opening pitch and the outcome wasn’t decided until the bottom of the seventh inning.

That’s when Zaida Wascher ripped a single up the middle to drive in two runs and give the Windsor/Stew-Stras Lady Hatchets a walk-off 5-4 victory over St. Anthony in the championship game of the National Trail Conference Softball Tournament.

The game pitted the tourney’s top two seeded teams, but most were not expecting a tight game.

Just a little over two weeks earlier, the Lady Hatchets posted a 10-0, five-inning win over the Lady Bulldogs. And WSS pitcher Samantha Hayes turned in a dominant no-hit, 10-strikeout performance.

But Friday night’s contest at Evergreen Hollow was a totally different story.

In fact, heading into the bottom of the seventh, St. Anthony owned a 4-3 lead after scoring a go-ahead tally in the top of the frame.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

There’s a distinct sound that echoes through a ballpark when a batter swings at a pitch and connects on the “sweet spot.”

Some refer to it as the “crack of the bat.”

With the types of bats used in high school, it’s more of a resounding ping.

However you wish to describe it, those attending the baseball game at Teutopolis on Tuesday afternoon heard that sound quite often.

And a majority of the time, it came from a St. Anthony bat.

The Bulldogs were spraying hits all over the diamond. They banged out 15 in total, including eight for extra bases and two that sailed over the fence.

All that resulted in an 11-5 win over their Cross Creek rivals, snapping T-Town’s 12-game winning streak.

And it took just 10 pitches to set the tone.

St. Anthony’s lead-off batter, Will Fearday, lined the fourth pitch of the game into the right-centerfield gap for a double. Two pitches later, Aiden Lauritzen grounded a base hit up the middle to put runners at the corners.

Brady Hatton then lined an 0-2 pitched into left for an RBI single and Brock Fearday blasted the first pitch he saw over the 352-foot sign in left-center for a three-run homer that staked the Bulldogs to an early and quick 4-0 lead.

“Anytime you can take an early lead like that it helps,” St. Anthony coach Tony Kreke said. “We knew today would be a battle, so to find early runs like that against a good varsity pitcher like Gavin (Addis) is always a good thing.”

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Chances are, when Abner Doubleday invented the game of baseball, he didn’t envision his new game being played in adverse weather conditions.

Gray skies with no hint of sunshine. Temperatures that dipped well into the 40s. And strong winds that made it feel even colder than that.

But those were the conditions the Effingham and Teutopolis squads encountered Monday afternoon at the THS ball diamond.

And the two teams handled it all pretty well.

Heading to the bottom of the sixth inning, the Hearts were clinging to a slim 3-2 lead.

But the Wooden Shoes then put together a seven-run rally that turned that deficit into a 9-5 victory.

T-Town had just three hits in the frame, but took advantage of five walks – three with the bases loaded – a hit batsman and a throwing error to notch its ninth win of the young season.

“We managed to pull it out,” said THS coach Justin Fleener. “The weather wasn’t very good. I think both coaches would like to see better execution at times. But at the same time, we also saw some good things.”

In that decisive inning, the Shoes’ rally started with one out. Gavin Addis walked and Cooper Tegeler singled to right, sending Addis to third base. When Tegeler then attempted to steal second, an errant throw allowed Addis to come home with the tying run.

Aiden Niemerg then got an infield single and Davin Worman walked to load the bases. Mick Niebrugge followed with a fly ball to right that brought in Tegeler with the go-ahead run.

The next five batters then all reached base to widen the lead.

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