Jackson Lee had quite a game.
He pitched 5.2 innings of shutout baseball and belted a grand slam, leading the Effingham Hearts to a 7-0 victory at home Saturday over Charleston in the opening game of a doubleheader.
In the nightcap, the Trojans rallied for two runs in the seventh inning to post a 5-4 win, gain a split of the twin-bill and hand Effingham its first loss of the season.
In the opener, Lee was dominant on the mound. He allowed only singles in the second and third innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out six while throwing 75 pitches. Matthew Loy pitched the final 1.1 innings.
It was a scoreless tie through four innings. But in the bottom of the fifth, the Hearts struck in a big way.
Christian Raddatz walked, Gauge Massey singled and Dylan Cunningham walked to load the bases. Preston Latch and Quest Hull then both walked, forcing in two runs and then Lee made Charleston pay, driving a 1-1 pitch over the leftfield fence for a bases-clearing grand slam that put the Hearts on top 6-0.
Max Nelson added an RBI single in the seventh to complete the scoring.
The Hearts carried a 4-3 lead into the seventh inning of the second game, but Charleston rallied. Corey Spour delivered the big hit, a two-out, two-run single that proved to be the game-winner.
The Trojans built a 3-0 lead early, but EHS began to cut into that in the bottom of the third. With one out, Dylan Cunningham singled and came around to score on a double by Quest Hull. Joe Matteson then brought Hull home with a ground ball.
Dylan Cunningham delivered an RBI single to tie the game in the fourth and Effingham took the lead in the fifth. Hull singled, Lee walked and Matteson delivered a run-scoring base hit to give the Hearts a 4-3 lead.
Josh McDevitt relieved in the sixth and took the loss. Brayden Pals pitched the first five innings.
The Hearts are 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the Apollo Conference. Only the first game of a DH between conference teams counts in the league standings. Effingham will play another conference game at home Tuesday against Taylorville.
