Hatton connected and sent a long fly ball toward the leftfield fence. T-Town leftfielder Mitch Koester gave it a gallant effort, but the ball barely cleared his glove for the game-tying home run.
“I thought he would challenge me with a fastball and try to get ahead with the very first pitch,” Hatton explained. “It was a fastball and was I ready to take a hack at it.”
Did he think it was out?
“I thought it was going to be close,” the St. Anthony clean-up hitter added. “I was pretty happy it went over the fence. I have to admit there was an adrenalin rush. It felt pretty good.”
“Most times, you want to take a strike in those situations,” St. Anthony coach Tony Kreke noted. “But Brady has grown up around this game. He was ready for the moment.”
Link then hit a fly ball into shallow centerfield. T-Town’s Davin Worman came racing in and made a diving attempt, but the ball hit in front of his glove and bounced a short distance away. Link took advantage and slid into second ahead of the throw for a double.
The Shoes then made a pitching change, bringing Gavin Addis in relief of Garrett Gaddis, who turned in a strong pitching performance.
After Will Fearday was hit by a pitch, both runners moved up on a wild pitch, putting runners at second and third and still nobody out. Henry Brent lifted a fly ball into centerfield, but it wasn’t deep enough to get the run home.
That brought in Koenig, who had laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt in St. Anthony’s sectional semifinal win over Roxana on Wednesday. This time, it was a safety squeeze, but the end result was the same. Koenig bunted a 2-1 pitch down the first base line. Addis got to it, but his only play was at first, as Link slid across the plate with the go-ahead tally.
“I knew I had to get the bunt down, but I practice bunting every day, preparing for situations just like that,” Koenig explained. “We practice and prepare for these situations. Bunting scores runs and helps us win ballgames.”
Brock Fearday took care of the rest. The junior righthander threw 10 pitches in the bottom of the seventh. Nine of them went for strikes, resulting in three strikeouts and a celebration that followed.
Fearday finished with a complete-game three-hitter. He walked only one and struck out seven, while throwing 88 pitches. And this was after throwing 60 pitches Wednesday in relief of Aiden Lauritzen, who was injured on a play in the third inning.
“I was a little tired Thursday, but felt better by Friday,” Fearday said. “I was more prepared today and was glad coach gave me the ball. I felt like I was throwing harder today, too.”
The righthander said both his slider and fastball were working well for him.
“I felt like I was executing both of the pitches, but I probably threw my fastball 75 percent of the time,” Fearday noted. “I tried moving my pitches inside and out and also tried to miss the barrels of their bats.”
The only run scored against him came in the bottom of the sixth. Worman led off and grounded a single into rightfield. He then stole second and went to third on a fly ball by Mick Niebrugge. Austin Borries then lifted a fly ball to right. Brent made the catch and a strong throw to the plate, but Worman was able to slide in just ahead of the tag.
But after the Bulldogs rallied for the two runs in the top of the seventh, Fearday proved to be unhittable for the final three batters.
“I had a lot of adrenalin flowing when I went out for the seventh,” he said. “I had to calm down and concentrate on executing my pitches. I just tried to throw my fastball by people.”
“I thought Brock pitched a fabulous game,” THS coach Justin Fleener added. “He was running over with adrenalin that last inning, that’s for sure.”
But Gaddis made the game a true pitcher’s duel. The Teutopolis senior lefthander gave up just four hits and two runs. He walked one and struck out three, while throwing 91 pitches.
Fleener thought about making a pitching change to start the seventh, but decided against it.
“Garrett had been cruising,” the THS coach explained. “And he had done a great job facing Hatton the previous two at-bats. He looked great on the mound. That’s why I put him out there in the seventh. He was in a groove.”
“There were two great pitchers going at it today,” Kreke said. “I have tremendous respect for Garrett. He was really dialed in. We knew it would be tough scoring runs.
“Brock was great, too,” the St. Anthony coach added. “He got thrown into a tough situation Wednesday. He didn’t get a have a proper warm-up, but he still responded well. But today, he was locked in. You could see that from the very first pitch.”
Other than Worman’s hit in the seventh, T-Town’s only other hits were a lead-off single by Borries in the second and a two-out base hit by Koester in the sixth.
The Shoes’ only other true scoring opportunity was in the second. After Borries base hit, Koester was hit by a pitch. A sacrifice bunt by Evan Waldhoff moved the runners to second and third, but Fearday struck out the next two hitters to end the threat.
“We were so close,” THS coach Justin Fleener said. “After we scored that run, I thought we had them on the ropes. But we knew it wasn’t over with. We knew there wouldn’t be any easy outs. They proved why they’re a good team. They fell behind, but came back and overcame. My hat’s off to Coach Kreke and the Bulldogs.”
T-Town finished its season at 23-12.
“I thought our team came along real well once we settled into our lineup,” Fleener noted. “I’m proud of them.”
The Bulldogs, who improved to 24-5, will now advance to the Carbondale Super Sectional. They will face Mt. Carmel at 2 p.m. Monday. The Golden Aces beat Nashville, 3-2 in eight innings, to capture the Benton Sectional.
The super sectional contest will be played at Abe Martin Field on the campus of Southern Illinois University.
This is the second straight year St. Anthony has advanced to the super sectional. A year ago, they dropped a 6-5 decision to Goreville.
As a result, Koenig said the team’s motto this year has been, “Job Not Finished Yet.”
“Last year, we got knocked out and shouldn’t have,” the senior shortstop recalled. “We took it personally. So, we’re not done yet. Our goal is to get to state.”
“We’re not satisfied,” Fearday added. “We want more than a sectional or a super sectional. We want to win the whole thing.”
“They all remember what happened last year,” Coach Kreke noted. “I believe that experience will benefit us this year. Now, we have another opportunity, and I couldn’t be happier for these group of guys. These guys are steady and have a quiet confidence. They have a common goal. They want to win it.”
