The Hearts won Wednesday night’s opener, 3-2.

“Both teams are wanting to get ready for the postseason and these last two games will help,” said SAHS coach Tony Kreke. “There have been some pressure-packed moments. I’m very pleased with the resilience we showed tonight. This was a good bounce-back win for us.”

Fearday set the tone by striking out the side in the first inning. For the game, he scattered five hits and allowed just one earned run. He walked two and struck out nine, while throwing 102 pitches.

“I love his spirit,” Kreke said. “He always wants the ball. He also provides a calming presence. He’s a real competitor.”

Early on, Fearday had difficulty locating his breaking ball. But his fastball was dominant.

“I told our batters to be ready for his fastball,” EHS coach Curran McNeely noted. “If you’re looking for his off-speed pitches, you’ll never catch up to his fastball. We got caught guessing off-speed a few times. But I thought our approach got better as the game went on.”

The Bulldogs built a 5-0 lead through four innings.

In the opening inning, Will Fearday walked and Brady Hatton was hit by a pitch. With two outs, Henry Brent lined a pitch down the rightfield line, just inside the first base bag. His double drove in Fearday. The second run scored on a wild pitch.

St. Anthony added three more tallies in the bottom of the fourth. Charley Spour was hit by a pitch to start the inning and with one out, Vince Vogel laid down a perfect bunt single. Will Fearday then grounded a base hit to left, bring home Spour. The next two runs both scored on wild pitches.

“Those three wild pitches really hurt,” McNeely admitted. “It’s hard to defend that.”

The Hearts got on the scoreboard in the sixth inning when Colton Webb connected on one of those fastballs and belted a long home run over the right-centerfield wall.

Then in the seventh, Effingham mounted a late threat. Max Flack walked and Brody Boehm’s flyball was misplayed for an error. One out later, Brayden Tucker singled to load the bases.

Wyatt Hayes flied out to centerfield, driving in Flack, followed by an infield single by Andrew Wagoner that loaded the bases again, bringing the potential go-ahead run to the plate. But Fearday recorded a strikeout to end the threat and set up the decisive third game.

“We’ve got a tough, gritty group of kids and I thought they showed that in the seventh inning,” McNeely said. “You just want to keep giving yourself a chance and that’s what they did. I’m proud of our kids and the way they competed.”

The Bulldogs finished with seven hits against three Effingham pitchers. Max Flack started and went the first four innings. Hayes and Peter Rose finished up.

“We’re an aggressive team. Our guys want to swing the bats and I don’t discourage that,” Kreke noted. “But I thought we chased some pitches out of the zone tonight. We need to be a little more disciplined at times.”

So, the stage is set for Game 3.

“I’m sure there will be a big crowd,” McNeely said. “Both teams want to win. And for the kids, this is really important to them.”

“The guys are really look forward to this,” Kreke added. “I’m sure it’s going to be a fun atmosphere.”