With the game tied in the bottom of the seventh, Eli Moore bounced a drive over the centerfield fence for a ground-rule double and Brody Niebrugge ended the game with a base hit to left, with Moore racing home just ahead of the throw with the winning tally, sending the Bulldogs home with a victory that resembled more of an NFL type score – 14-13.

“These are certainly rivalry games,” St. Anthony Coach Tony Kreke said moments after the game. “Every game we play against these guys, it seems to go down to the very end. My hat’s off to Coach (Alan) Whitt. He has good players and a very good program. It’s a good feeling to get a win against a quality team like that.”

But after the fourth inning, it didn’t appear like it would be another nail-biting finish. The Bulldogs had just pushed eight runs across the plate and held a 13-4 lead.

“As a team, you just have to keep at it,” Kreke noted. “Whether it’s a one-run lead or a nine-run lead, you’ve got to have that killer instinct.”

St. Anthony was on top 5-4 and it appeared that would be the score heading to the fifth inning. But with two outs, the Bulldogs had nine straight batters reach base – eight via a base hit.

Kennan Walsh got the rally started with a base hit. Logan Antrim followed with another single and Moore got his first double of the day, lining a pitch over the centerfielder’s head, driving in both runners. But the Bulldogs were just getting started.

Niebrugge and Colton Fearday then had back-to-back run-producing singles. Will Hoene lined a double down the right-field line and Eli Levitt was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Kyle Stewart singled to right, driving in two, and Josh Blanchette followed with a double into the right-centerfield gap, driving home the final two tallies of the frame and giving the Bulldogs that nine-run cushion.

“When we’re at the plate, our word this year is attack,” Kreke said. “We want to drive the ball and I thought our guys did a good job of that in that fourth inning.

“Our goal this year is to have an on-base percent of .450,” Kreke added. “If we do that, we’re getting hitting up and down the lineup and causing damage. Consistency is what we’re chasing.”

But that good feeling was short-lived.

After Bradin Baucum led off the top of the fifth with a double and Tyler Robbins drove him home with a base hit, Kreke decided to make a pitching change. He brought in Niebrugge to replace Fearday, his starter.

“Colton got off to bit of a slow start, but I thought he settled in,” Kreke said. “We were in the fifth inning and had the big lead. I wanted to see what some of our other guys could do. We need somebody at the back end of our bullpen to close out games.”

It looked like Niebrugge was going to shut things down, striking out the first two batters he faced. But two walks and two costly errors gave the Indians life and set up a big inning.

After Brayden Stuemke’s ground ball was misplayed, allowing two runs to score and narrow the lead to 13-8, Kreke brought in Blanchette in relief. Altamont greeted him rudely, banging out four straight hits, including a bases-clearing triple by Robbins that made it 13-12 and a base hit by Mason Robinson that tied the score.

Those two errors made a huge difference. Rather than being out of the inning and still leading 13-6, those miscues allowed the Indians to score seven unearned runs.

The score remained tied until the seventh. Altamont had runners on in both the sixth and seventh, but couldn’t move them around. The Bulldogs had two baserunners in the sixth, but the final two batters were retired.

In the seventh, Antrim grounded out to lead off the inning, but Moore got things going with his drive that bounced over the fence. Niebrugge then grounded a base hit between third and shortstop and Moore streaked home with the winning run.

“In this series, it seems like whoever is the last team to bat is going to get it done,” Kreke said. “I’m proud of our guys the way they kept fighting.”

The Indians collected 11 hits in the game. Kaiden Eirhart led the way with three, while Baucum and Robbins both had a pair. Robbins also had four RBI in the contest and took the loss on the mound.

The Bulldogs banged out 17 hits. They had hitting up and down the lineup. Eight different players had at least one hit, all nine scored at least one run and seven drove in at least one run.

Antrim, Niebrugge and Hoene each had three hits on the day, while Moore, Fearday and Stewart each had a pair. Moore and Niebrugge drove three runs home, while Fearday, Stewart and Blanchett each had two RBI.

Fearday started and pitched the first four inning, allowing 7 hits and 6 runs, while walking three and striking out five. Niebrugge recorded two outs and was charged with four unearned runs while not giving up a hit. Blanchette pitched the final 2.1 innings to get the win. He allowed three runs and four hits, while walking two and striking out.

“I thought Josh did a tremendous job,” Kreke said. “He gave up a couple hits when he first came in, but he didn’t lose his composure, stuck with it and finished strong.”

The Bulldogs, who improved to 5-2, will play three games next week. They are at Dieterich on Tuesday, return home to face Neoga on Thursday and play at Stew-Stras/Windsor on Friday. All three games are scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.

St. Anthony 3; Neoga 2

The Bulldogs had just two hits and scored three unearned runs, but that proved to be enough Friday.

St. Anthony came home with a 3-2 decision at Neoga.

Seth Hotze was outstanding on the mound, tossing six shutout innings and allowing only one hit while recording the win. He struck out five and walked three and turned the game over to Eli Levitt after reaching the 106-pitch limit.

Levitt surrendered a two-run homer to Bryar Hennesay in the bottom of the seventh, but recorded a strike out for the final out of the game.

The Bulldogs scored single tallies in the second, fifth and sixth innings. Passed balls and three Neoga errors played a role in each run. Colton Fearday and Josh Blanchette had the only two h