It was a totally different feeling on the other side of the diamond. Effingham coach Curran McNeely just saw his team shut out for the second straight game and watched his defense commit six errors, which accounted for nine unearned runs.

“St. Anthony is absolutely a good team,” McNeely said. “They have a very good approach at the plate and compete with every at-bat. That’s what we had been doing the first 10 games of the season. They hit the ball and forced us to make plays. Unfortunately, we didn’t make them.”

And that started in the very first inning.

Antrim led off with the first of just six hits for the Bulldogs. He stole second, went to third on a ground out and scored when Eli Moore actually struck out. But the ball got past the catcher, allowing Moore to reach base and the Bulldogs to take a 1-0 lead.

Things just got worse for the Hearts from there.

In the second inning, Will Hoene drew a lead-off walk. Angelo Mendella then laid down a sacrifice bunt. But the throw to first sailed over the first baseman’s head, allowing the runners to end up at second and third. Eli Link drove in one run with a squeeze bunt and Antrim’s two-out RBI single made it 3-0.

“We tried to speed the game up, especially when we took the lead,” Kreke noted. “We’re going to steal bases, bunt, anything we have to do to score runs. We’re going to stay aggressive at the plate and on the bases. We’ll do anything to advance the next 90 feet. Whatever it takes.”

The Bulldogs took complete control with a five-run fourth. With one out, Eli Levitt and Link both reached when their ground balls were booted for errors. Antrim then walked to load the bases. Kennan Walsh followed with a bunt single to bring home the first run and Fearday’s ground ball brought home another.

Moore then lined a pitch into right field that took a high bounce over the fielder’s head and rolled to the fence. Moore raced into third with a triple, driving home two more. He then scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-0.

 SAHS ended the game with two more tallies in the fifth. Mendella led off with a double to left. With two outs, Antrim got his third hit and second RBI of the game. He then stole second and third base and scored when Fearday’s ground ball was misplayed for another error.

“We preach to our kids all the time how the little things will either help you win or lose a ballgame,” McNeely said. “First the first 10 games of the season, we minimized our mistakes. Our pitching has been good all 13 games, but our defense has been shaky the last couple. And our batters are out of sync. We’re not working the counts and we’re certainly not hitting the ball.”

Part of that Thursday night was due to the effective pitching of Fearday. He walked two and struck out four and allowed just a total of five baserunners.

“I’m super proud of Colton,” Kreke said. “He commanded the strike zone the whole game. He was throwing every pitch with conviction. Logan is a good ace, but I’ve got two more guys just as capable. Colton has the ability to pitch like this every game.”

“He really competed,” McNeely said of Fearday. “He fell behind some hitters and had to deal with a couple guys on base. But he just competed. He was around the zone and forced our guys to swing the bat. He pitched a nice game.”

Kalen Reardon was the starting pitcher for Effingham. He went 3.2 innings, allowing eight unearned runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out five. Brayen Pals pitched one inning and gave up two runs on one hit, while striking out one.

The Hearts dipped to 10-3 on the season and have lost three of their last four games after opening the season with nine straight wins.

“We’ve got to get back to doing the simple things and doing them well,” McNeely noted. “I can live with mistakes as long as we’re playing competitive baseball. We haven’t shown that the last two days. But we’re still a good ball club with very good players. I’m confident we’ll continue to have a good season.”

The Bulldogs improved to 13-1 and will look for a sweep of the City Series tonight. Game 3 is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Paul Smith Field.

“I’m proud of these guys,” Kreke said. “Before the series began, I told them whoever harnesses their emotions the best will have a good chance at winning. I think our kids have done that.”