For a couple hours, people weren’t thinking about COVID-19.
It’s fall high school baseball season.
Two rivals.
A beautiful night at Paul Smith Park.
And a memorable game.
The host St. Anthony Bulldogs trailed throughout, but used a four-run sixth inning Wednesday night to rally for a 12-11 victory over the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes.
St. Anthony trailed 11-8 as it came to bat in the bottom of the sixth. Three walks and a hit batsman gave the Bulldogs a golden opportunity for a rally and they took advantage. Brody Niebrugge drove in a run with a ground ball, Will Hoene and Kyle Stewart delivered key RBI singles to tie the game and Brock Jansen raced home with the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.
Eli Levitt, St. Anthony’s third pitcher, gave up a lead-off walk in the seventh, but then retired the final three batters to preserve the come-from-behind one-run victory.
It was an uphill battle all night for the Bulldogs. The Wooden Shoes built an early 5-0 lead, before St. Anthony came back to tie. T-Town then went on top 9-5 and led 9-8 and 11-8 before the hosts put together their winning four-run surge.
Sam Bushur, who went 3-for-5 and drove in five runs, staked the Shoes to a quick 2-0 lead in the opening inning. He also had an RBI single in the second as THS expanded its lead to 5-0.
But back came the Bulldogs in the third. Stewart singled and Josh Blanchette lined a double, followed by a two-run double by Logan Antrim to get St. Anthony on the scoreboard. Niebrugge added an RBI single and Colton Fearday capped the five-run inning with a long home run over the right field fence.
It didn’t stay tied for long. Bushur added another RBI double, Max Niebrugge drove in a run with a base hit and two runs scored on passed balls, as the Shoes tallied twice in the fourth and fifth to take a 9-5 lead.
St. Anthony responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Brody Niebrugge and Angelo Mendella had run-scoring hits and another run scored on an error to make it 9-8.
Dylan Pruemer delivered a sacrifice fly and Max Niebrugge drove in his second run of the game with a single to give the Shoes their 11-8 advantage and set the stage for St. Anthony’s comeback.
Bushur took the loss for the Shoes. Evan Addis was the starter and went 4.1 innings. Derek Konkel also pitched for THS.
Antrim was the starter for St. Anthony and went 3.1 innings. Fearday turned in 1.2 innings of work and Levitt pitched the final two frames to get the win.
The Shoes dipped to 1-1 on the fall season. They are scheduled to play Friday at Neoga and then co-host the Wooden Bat Tournament on Saturday with St. Anthony, which is now 2-0.
The Shoes will play North Clay at 9 a.m. at the THS diamond, while St. Anthony will take on Dieterich, also at 9 a.m., at Paul Smith Field in Effingham. The two winners will play at noon at the T-Town diamond, while the losing teams will play at noon at Paul Smith Field.
The St Anthony High School baseball team recently named the award winners from the fall season. Pictured (left to right) are Gavin Braunecker, Most Valuable Player, Most Valuable Pitcher; Kaden Fearday, Highest Batting Average, Most Valuable Offensive Player; Kenna Walsh, Most Improved; and Angelo Mendella, Most Valuable Defensive Player.
The National Trail Conference Baseball Tournament will resume today and determine a champion.
The St. Anthony Bulldogs and Altamont Indians will meet at 7 p.m. at Paul Smith Field in Effingham. The Bulldogs are playing in the championship game for the seventh straight year and will be looking to bring home a sixth straight NTC Tournament title.
South Central and North Clay will play at 4 p.m. in the third place contest.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Noah Teasley had the game of his life.
It was a performance worthy of a championship.
Teasley pitched no-hit baseball for seven innings and then delivered the game-winning hit, leading the Altamont Indians to a 3-2, eight-inning victory over St. Anthony in the championship game of the National Trail Conference Tournament, played Monday night at Paul Smith Field in Effingham.
After the Bulldogs struck for two runs in the opening inning, Teasley came on in relief to start the second inning. The senior right-hander was dominant the rest of the way. He walked only one and struck out 11 while throwing 95 pitches.
“He really wanted to pitch. He wanted to be a senior leader,” said Altamont coach Alan Whitt.
Kaden Eirhart started for the Indians, but pitched just the first inning.
“We noticed the cold weather was affecting Kaden’s off-speed pitches,” Whitt noted. “So we decided to make a change and Noah was lights out.”
Teasley retired the first eight batters he faced. He struck out eight batters in a row during one stretch. In the bottom of the eighth, he walked Jack Hoene with one out, but Logan Antrim followed with a line drive that Teasley snagged and turned into a game-ending double play.
“Teasley threw a heckuva game,” said St. Anthony coach Tony Kreke. “He got ahead in the count and then threw his off-speed pitches in fastball counts. He really kept us off-balance.”
“His curve ball wasn’t that great, but he had good velocity on his fastball,” Whitt added. “When he’s on, he pounds the strike zone, which he did tonight.”
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Tony Kreke says winning the National Trail Conference Baseball Tournament is “a feather in our cap.”
If that’s the case, the St. Anthony Bulldogs caps are pretty well full of feathers.
And they will now seek one more Friday night.
The Bulldogs erupted for 10 runs in the third inning Wednesday, en route to a 14-1, five-inning victory over No. 2 seed South Central.
That earned St. Anthony a berth in the tournament championship game for the seventh straight year. The Bulldogs, winners of the last five NTC tourneys, will look to extend that streak when they face Altamont at 7 p.m. Friday at Paul Smith Field in Effingham.
The Indians, the No. 4 seed, took down top-seeded North Clay, 5-2, in another semifinal contest Wednesday afternoon.
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