Connor Roepke homered and had five RBI and Brock Fearday didn’t allow a run, helping the St. Anthony Bulldogs post a 12-0, five-inning victory Tuesday afternoon at Mattoon.

Roepke delivered the big hit of the game in the first inning. Beau Adams led off the game with a double and went to third on a base hit by Brock Fearday. Roepke then blasted a 1-1 pitch over the left field fence to stake the Bulldogs to a quick 3-0 lead.

The next batter, Brady Hatton, made it back-to-back dingers by also depositing a pitch over left field fence. A pair of Mattoon errors helped St. Anthony score a fifth run in the opening frame.

The Bulldogs scored two runs in the second and third and capped the scoring with a three-run fifth.

They finished with 14 hits, with Roepke and Will Fearday both collecting three. Roepke added RBI singles in the second and fifth innings. Adams, Aiden Lauritzen and Brock Fearday each had two hits.

Brock Fearday scattered six innings over five innings for work. The righthander walked just one and struck out eight in his 77-pitch performance.

The Bulldogs improved to 7-0 on the season. They are scheduled to return to action today (Wednesday), playing at home against South Central. They will then travel to Mt. Zion on Thursday and compete in the Tuscola Invitational on Saturday.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Last Saturday’s 12-inning marathon victory for the regional championship was thrilling.

But it left St. Anthony a bit short on pitching.

Both Brock Fearday and Eli Levitt amassed high pitch counts, leaving both hurlers unavailable for Wednesday night’s sectional opener.

But Brock Jansen delivered exactly what the Bulldogs needed.

The senior righthander gave up just two hits and didn’t allow a run to score.

Jansen’s pitching, plus the Bulldogs’ potent lineup simply overwhelmed Casey-Westfield. While Jansen was blanking the Warriors, St. Anthony sent a steady stream of baserunners across home plate.

When the final out was recorded, the Bulldogs had a dominating 13-0, five-inning victory and a berth in the Altamont Class 1A Sectional championship.

“We were down two pitchers, so we needed a good start out of Brock,” said SAHS coach Tony Kreke. “He threw good quality pitches and a lot of strikes, which is important. Brock really came through for us tonight.”

Jansen worked four innings and threw just 47 pitches. He walked one and struck out two. Aiden Lauritzen came on in the fifth and allowed one walk.

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By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

The postseason can be an exciting time of year.

It can also be brutal.

One sub-par performance and the season is over.

An untimely error or the inability to get hits with runners in scoring position can dash the dreams of advancing and playing in a state tournament.

Such was the case for the St. Anthony Bulldogs.

That state tournament berth was just one win away. And after playing so well for four straight games in the postseason, the trip to Dozer Park in Peoria seemed very much within grasp.

But that quest ended Monday afternoon when the Bulldogs suffered a tough 6-5 defeat to Goreville in the Carbondale Super Sectional, played at Itchy Jones Stadium on the campus at Southern Illinois University.

A couple of errors allowed three unearned runs to score. And those timely hits, which had been delivered game after game this season, just weren’t there, resulting in nine runners being stranded on the bases – five in scoring position.

It’s virtually impossible to experience those things in the postseason and advance.

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By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Ah, yes!

Another ho-hum St. Anthony-Altamont baseball game.

Actually, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

In fact, it seems like every time these two teams meet on the diamond, it becomes – as ESPN would call it – an “Instant Classic.”

That was certainly the case – again – Saturday.

It took nearly three hours, 407 total pitches and 12 innings to determine the winner.

But when Will Hoene lined a single into right-centerfield, it allowed Max Koenig to race home with the run that not only clinched the 6-5 victory, but also the Brownstown Class 1A Regional championship for the Bulldogs.

“These are two good programs going at it. There is nothing but total respect for each other,” said St. Anthony coach Tony Kreke following the game. “Neither team is going to give up. Every time we play each other, it seems like it’s a one-run ball game. It’s a great rivalry and you know it’s always going to be a dogfight.”

That “dogfight” went into the bottom of the 12^th inning. But it took just four pitches to end it.

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