The City Series baseball championship will be on the line tonight (Friday) at Paul Smith Field.

A deciding Game 3 became necessary after the St. Anthony Bulldogs used power and pitching to post a 4-0 win Thursday night to even the series at 1-1.

The championship contest is slated to begin at 7 tonight.

After Josh McDevitt turned in a dominating pitching performance in the Hearts 8-1 win Wednesday night, it was Brock Fearday’s turn Thursday at Evergreen Hollow Park.

St. Anthony’s sophomore righthander limited EHS to just five hits over his 109-pitch, seven-inning performance. He walked four and struck out 10.

The Hearts had some scoring opportunities, but Fearday was able to get the key outs each time. EHS had two runners on in the first, fifth and sixth, but were unable to push any of them across the plate.

Kaden Nichols also pitched well for Effingham, but a pair of long balls were the difference.

The first came off the bat of Eli Levitt in the bottom of the first. The senior launched a 2-0 pitch over the leftfield fence to stake the Bulldogs to the early lead.

The deciding blow came in the third. After Ryan Schmidt drew a lead-off walk, Levitt singled with one out. Then with two outs, Connor Roepke lined a 1-2 pitch over that same leftfield fence to increase St. Anthony’s lead to 4-0.

That’s all Fearday and the Bulldogs needed to set up the deciding third game. After the turnout at each of the first two contests, a large crowd is expected tonight at Paul Smith Field.

The Bulldogs are now 21-4 on the season. The Hearts saw their seven-game winning streak snapped and are now 15-12.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Timely hitting.

Regardless of the level – from youth league to high school to the majors – baseball coaches talk about the importance of delivering those clutch hits with runners in scoring position. The teams that do are generally successful.

That certainly proved to be the case Thursday in the sectional semifinals at Paul Smith Field.

The St. Anthony Bulldogs went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position through the first six innings. Windsor/Stew-Stras, however, delivered three two-out hits that drove in four runs and helped build a big lead.

The Bulldogs staged a seventh-inning rally, but it was too much of a deficit to overcome, as the Hatchets finished with a 10-5 victory and a berth in the Class 1A St. Anthony Regional championship game.

The inability to deliver a key hit started in the opening inning. A walk to Beau Adams and back-to-back bunt singles by Colton Fearday and Eli Levitt loaded the bases with no outs. After a pop up, Brock Fearday was hit by a pitch to force in a run. Eli Link then flied out into shallow rightfield in what turned out to be a double play.

“That was a big opportunity that we missed,” St. Anthony coach Tony Kreke admitted. “We had a chance to grab a good lead, but just weren’t able to get that big hit. We made a couple baserunning mistakes today, but we had our chances early. We just couldn’t get that timely hit.”

WSS got a two-out RBI single by Kendall Morris in the second and another by Jordan Wittenberg in the third to take a 2-1 lead.

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The St. Anthony Bulldogs were named the No. 1 seed in the Brownstown Class 1A Regional, which will open play on Monday, May 15.

There are five teams in that regional, including Altamont, Ramsey, Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City and St. Elmo/Brownstown.

The winner of the Brownstown Regional will advance to the Altamont Sectional, which is scheduled for May 24 and May 27. Winners of the regionals at Tuscola, Farina (South Central) and Neoga will also advance to Altamont.

Here is the schedule for the Brownstown Regional:

Monday, May 15

Game 1 – 4:30 p.m. -- Ramsey (#10) vs. Cowden Herrick/Beecher City (#7)

Wednesday, May 17

Game 2 – 4:30 p.m. -- St. Anthony (#1) vs. Winner Game 1

Thursday, May 18

Game 3 – 4:30 p.m. – Altamont (#4) vs. St. Elmo/Brownstown (#5)

Saturday, May 20

Game 4 – 10 a.m. – Winner Game vs. Winner Game 3 (championship)

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

In many baseball games, that key moment happens in the late innings – an out that leaves baserunners stranded in scoring position or a game-winning, walk-off hit.

But sometimes, that key moment happens earlier.

Such was the case Monday afternoon.

Brownstown/St. Elmo had its first three batters of the game reach base. The Bombers were coming off a 10-4 win over Altamont a couple days earlier and were poised to take a lead – possibly a sizeable lead – immediately.

But St. Anthony’s pitching and defense prevented that from happening.

Colton Fearday retired the next three batters – two ground balls and a strikeout. Yes, BSE scored one run, but another runner was thrown out at the plate and the big inning was avoided.

From that point on, Fearday was outstanding. And the Bulldogs managed just enough offense to come away with a 3-1 victory and the championship of the Class 1A Altamont Regional.

“Holding them to just one run was huge,” St. Anthony coach Tony Kreke admitted. “If they score three or four runs there, it changes your entire approach. Playing catch-up is hard to do.”

Adam Atwood started the game by grounding a ball off the arm of Fearday for a base hit. Brady Maxey then lined a single to left and Dalton Myers walked to load the bases. Wyatt Chandler then hit a ground ball that turned into a force out at second, but Atwood scored.

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