Brody Niebrugge pitched five innings and belted a two-run homer Monday, leading the St. Anthony Bulldogs to a 9-4 win at Salem.

The Bulldogs grabbed a quick lead and never looked back. Angelo Mendella led off the game with a triple and two batters later, Niebrugge followed with a blast over the leftfield fence to stake the Bulldogs to a 2-0 lead.

They added a run in the second, three unearned runs in the third and Colton Fearday delivered a two-run double in the fourth to increase the St. Anthony lead to 8-1.

Niebrugge allowed four runs on three hits in five innings of work. He walked six and struck out six. Eli Link pitched the final two innings, striking out four and giving up just one hit.

The Bulldogs, now 2-2, will play again today (Tuesday) at Flora.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

The combination of strong pitching and two costly errors proved to be too much to overcome for the St. Anthony Bulldogs.

Gavin Wernsing came within one out of a complete game shutout and Windsor/Stew-Stras took advantage of St. Anthony’s miscues to post a 7-0 victory Wednesday afternoon in a semifinal game of the National Trail Conference Baseball Tournament at Evergreen Hollow Park.

Wernsing, a left-hander with a power arm, limited the Bulldogs to just four hits, while striking out 10. He went 6.2 innings but had to leave the game after throwing his 116^th pitch. Samuel Vonderheide came in to record the final out.

“We’ve been facing Gavin since he was a freshman,” St. Anthony coach Tony Kreke said. “He commands the outside part of the strike zone and then throws his slider down and in. He gets a lot of swings and misses.

“He’s a very good pitcher,” Kreke added. “He’s going to the next level and he’ll be successful there, too. He pitched really well today.”

St. Anthony’s Colton Fearday also turned in a strong performance on the mound, but his defense let him down.

It started in the top of the third inning. Parker Chaney got an infield single with one out. After the next hitter was retired, Austin Wittenberg grounded a ball to deep short. Brady Hatton made a nice play and a strong throw to first, but Wittenberg beat it out.

Chaney never stopped running, trying to advance to third base. St. Anthony first baseman Brody Niebrugge tried to throw him out, but his throw got past third baseman Max Koenig and Chaney raced home with the first run of the game.

Read more ...

The Altamont Indians scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning Friday afternoon to rally for a 6-3 victory over St. Anthony and claim third place in the National Trail Conference Baseball Tournament, played at South Central in Kinmundy.

The Bulldogs had just scored three runs in the previous inning to take a one-run lead, but Altamont responded immediately.

Mason Robinson walked and Elam Dillan singled to get the comeback started. Tyler Robbins then singled to left to drive in the tying run. But the Indians were just getting started.

Kienon Eirhart walked to load the bases and Nathan Stuemke followed with another walk that forced in the go-ahead tally. Wyatt Phillips kept things going with an RBI single and the fourth run scored on an error.

St. Anthony had a great scoring opportunity in the bottom of the fifth. Angelo Mendella led off with a double, Eli Link reached on an error and Colton Fearday singled to load the bases with no outs. But a double play and a pop out ended the threat.

Altamont grabbed an early 2-0 lead, scoring single tallies in the second and fourth innings. Eirhart blasted a solo home run over the leftfield fence in the second and Phillips drove in the fourth inning run with an RBI ground out.

The Bulldogs took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Colton Fearday and Brody Niebrugge singled and Will Hoene walked to load the bases. Beau Adams sacrifice bunt drove in one run and the other two scored on a pair of passed balls.

Mason Robinson worked the first four innings for Altamont and got the win. He allowed four hits and three runs, while striking out five and walking two. Aden McManaway pitched the next 1.1 innings and Dillan recorded the final five outs to earn the save.

Eli Levitt took the loss. He pitched five innings, allowing six hits and six runs. He walked four and struck out five. Brock Fearday and Brady Hatton both worked one scoreless inning.

The Indians finished the fall season with a 15-8 record, while the Bulldogs end 15-7.

Colton Fearday drove in the tying runs and then raced home with the winning tally on a ground ball in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the St. Anthony Bulldogs a walk-off 3-2 win Monday over Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City in the a quarterfinal game of the National Trail Conference Tournament.

The No. 2-seeded Bulldogs needed that three-run rally to avoid falling to the upset-minded Bobcats, the seventh seed. St. Anthony had defeated CHBC 14-4 just a week ago.

Through seven innings, the two teams were hooked up in a pitcher’s duel. St. Anthony’s Brody Niebrugge and CHBC’s Silas Buzzard both turned in outstanding performances on the mound.

The Bulldogs had base runners in every inning but the sixth, but were unable to deliver a key hit to bring a runner home. Niebrugge, meanwhile, limited the Bobcats to one hit – a lead-off single by Wes Radloff in the second inning – through seven innings of work.

Eli Levitt came on to pitch for SAHS in the eighth and CHBC mounted a scoring threat quickly. Drake Davis reached on an error and Carson Evans walked to start things off. A fielder’s choice and a passed ball had runners at second and third when Quaid Schlanser delivered a base hit, driving in two to put the Bobcats on top.

But the Bulldogs responded in the bottom of the frame. Brady Hatton singled and Angelo Mendella walked to get the rally started. Colton Fearday then lined a pitch into rightfield and raced all the way to third base with a game-tying two-run triple.

After a short pop up for the first out, Niebrugge grounded a pitch to the shortstop. Fearday streaked home ahead of the throw for the winning run, earning St. Anthony a berth in the semifinals.

Niebrugge struck out nine and walked three, while throwing 100 pitches. Buzzard allowed seven hits, while striking out three and walking two.

The Bulldogs, who improved to 15-5, will now face Windsor/Stew-Stras. That game will be played at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Evergreen Park.

The other semifinal will feature Altamont at North Clay, also set for 4 p.m. Wednesday in Louisville. The fifth-seeded Indians advanced with a 3-1 win over No. 4 South Central; and the top-seeded Cardinals beat No. 8 Dieterich 10-0.