Beau Adams and Angelo Mendella both had three hits and combined for five RBI, and Eli Levitt turned in a strong pitching performance, leading the St. Anthony Bulldogs to a 11-1, six-inning victory at home Tuesday afternoon over Neoga.

The Bulldogs banged out 15 hits and scored in every inning but one, en route to their fifth win of the season.

St. Anthony took the lead in the opening inning and was never threatened. Mendella doubled in the first and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Colton Fearday.

Brady Hatton had an RBI groundout and Mendella had a run-scoring single in the second and Adams delivered a two-run double in the third to stake the Bulldogs to a 5-0 lead.

After Neoga scored an unearned run in the top of the fourth, SAHS put the game away with a four-run fifth. Brody Niebrugge singled and Will Hoene was hit by a pitch to get things started. One run scored on a wild pitch, followed by an RBI single by Adams, a run-scoring triple by Hatton and a double by Mendella that drove home the fourth run of the frame.

Levitt and Brock Fearday came through with RBI singles in the sixth to end the game due to the 10-run rule.

For Levitt, it was more support than he needed. The right-hander allowed just three hits and the one unearned run over five innings of work. He walked two and struck out 10, while throwing just 69 pitches.

The Bulldogs, who improved to 5-2, will play Friday at Dieterich and Saturday at Altamont.

Perfection is nearly impossible to achieve – especially on the pitching mound.

But Mason Robinson sure came close.

Altamont’s junior hurler came within one out of recording a “perfecto” Friday afternoon.

After retiring 20 straight batters, the potential final out was delayed when Colton Fearday’s fly ball was misplayed by the leftfielder for an error.

But that didn’t prevent Robinson from getting Brody Niebrugge to ground out to protect the no-hitter and wrap up Altamont’s 4-0 victory at St. Anthony.

Robinson pitched a gem. It only took him 81 pitches to clinch the first “no-no” of his varsity career. He only allowed the one baserunner and struck out eight in seven innings of work.

He received all the support he needed in the third inning. Two singles – one by Robinson – and a walk loaded the bases to start the uprising. Tyler Robbins followed with a blast that cleared the leftfield fence for a grand slam, staking the Indians to the four-run lead.

St. Anthony starter, Colton Fearday, also pitched a strong game. He only allowed four hits and one walk – with three of the hits and the walk coming in that third inning. He also gave up a single in the second inning. After the third, Fearday allowed only two baserunners the rest of the way – and both of those reached on errors. The Bulldogs lefthander struck out six.

It was St. Anthony’s first loss after opening the season with three wins.

The North Clay Cardinals staged their first comeback victory Saturday in their opening game of the Teutopolis Wooden Bat Tournament.

Even though it was a small rally – compared to what the Cardinals did later – their three-run sixth gave them a 4-2 victory over St. Anthony and a berth in the championship game.

North Clay trailed 2-1 when it came to bat in the home half of the sixth inning. And after a double play, the Cardinals had two outs and nobody on base when the winning surge began.

Collyn Ballard walked, stole second and scored the tying run on a base hit by Donnie Zimmerman. Holden Clifton followed with an RBI triple and then scored an insurance run on a passed ball.

The Bulldogs had thoughts of a rally in the top of the seventh. But after two walks, a triple play ended that threat.

St. Anthony trailed 1-0 after one inning, but tied the game in the third when Brock Jansen walked, stole second and eventually scored on a ground ball by Colton Fearday.

The Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead in the fifth. Max Koenig walked and scored when Angelo Mendella lined an RBI double.

Layton Dawkins got the win for North Clay and Clifton pitched the seventh to earn the save. The Bulldogs were held to just two hits. Eli Link took the loss for St. Anthony.

It was a different story in the third place game. The Bulldogs banged out 11 hits and had a pair of eight-run innings, en route to a 19-2 win over Dieterich.

Brock Fearday went 3-for-3, while Brody Niebrugge added two more. Brock Fearday, Eliot Frisbee, Brady Hatton and Brock Jansen each had a pair of RBI.

St. Anthony tallied eight runs in both the second and fourth innings to break the game open.

In the second, the Bulldogs combined four hits, two walks, two hit batters, an error and a walk to extend their lead to 9-2. Then in the fourth, they had four more hits, two walks, two hit batters and took advantage of three Dieterich errors.

Hatton was the winning pitcher for St. Anthony.

The Bulldogs are now 4-2 on the season. They will play at home Tuesday against Neoga and then travel to Dieterich on Friday.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Errors hurt.

Many times, they determine the outcome of a game.

And it doesn’t matter what level – Little League, high school or the pros.

Errors, more often than not, prove to be costly.

Such was the case Wednesday night in Teutopolis.

The host Wooden Shoes were guilty of eight miscues – four in one inning. Those errors accounted for 11 unearned runs and proved to be the difference in their 16-12 setback to arch-rival St. Anthony.

“We made some mistakes we didn’t want to make,” THS coach Justin Fleener said. “We can’t throw the ball around like we did tonight. We’re still trying to figure some things out, and I know it’s only August 25, but we have to make the routine plays.”

In addition to the errors, four T-Town pitchers issued nine walks, providing ample scoring opportunities throughout the game and the Bulldogs capitalized. They banged out 10 hits, including a pair of two-out singles by Angelo Mendella that drove in three runs and a two-out double by Eli Link that brought in two more.

All of that, plus a strong relief appearance by a freshman, helped St. Anthony rally from an early four-run deficit and post its third win without a loss in the early days of the fall baseball season.

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