The Hearts put two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh, but a ground ball ended the threat.

“This was a tough loss, but we’ll be fine,” EHS coach Curran McNeely said. “Coach Fleener’s teams are so well-coached. You knew they weren’t going to give up.”

The Shoes led throughout the first half of the game, putting up single tallies in the second, third and fourth innings.

In the second, Althoff get his first of four hits with one out. He then scored on a two-out double by Roepke. Buehnerkemper got a one-out single in the third and scored when Gaddis lined a base hit into right field.

T-Town was back at it again in the fourth. Althoff singled, raced to third when Gaddis dropped a base hit into right and scored on a ground out by Roepke, who finished the game with three RBI.

The Hearts got on the board in the third. Kaiden Nichols led off with a base hit and eventually scored one a two-out double by John Harper, who finished with three hits and a pair of RBI.

Effingham then took the lead with a three-run fifth. Evan Waymoth started things off by lining a base hit into left. He stole second, went to third a ground ball and scored when Quest Hull singled. After Camden Raddatz walked, Harper hit a ground ball that appeared headed for rightfield.

Buehnerkemper, the T-Town second baseman, dove for the ball, but it glanced off his glove, and rolled into the outfield. Hull raced home and Raddatz headed for third. On the throw to third, the ball bounced away, allowing Raddatz to scamper home with the go-ahead run.

“It was nice to see the kids battle back,” McNeely said. “Our at-bats keep getting better each game. Any time these two teams get together, you know it’s going to be a quality game.”

Nichols relieved in the fifth, pitched two innings and took the loss. Hull was the Effingham starter and went the first 4.1 innings. Raddatz and Andrew Donaldson also pitched in the seventh. The four pitchers combined to give up 10 hits and seven runs, while walking five and striking out seven.

Pruemer got the win in relief of Konkel, who went the first 4.1 innings. Pruemer pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just two hits. He walked one and struck out two. Konkel gave up seven hits and four runs, while walking a pair and striking out two.

Effingham is now 4-3. The Hearts are scheduled to play at home Thursday against Dieterich.

“I really like this group of kids,” McNeely noted. “We have things we can improve on, but we’re getting better. We have some really good baseball players that have a very high baseball IQ. They take what we work on in practice and apply it in games. I like what I’m seeing.”

T-Town improved to 5-2 this spring. The Shoes will play today (Tuesday) at home against Olney.

“We’re progressing,” Coach Fleener said. “I was proud of our guys and the way they battled today. We just want to continue to improve so we’re playing our best when the postseason arrives.”