This time it was St. Anthony’s Seth Hotze keeping the THS bats in check. The Bulldogs senior lefty blanked the Shoes on only one hit through five innings and enjoyed a 6-0 cushion.

But once again, the Shoes came storming back, combining five hits, three hit batters, two walks and an error to tally nine times and claim a 9-6 victory.

Sam Bushur grounded a base hit up the middle and Wermert walked to get the sixth-inning rally started. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch and the first run scored when Kayden Althoff’s ground ball was misplayed for an error. Wermert then scored on another wild pitch.

With one out, Pruemer walked and St. Anthony Coach Tony Kreke decided to make a pitching change and bring in Eli Levitt.

“Seth was wearing out,” Kreke explained. “He was leaving his pitches up and away. You could tell he was getting tired. He hadn’t thrown more than 60 pitches in a game yet. It’s early in the season and it’s important to keep your pitchers healthy.”

But the Shoes were just getting started. Konkel greeted Levitt with an RBI single. Logan Roepke was then hit by a pitch to load the bases and Hardiek was also hit by a pitch to force in a run and close the gap to 6-4.

With two outs, Bushur beat out an infield single to score another run and Wermert then delivered the biggest hit of the game. The senior, who was playing in his first game after being sick, drilled a pitch into the right-centerfield gap, clearing the bases and putting the Shoes on top 8-6.

“That was a clutch hit,” Fleener noted. “He just went with the pitch and hit it well.”

Wermert went to third on a wild pitch and scored on an infield hit by Kayden Althoff to cap the nine-run explosion.

“I just stood over at third base and watched the guys go by,” Fleener noted. “First we got a run, then another, then another. The guys had good approaches at the plate and started going with the pitch and driving it. Momentum is a big thing in baseball and we had that in the sixth. It was like they turned the switch on that inning.”

“Things sure turned in a hurry,” Kreke added. “And a lot of it happened with two out. There were a couple walks, a couple hit batters and a couple infield hits. But that’s all part of baseball. That’s why you always have to keep your foot on the pedal. You never know what’s going to happen. Plus, Teutopolis is a very good team. You know they’ll never quit playing.”

Early on, it was all Bulldogs, especially in the third inning when they combined five hits and a walk to push five runs across the plate. And it all happened with two outs.

Connor Roepke blooped a base hit into right field to get it started. After Kennan Walsh walked, Logan Antrim and Eli Moore lined RBI singles to put St. Anthony on the scoreboard. Brody Niebrugge then laced a double into the right-centerfield gap that scored two and Colton Fearday capped the inning with a run-scoring base hit.

The Bulldogs added a sixth run in the top of the fifth. Walsh walked, stole second, went to third on a balk and scored on a sacrifice fly by Moore.

Hotze allowed only an infield single by Pruemer through the first five innings. After Pruemer’s hit, Hotze then walked Konkel and Roepke to load the bases in the fifth, but retired the final two batters to maintain the 6-0 lead.

Hotze finished with 96 pitches over 5.1 innings of work. Levitt pitched one-third of an inning and took the loss.

Bushur got the win for the Shoes. He went all seven innings and threw 99 pitches. He allowed seven hits and six runs, while striking out six and walking three.

“My hat is off to Sam,” Kreke said. “He’s a good pitcher that kept battling, which is the type of pitcher any coach wants. He got through seven innings.”

The Shoes improved to 4-1 on the young season, while the Bulldogs dipped to 3-1.

North Clay defeated Dieterich 3-2 in 8 innings to capture third place in the tournament that was co-host by St. Anthony and Teutopolis. Games were played both in Teutopolis and at Paul Smith Field in Effingham.