By Steve Raymond

The Sports Report

It doesn’t matter whether it’s Little League or Major League, the ability to collect timely hits with runners in scoring position is a key statistic in virtually every baseball game.

Such was the case Friday afternoon in Teutopolis.

The St. Anthony Bulldogs had numerous scoring opportunities, but went just 2-for-12 with runners on second and/or third base.

The host Shoes, however, were a little better, collecting three hits out of eight tries. Plus, they took advantage of a costly error and a wild pitch to add a couple runs, en route to a 6-2 victory.

The top of the first inning proved to be a forecast of things to come for the Bulldogs. With one out, Kennan Walsh ripped a ground-rule double and Eli Moore followed a double off the center-field fence. Since Walsh had to make sure Moore’s hit was not caught, he was only able to advance to third base.

St. Anthony’s next two batters were retired, ending the threat and setting the stage for the rest of the contest.

“This score could very well have been flip-flopped,” said St. Anthony coach Tony Kreke. “But a few timely hits didn’t come our way. Our kids had plenty of fight, but give T-Town credit. They were able to get a few of those hits and came away with the win.”

In the bottom of that first inning, again with two outs, Evan Wermert grounded a base hit up the middle and Matt Deters lined the first pitch he saw into left for a single. Evan Addis followed with a line drive into right field that brought home the first run of the contest and gave the Shoes a lead they never relinquished.

“I was pleased with how we responded in that first inning,” THS coach Justin Fleener said. “They (St. Anthony) hit two balls off the fence, but we held them. Then we bounced back with three straight hits to get off to a good start.”

THS made it 2-0 in the third without getting a hit. Kayden Althoff struck out, but reached first base when the third strike got away from the catcher. Matt Deters and Addis were both hit by pitches and Althoff eventually scored on a wild pitch.

St. Anthony had baserunners in scoring position in the second and third innings, but couldn’t deliver that timely hit. The Bulldogs finally broke through in the fifth.

Logan Antrim got a one-out single, went to second on a wild pitch and then stole third base. With two outs, Eli Moore got his second double of the game to drive in Antrim and cut the lead to 2-1.

But the Shoes responded again in the bottom of the frame. Sam Bushur walked, advanced to second on an error and scored when Wermert delivered a ground-rule double that bounced over the fence in right-centerfield. Wermert went to third on a wild pitch and scored on the second error of the inning to increase the T-Town lead to 4-1.

“Wermert had some big at-bats and really came through for us today,” Fleener noted. “He’s an example of what happens when you put in extra time. He’s been working after practice and has gotten better. That’s exactly what you have to do.”

St. Anthony got its final run in the sixth. With one out, Will Hoene was hit by a pitch, stole second base and scored on a two-out single by Eli Levitt.

But T-Town came back and added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the inning. Derek Deters reached on a fielder’s choice, Bushur got a base hit and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Althoff then delivered a key two-out, two-run single that pushed the Shoes lead to 6-2.

“We had some good scoring opportunities,” Kreke admitted. “We had people on base with our big boppers coming up. I’ll take that every game. We just weren’t able to get the big hits.”

In addition to that key single in the sixth, Althoff also turned in a strong pitching performance, improving to 4-0. He went six innings, allowing six hits and two runs, while walking three and striking out five. Derek Konkel came in to get the final three outs in the seventh.

“Kayden really battled on the mound,” Fleener noted. “That’s his calling card. He goes deep into counts, but is generally able to get out of jams. He’s a real competitor and got us through six innings. He did a good job.”

Colton Fearday took the loss for St. Anthony. The junior left-hander went five innings. He allowed four hits and four runs (two earned), while walking one and striking out four. Seth Hotze pitched the sixth and gave up two runs on three hits.

“Colton always wants the ball,” Kreke said. “I’m very happy with the progress he’s made this fall. He’s a real gamer and I thought he really pitched well today.”

St. Anthony dipped to 8-7 on the fall season. The Bulldogs will have two home games this upcoming week – Tuesday against South Central and Thursday against Teutopolis.

“I thought we made some winning plays today,” Kreke said. “Sometimes you play well and win; and other times you play well and don’t win. This is the type of game we can build from.”

The Shoes improved to 12-6. They will conclude their fall season with three games next week. They will play at Dieterich on Monday, at St. Anthony on Thursday and then close the season with a home game Friday with Neoga.