Baseball

Cade Buehnerkemper turned in five strong innings on the mound and Logan Roepke drove in five runs Saturday afternoon, leading the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes to a 13-3, five-inning victory at home over Altamont.

The Indians got a two-run double from Jared Hammer and scored three times in the opening inning, but Buehnerkemper shut them out the rest of the way. He allowed six hits, while striking out six and not walking a batter.

The Shoes started their comeback in the third. They had two walks, two passed balls, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Roepke to get within 3-2.

THS then took the lead with a four-run fourth. Roepke’s two-run double capped the inning and put the Shoes on top to stay.

The hosts then wrapped it up with a big fifth inning, combining four hits, three walks and a hit batter to tally seven times. Buehnerkemper had a two-run double and Roepke added a two-RBI single in the frame.

The Shoes improved to 6-1, while Altamont dropped to 5-3. T-Town and Altamont will play again Monday afternoon at THS. The Shoes will also host Neoga on Friday and then play at South Central on Saturday.

Kayden Althoff drove in three runs, three pitchers combined to keep Altamont in check and Teutopolis took advantage of eight errors Monday to post a 7-1 road victory.

The tone was set in the opening inning. After two were out, the next six T-Town batters reached base – four of them on errors. Sam Bushur walked, the next two batters reached on errors and Kayden Althoff then delivered a two-run single. The next two batters also reached on errors, allowing two more runs to cross the plate and stake the Shoes to an early 4-0. Lead.

THS added a single tally in the second and two more runs in the seventh and errors directly led to each of them. All seven Teutopolis runs were unearned. Kayden Althoff drove in his third RBI of the game in the seventh and Mitch Althoff capped the scoring with a run-scoring single.

Evan Addis was the starter and got the win. He, along with Caleb Siemer and Dylan Pruemer, combined to allow one run on seven hits. They walked three and struck out four.

Bradin Baucum and Wyatt Phillips both had three hits for Altamont. Tyler Robbins took the loss.

The Shoes improved to 5-1 on the fall season. They will return to action next Monday, Sept. 7, at home against Altamont.

Sam Bushur is proving to be a tough out at the plate.

After collecting three hits and driving in five runs Wednesday night, Bushur was back at it again Thursday.

He blasted two home runs, went 4-for-5 overall, and drove in six, leading the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes to a 14-8 win at Neoga.

Bushur had a base hit in the first inning, a two-run single in the second, a solo homer in the fourth and then blasted a three-run shot in the seventh to break the game open and give the Shoes their second win in three games.

The game followed a similar pattern to Wednesday night’s 12-11 loss to St. Anthony. T-Town broke out to a 5-0 lead in the second only to have Neoga push seven unearned runs across the plate in the bottom of the second to take a 7-5 advantage.

But this time, the Shoes rallied and didn’t give up the lead down the stretch. They scored four runs in the fourth, another in the sixth and then wrapped things up with a four-run seventh.

In the opening inning, Matt Deters and Kayden Althoff each had run-producing hits and Mitch Althoff made it 3-0 with an RBI ground out. Bushur’s two-run single made it 5-0 in the top of the second.

In the fourth, after Bushur belted a pitch over the center field fence, Derek Konkel reached on an error and Kayden Althoff singled. A bunt single by Mitch Althoff produced two runs and an error allowed another tally to score, putting THS on top 9-7.

Dylan Pruemer smashed a solo homer in the sixth. Then in the seventh, Joey Ruholl and Justin Hardiek both walked and Bushur connected again, this time ripping a pitch over the left field fence for a three-run home run.

The Shoes ended up with 13 hits.

Pruemer was the starter. He pitched 2.2 innings, giving up seven hits and seven unearned runs. Kendall Schmidt, Ben Goeckner and Caleb Siemer then combined to throw 4.1 innings of relief, giving up four hits and one run, while striking out five and walking two. Schmidt got the victory.

Teutopolis High School and St. Anthony High School will now co-host this year’s Wooden Bat Tournament on Saturday.

Due to COVID-19, the schedule has been changed to adhere to the new guidelines.

Games will be played at both Teutopolis High School and Paul Smith Field in Effingham.

Game 1 – 9 a.m. – Teutopolis vs. North Clay at THS

Game 2 – 9 a.m. – St. Anthony vs. Dieterich at Paul Smith Field

Game 3 – Noon – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 at THS

Game 4 – Noon – Loser of Game 1 vs Loser of Game 2 at Paul Smith Field

By Steve Raymond

The Sports Report

Baseball players, fans and coaches have learned to never chalk up a victory until the final out is recorded.

Just ask the Texas Rangers, who were one strike away from winning the 2011 World Series title two innings in a row, only to have it snatched away.

“It ain’t over till the fat lady sings” is an old adage that’s been heard many times through the years.

Well, that overweight gal never did actually sing Saturday, but she was certainly warmed up and ready to let loose.

Twice.

The North Clay Cardinals and St. Anthony Bulldogs can both attest to that.

In both games, the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes escaped what looked like two defeats and rallied in their final at-bat to post a couple victories and claim the championship of the annual Wooden Bat Classic.

“It feels good to come back and win these two games,” said THS coach Justin Fleener moments after winning the four-team tournament. “You just have to stay confident and never give up. It says a lot about our kids.”

In Saturday’s opener, North Clay’s Dakota Teague was in complete charge for six innings, shutting out the Shoes on just one hit.

But with one out in the bottom of the seventh, Dylan Pruemer and Derek Konkel both walked and Evan Wermert beat out an infield single to load the bases. Justin Hardiek followed with a ground ball to shortstop. The force out at second base was made, but the relay to first was wild.

Rather than a game-ending double play, the errant throw allowed two runs to score and give T-Town the 2-1 victory.

That set up the championship contest with St. Anthony, who defeated Dieterich 14-5 in the other first-round game Saturday morning.