Baseball

Mason Robinson blasted a grand slam in the first game and Jared Hammer drove in five runs in the nightcap, helping the Altamont Indians sweep a doubleheader Monday at Teutopolis.

The Indians posted a 12-4 win in the opener and competed the sweep with a 14-8 decision in the second contest.

Altamont banged out 23 hits in the two games, while T-Town committed 11 errors and allowed 14 unearned runs in the twin bill.

The Indians took control in the opener with a six-run second inning. Wyatt Phillips led off the inning with a base hit. Logan Cornett walked and Mason Winn singled to load the bases. A throwing error allowed the first two runs to score and Hayden Siebert walked to load the bases again.

Robinson then unloaded a blast that sailed over the leftfield fence for a grand slam, staking Altamont to a 6-0 lead.

Robinson finished with three hits in the game, while Phillips and Cornett both had two.

The Wooden Shoes had seven hits, including a two-run homer by Kayden Althoff in the fifth inning that got THS within 8-5. Altamont then scored a pair of runs in both the sixth and seventh to pull away.

It took a three-run, sixth-inning rally for the North Clay Cardinals to advance Saturday morning.

But that was nothing compared to the late comeback they staged in their second game.

Trailing 12-3, the Cardinals scored four times in the sixth and then pushed six runs across in the bottom of the seventh, with the winning run coming home on a two-out single by Dakota Weidner.

That gave North Clay a wild 13-12 win and the championship of the Teutopolis Wooden Bat Tournament.

The Wooden Shoes banged out 16 hits and scored in each of the first six innings. They started things off with a two-run first, then added single tallies in the second, third and fifth, plus three runs in the fourth and four more in the sixth to build a seemingly comfortable nine-run cushion.

The Cardinals then had three hits and took advantage of two errors to close the gap to 12-7 heading into the final inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, North Clay combined four hits, four walks and a hit batter to stage the dramatic rally.

Collyn Ballard had a two-run single and Donnie Zimmerman added an RBI single to get the Cardinals within two. Then a pair of bases-loaded walks tied the game and Weidner ended it by lining a 1-2 pitch into left field for the game-winning walk-off single.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Teutopolis and winning baseball has become a synonymous thing.

Whether it’s winning 20-plus games during the regular season or playing at a high level in the postseason, there’s a reason why the Wooden Shoes program is considered one of the very best in the state.

And entering this year’s postseason, T-Town was in the midst of two winning streaks that are virtually unheard of – 12 straight regional championships and 10 consecutive sectional titles.

The string of regional success continued this week with a victory over Salem in the championship game.

But the sectional streak came to a halt Wednesday afternoon.

A talented Columbia team came into Teutopolis red hot and took control from the outset. They sprayed hits all over the diamond and received a strong pitching performance from a hard-throwing right-hander.

That combination was too much for the Wooden Shoes as they dropped a 13-2, five-inning decision in a Sectional 7 semifinal contest. It was the first sectional loss for Teutopolis since losing to Stanford Olympia in the sectional final back in 2009. The Shoes haven’t lost a regional game since 2007.

Columbia, 20-10 on the season, will now return home to face Freeburg for the sectional title on Friday. The Midgets, who are 32-3 and ranked No. 2 in the state, defeated Newton 16-1 Wednesday to earn a berth in the championship game. They also beat Columbia twice earlier in the season.

Teutopolis High School will host this year’s Wooden Bat Baseball Tournament on Saturday, Aug. 28.

Four teams will compete in the one-day event – St. Anthony, Dieterich, North Clay and the host Wooden Shoes.

Here is the schedule:

9 a.m. -- Teutopolis vs. Dieterich

11 a.m. -- North Clay vs. Effingham St. Anthony

1 p.m. -- Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2

3 p.m. -- Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Things are returning to normal in the sports world.

The NBA playoffs are actually being played in NBA cities.

Major League baseball stadiums will soon return to full capacity.

And the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes won yet another regional title.

After a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Wooden Shoes returned to the postseason winner’s circle Monday afternoon by posting an 8-5 victory at home over Greenville in the championship game of the Class 2A Regional A Tournament.

It was the 13th straight year T-Town has claimed the regional crown. The Shoes haven’t lost a regional baseball game since the 2007 season.

“It’s great to be doing this again,” THS coach Justin Fleener said.

For the second straight game, the Shoes got double-digit hits at the plate and double-digit strikeouts from their starting pitcher.

And jumping out to a 7-0 lead didn’t hurt either.

“Getting those early leads really helps,” Fleener admitted. “Everybody is able to relax a little at the plate and your pitcher doesn’t have to feel like he’s got to make pinpoint pitches every time.”