St. Anthony drops 7-6, 11-inning decision to Father McGivney
It was the type of game you might expect between two of the best high school baseball teams in the state.
The St. Anthony Bulldogs – ranked No. 3 in Class 2A – and the Father McGivney Giffins – ranked No. 1 in Class 1A – battled back and forth the entire game. In fact, seven innings wasn’t enough to determine a winner.
In the end, the host Griffins took advantage of two errors to push across two runs in the bottom of the 11th inning to come away with a 7-6 victory Thursday in Glen Carbon.
The Bulldogs never trailed until Isaac Wendler delivered a one-out, walk-off single in Father McGivney’s final at-bat. The inning started when the first two Griffin batters reached on errors. A sacrifice bunt produced the tying run and Wendler then lined a pitch up the middle to bring home the game-winner.
St. Anthony had taken the lead in the top of the 11th when Connor Roepke led off with a solo blast that sailed over the leftfield fence.
Roepke also gave the Bulldogs the lead in the sixth. With two outs, Aiden Lauritzen doubled, Brock Fearday was intentionally walked and Roepke followed with an RBI base hit that gave SAHS a 5-4 edge.
But Father McGivney, now 24-3 on the season, combined a single, two walks and an error to score the tying run in the bottom of the seventh and force extra innings.
Lady Bulldogs beat Altamont; seek 4th straight NTC Tourney title
The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs will be seeking their fourth straight National Trail Conference Softball Tournament title, thanks to a 6-2 win over Altamont in one semifinal game, played Wednesday at Evergreen Hollow Park in Effingham.
Wild pitches helped St. Anthony score three of its runs and an Altamont error let in a fourth. That, combined with the pitching of Sydney Kibler and Addie Wernsing, put the Lady Bulldogs in the championship game.
They will face Windsor/Stew-Stras at 6 p.m. Friday.
Three walks and two wild pitches staked SAHS to a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Maddie Kibler walked and eventually scored on an error in the fourth and Hailey Niebrugge walked, advanced to third base after two more wild pitches and then came home on a ground out by Abbi Hatton in the fifth.
The Lady Bulldogs wrapped up their scoring with a two-run sixth. Stacie Vonderheide walked, Julia Schultz got a base hit and Addy Rios delivered a two-run single.
The Lady Indians scored on a pair of solo home runs – by Grace Lemke in the third and Laila Hankins in the seventh.
Sydney Kibler pitched the first four innings to get the win. She allowed five hits and one run, while walking three and striking out eight. Wernsing took care of the final three frames, giving up two hits and a run, while walking one and striking out six.
Lemke took the loss for Altamont. She allowed six runs and five hits. She walked six and struck out nine.
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 21-2.
In other games Wednesday, WSS defeated South Central 11-1; Dieterich beat North Clay 18-4; and St. Elmo/Brownstown outlasted Neoga 13-11.
The tournament will conclude Friday. At 4:15 p.m., Dieterich will face SEB for the consolation title; and Altamont and South Central will play for third place. St. Anthony and WSS will then square off in the final game.
All games are played at Evergreen Green Hollow Park.
Lady Hearts get conference doubleheader sweep over Taylorville
The Effingham Lady Hearts scored 22 runs and allowed only one, en route to a convincing doubleheader sweep Wednesday at home against Taylorville.
Natalie Armstrong threw a complete-game two-hitter in the opener and Sidney Donaldson drove in three runs, helping the Lady Hearts post a 9-0 decision.
In the nightcap, Effingham scored in every inning, nine different players got at least one hit and Saige Althoff turned in a strong pitching performance. The result was a 13-1 win.
Armstrong walked two and struck out 10 in the first game. Her teammates provided all the support she needed in the first inning.
After just three batters, two runs had already scored. Raegan Boone and Jerzi Bierman both singled and then scored on a double by Donaldson. Ryley Engel capped the three-run frame with a two-out RBI single.
The Lady Hearts scored two runs in the third, fifth and sixth. They banged out 10 hits, including a solo home run by Mya Harvey in the fifth.
Link, Fearday help Bulldogs top Neoga 11-1
Sam Link and Brock Fearday both drove in three runs Wednesday afternoon, helping the St. Anthony Bulldogs cruise to an 11-1, five-inning victory at Neoga.
Fearday helped the Bulldogs get off to a quick start. Beau Adams walked, Aiden Lauritzen was hit by a pitch and Fearday then unloaded, driving an 0-1 pitch over the rightfield fence to stake SAHS to a 3-0 lead in the opening inning.
Link added an RBI single later in that first inning and then delivered a two-run single in the team’s three-run third. Link finished with three hits.
The Bulldogs wrapped up the scoring with a three-run fifth.
Link also got the win. He pitched all five innings and allowed just two hits and the single run. He walked one and struck out three.
The Bulldogs, who improved to 18-1, will face a tough test today (Thursday). They will travel to Glen Carbon to face Father McGivney, the No. 1 ranked Class 1A baseball team in the state.