Jackson Lee had quite a game.
He pitched 5.2 innings of shutout baseball and belted a grand slam, leading the Effingham Hearts to a 7-0 victory at home Saturday over Charleston in the opening game of a doubleheader.
In the nightcap, the Trojans rallied for two runs in the seventh inning to post a 5-4 win, gain a split of the twin-bill and hand Effingham its first loss of the season.
In the opener, Lee was dominant on the mound. He allowed only singles in the second and third innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out six while throwing 75 pitches. Matthew Loy pitched the final 1.1 innings.
It was a scoreless tie through four innings. But in the bottom of the fifth, the Hearts struck in a big way.
Christian Raddatz walked, Gauge Massey singled and Dylan Cunningham walked to load the bases. Preston Latch and Quest Hull then both walked, forcing in two runs and then Lee made Charleston pay, driving a 1-1 pitch over the leftfield fence for a bases-clearing grand slam that put the Hearts on top 6-0.
Max Nelson added an RBI single in the seventh to complete the scoring.
The Hearts carried a 4-3 lead into the seventh inning of the second game, but Charleston rallied. Corey Spour delivered the big hit, a two-out, two-run single that proved to be the game-winner.
The Trojans built a 3-0 lead early, but EHS began to cut into that in the bottom of the third. With one out, Dylan Cunningham singled and came around to score on a double by Quest Hull. Joe Matteson then brought Hull home with a ground ball.
Dylan Cunningham delivered an RBI single to tie the game in the fourth and Effingham took the lead in the fifth. Hull singled, Lee walked and Matteson delivered a run-scoring base hit to give the Hearts a 4-3 lead.
Josh McDevitt relieved in the sixth and took the loss. Brayden Pals pitched the first five innings.
The Hearts are 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the Apollo Conference. Only the first game of a DH between conference teams counts in the league standings. Effingham will play another conference game at home Tuesday against Taylorville.
Jackson Lee belted a home run and drove in four runs, while four pitchers combined to allow only four hits, helping the Effingham Hearts post a 10-3 win Friday at Flora and remain unbeaten on the spring season.
The Hearts broke on top quickly, scoring twice in the opening inning. Quest Hull led off with a base hit, but that was the only hit of the inning. Lee walked and Jack Blickem was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Max Hardiek was then hit by another pitch to force home the first run and the second tally came in on a fielder’s choice.
An error, walk and RBI singles by Gabe Eaton and Max Nelson increased the EHS lead to 4-0 in the third.
The Hearts added three more runs in the fourth. Hull started things with a base hit and Lee than smashed a two-run homer that sailed over the leftfield fence. Following two walks, Christian Raddatz delivered an RBI single to make it 7-0.
Flora tallied three times in the bottom of the sixth, but the Hearts came back with three of their own in the seventh. Two walks and a base hit by Eaton loaded the bases. One run scored on a fielder’s choice and Lee then followed with a triple that drove in the final two runs of the contest.
Kalen Reardon pitched the first four innings and looked real good. He didn’t allow a run and gave up just one hit. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out seven. Jackson Doedtman pitched two innings and Gauge Massey one to complete the game.
The Hearts, now 8-0, are scheduled to play at home today (Saturday) against Charleston in an Apollo Conference contest. The first pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m.
The Effingham baseball team maintained its unblemished record Monday afternoon, but it didn’t come easy.
In fact, the Hearts needed a seventh-inning rally to accomplish that.
And it was a big seventh inning.
Effingham combined four hits, a walk, a hit batter and two errors to score seven times and come from behind and post an 11-5 victory over Neoga.
The game was initially scheduled to be played in Neoga, but due to weather concerns it was moved to Paul Smith Field.
It was a back-and-forth game. EHS led 1-0, trailed 3-1, led 4-3 and were on the short end of a 5-4 score heading to the seventh inning.
Two Neoga errors and a walk to Quest Hull loaded the bases with just one out. Joe Matteson was then hit by a pitch to force in the tying run and Jack Blickem followed a base hit that drove home two and put the Hearts on top. Before the inning was over, Kalen Reardon and Preston Latch delivered RBI singles and Jackson Lee drove in two more with a base hit.
Lee also had a run-scoring single in the fifth to finish with three RBI in the game, while Hull drove in two runs with a double in the second and a base hit in the three-run fifth.
Brayden Pals, the third pitcher for Effingham, got credit for the win. He relieved in sixth and pitched 1.2 innings. Matthew Loy came in to record the final out. Christian Raddatz was the starter and went the first four innings, allowing two hits and three unearned runs. Jackson Doedtman also pitched one inning.
The Hearts, now 6-0, will play Friday at Flora and then return home to face Charleston on Saturday.
Two walks and an error resulted in a seventh-inning run and allowed the Effingham Hearts to escape with an 8-7 win Tuesday afternoon at Highland.
Jackson Lee and Christian Raddatz led off the top of the seventh with a pair of walks. Lee moved up to third on a fielder’s choice and then scored when Gauge Massey’s ground ball was misplayed.
Matthew Loy, the third pitcher of the day for EHS, allowed a walk in the bottom of the seventh, but also recorded two strikeouts to secure the win and keep the Hearts undefeated so far this spring.
But they had to play from behind most of the game.
Highland led 5-1 and 7-4, but Effingham used a pair of three-run innings to come back and tie the game 7-7.
The comeback started in the fourth. Lee led off with a base hit and Raddatz was hit by a pitch. Joe Matteson then delivered an RBI single, Massey drove in a run with a ground out and Kalen Reardon had a sacrifice fly to get EHS within 5-4.
In the sixth, it was the same group that accounted for three more runs. Lee singled, Raddatz walked and Matteson singled to load the bases. Massey drove in the first run with a base hit and Reardon followed with a two-run double to tie the score.
Loy pitched the final two innings to get the win. He didn’t allow a hit, while walking one and striking out two. Jack Blickem started and went the first 2.2 innings, allowing eight hits and five runs. Brayden Pals pitched the next 2.1 innings and gave up three hits and two runs.
The Hearts, now 7-0, will play Friday at Flora and then return home to face Charleston Saturday morning in an Apollo Conference game at Paul Smith Field.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
The goal is to score at least three runs.
“Yep, that’s our goal coming into every game,” EHS baseball coach Curran McNeely said. “If we can do that, with our pitching staff, we’re going to win a lot of games.”
That pitching staff was on display again Saturday morning at Paul Smith Field.
Jackson Lee and Josh McDevitt combined to allow just two runs and that was plenty as the Effingham Hearts opened Apollo Conference play with a 6-2 win at home over Lincoln.
“I think we have one of the better all-around pitching staffs,” McNeely explained. “We have a handful of arms that can pound the zone and I have confidence in all of them.”
In the Hearts five wins so far, they have given up 2, 1, 5, 1 and 0 runs. That's just nine runs in five games.
And the hard-throwing senior and sophomore were feeling stingy again Saturday. Both hit 90 miles-per-hour on the speed gun and made things difficult for the Lincoln batters.
The senior, Lee, went the first four innings and threw a total of 99 pitches. He was touched for a pair of runs on two hits in the fourth. He walked three and struck out 10 to get the win. McDevitt, just a sophomore, took over the in fifth and turned in three scoreless innings. He allowed four hits and two walks and struck out five to earn the save.
“These two guys are comparable in the way they pitch,” McNeely noted. “Jackson struggled a little with his fastball command today and fell behind several batters. But he’ll get better as the spring moves forward.
“Then it’s nice to bring in a sophomore that can throw in the upper 80s or low 90s,” the first-year coach added. “He brings a lot to our program and works hard every day.”
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