Baseball

When St. Anthony’s Brody Niebrugge blasted a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning Tuesday afternoon, there was no way he could have known that would prove to be the winning run.

His four-bagger increased the Bulldogs lead to 6-1, and as it turned out, they needed every one of those.

North Clay rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh and had the tying and go-ahead runners on base before being retired and dropping a 6-5 decision.

St. Anthony had that five-run lead and was riding a three-hitter by starting pitcher Logan Antrim entering the final inning. But after allowing five straight base runners and then reaching his 106-pitch limit, Antrim was relieved by Seth Hotze and SAHS still on top, 6-3.

Hotze give up a two-run single and a walk, but also recorded two strikeouts to earn the save and preserve the victory for Antrim and the Bulldogs.

Antrim was dominant for six innings, allowing just the two hits and striking out 12.

St. Anthony built a 5-0 lead after three innings.

The Bulldogs scored twice in the first, thanks to two errors, a base hit by Kennan Walsh and an RBI groundout by Niebrugge, who drove in three runs in the game. It became 3-0 in the second when Eli Levitt and Josh Blanchette both singled and Antrim delivered a sacrifice fly.

In the third, Eli Moore singled and scored when Niebrugge ripped a double. Colton Fearday, who had three hits in the game, then came through with an RBI single to make it 5-0.

North Clay combined two walks and an error to get on the board in the fifth.

The Bulldogs improved to 7-4 with the win. They play again Wednesday at Woodlawn.

Gavan Wernsing lived up to his billing.

The Windsor/Stew-Stras lefthander was absolutely dominant Friday afternoon. He allowed just two hits and struck out 14 in a 100-pitch, seven-inning masterpiece and helped the host Hatchets post an 8-1 victory over St. Anthony.

Wernsing retired the first 14 batters he faced. He set the side down in order five of the seven innings and had a strikeout in each. He fanned the first three hitters he faced and five of the first six.

Eli Levitt was the Bulldogs first runner when he walked with two outs in the fifth. Both of St. Anthony’s hits came in the sixth when Eli Moore and Brody Niebrugge had back-to-back doubles to produce the team’s only run.

Windsor/Stew-Stras had plenty of offense to support Wernsing. The Hatchets banged out 13 hits and scored in each of the first four innings to take an early 7-0 lead.

The Bulldogs, now 6-4, will play three times next week – at home Tuesday against North Clay; at Woodlawn on Wednesday; and at home against Brownstown/St. Elmo on Friday.

Logan Antrim was almost unhittable Tuesday afternoon.

St. Anthony’s senior lefthander was in total control. He allowed just one hit and struck out nine and his teammates provided plenty of offensive support in a 10-0, five-inning victory at home over Dieterich.

Antrim threw 91 pitches. He gave up a fourth-inning single to Bushur and walked four.

At the plate, the Bulldogs banged out 11 hits and scored in four consecutive innings, tallying three runs in the third, fourth and fifth. Colton Fearday had three hits, Kennan Walsh two and Brody Niebrugge ripped a two-run homer.

After Walsh got St. Anthony on the scoreboard in the second with a two-out RBI double, the Bulldogs scored three times in each of the next three frames.

Niebrugge blasted his two-run homer in the third and Will Hoene added an RBI single. After scoring three times in the fourth on just one hit, the Bulldogs ended the game with a three-run fifth. Eli Link, Eli Moore and Fearday each collected run-scoring singles.

St. Anthony improved to 6-2 on the fall season. The Bulldogs will play at home Thursday against Neoga and then travel to Stew-Stras/Windsor on Friday.

Neoga scored two first-inning runs Thursday afternoon and made them stand up, posting a 3-1 victory at St. Anthony.

The Indians combined a lead-off double by Nate Lacy, two walks, three passed balls, a balk and a sacrifice fly by Brady Reynolds to take a 2-0 lead in the opening frame. Neoga used two singles and an error to add an insurance tally in the third.

The Bulldogs scored their only run in the bottom of the first. Eli Moore led off with a triple and scored on a ground out by Logan Antrim.

St. Anthony had plenty of opportunities to score more runs, putting runners on base in six of the seven innings, including loading the bases in the second. But the Bulldogs left nine runners stranded and had one runner thrown out at the plate. St. Anthony finished with four hits – two by Brody Niebrugge – and received six walks.

Niebrugge pitched just the first inning, but took the loss. Kennan Walsh pitched four innings and Josh Blanchette the final two.

The Bulldogs dipped to 6-3 on the season. They play again Friday at Stew-Stras/Windsor.

By Steve Raymond

The Sports Report

It was just another ho-hum baseball game between St. Anthony and Altamont.

Not.

When these two teams play, it doesn’t seem to matter what happens in the early or middle portions of the game. It always comes down to the final at-bat.

Such was the case Saturday morning at Paul Smith Field in Effingham.

The host Bulldogs exploded for eight runs in the fourth and held a seemingly comfortable nine-run lead. But the Indians responded with a nine-run outburst of their own, setting up another last-inning finish.

Earlier in the week, St. Anthony scored three runs in the top of the seventh to take a one-run lead, only to have Altamont push across two runs in the bottom of the frame to post the win.

It was the Bulldogs turn Saturday.