The St. Anthony Bulldogs used an 11-hit attack and a strong pitching performance to open postseason play on a positive note.

They scored in four innings, en route to a 9-0 victory Thursday over Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City in a semifinal game of the Class 1A Altamont Regional.

The Bulldogs will now play for the regional championship on Saturday. They will face either Altamont or Brownstown/St. Elmo. Game time is 10 a.m.

Eli Levitt pitched 5.2 innings of scoreless baseball against CHBC. He allowed just three hits and a walk, while striking out nine. Brody Niebrugge finished up.

SAHS scored the only two runs it needed in the opening inning. Beau Adams and Colton Fearday singled to start things. Adams scored on a balk and Fearday came home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Levitt.

Adams and Fearday got things going again in the third with back-to-back doubles, with Fearday getting the RBI. Levitt singled, Angelo Mendella drove in a run with a ground out and Eli Link capped the three-run frame with a run-scoring single.

St. Anthony scored two more runs in both the fifth and sixth to complete the scoring.

The Bulldogs improved to 18-9 on the season.

St. Anthony baseball coach Tony Kreke was granted his wish.

After dropping a second straight game to Effingham in the annual City Series Thursday night, Kreke said he hoped his team would get a win before they headed into the postseason.

The Bulldogs got their win and in a big way.

Colton Fearday threw a five-inning no-hitter, and he and Angelo Mendella had bases-clearing hits, sparking St. Anthony to an 11-0 victory at home over the Hearts to salvage one game in the three-game series.

The Hearts still clinched the City Series championship by taking the first two games.

Fearday allowed just four baserunners in the five innings. He allowed walks in the first, second and fifth and the fourth runner reached on an error. The senior lefthander struck out eight in his 78-pitch outing.

After being limited to two runs and six hits in the first two games, the Bulldogs bats came alive Friday night. They banged out 12 hits and scored in all four of their at-bats.

As it turned out, they got the only run they needed in the bottom of the first when Eli Levitt belted a pitch over the leftfield fence.

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The Nashville Hornets scored three runs in the third inning and made them stand up, posting a 3-2 win Saturday over St. Anthony in the Greenville Round Robin.

The Hornets, who only had three hits in the entire game, scored all three of their runs without benefit of hit. They combined two walks and two errors to tally three unearned runs.

The Bulldogs scored single runs in the first and third. In the opening inning, Beau Adams led off with a base hit, went to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on an RBI single by Angelo Mendella.

After Nashville scored three times in the top of the third, St. Anthony got one of those runs back in the bottom of the frame. Adams walked and came around to score on a double by Eli Levitt.

The Bulldogs had another good scoring opportunity when Will Hoene led off the fourth with a double. But a double play ended that threat and St. Anthony had only two base runners over the final three innings.

Brock Jansen pitched the first three innings and took the loss, despite allowing only one hit and those three unearned runs. He walked two and struck out one. Josh Blanchette pitched the final four innings.

The Bulldogs ended their regular season with a 17-9 mark, but have dropped four of their last five games. They will now open regional play Wednesday. They will face either Ramsey or CHBC at 4:30 p.m. in a semifinal game of the Altamont Regional.

Ben Meinhart scored on an error in the top the eighth inning, giving the Newton Eagles a come-from-behind 3-2, eight-winning victory Saturday at St. Anthony.

St. Anthony’s Colton Fearday carried a one-hit shutout into the seventh inning. But Newton’s Isaac Flowers started the game-tying rally with a one-out triple. Then with two outs, Mason Schafer walked and Gage Reynolds came through with a two-run double that tied the game at 2-2.

The Bulldogs had a chance to win in the bottom of the seventh. They had the bases loaded with two outs, but a ground out ended that threat.

Meinhart then reached on a bunt single with one out in the top of the eighth. With two outs, a ground ball was misplayed and Meinhart was able to cross the plate with what proved to be the winning run. The Eagles improved to 21-5 on the season.

Again, SAHS had a good scoring opportunity in the bottom of the eighth. They had two runners on with just one out, but the final two batters were retired.

Fearday pitched outstanding in a losing effort. He went all eight innings and threw 106 pitches. He allowed four hits and three runs, while walking three and striking out 11.

The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Connor Roepke led off with a walk and Beau Adams reached on an error. Both runners moved up a base on a passed ball, followed by a two-run single by Will Hoene.

The Bulldogs dropped to 16-6. They will next play in the annual City Series against Effingham. The three-game series will be played at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. St. Anthony will host Wednesday and Friday at Paul Smith Field and will play Thursday at Evergreen Hollow Park.