In a span of just three pitches, the North Clay Cardinals took control of the baseball game.

A triple and back-to-back home runs broke up a scoreless tie and sparked the Cardinals to a 6-1 victory over St. Anthony Monday afternoon in the championship game of the Class 1 Regional A Tournament, played at Evergreen Hollow Park.

The Cardinals, who improved to 17-7 on the season, will now host Cumberland County in a sectional semifinal game Wednesday. The first pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

In the regional final, it was 0-0 after two innings. But that changed – and changed quickly – in the top of the third.

Collyn Ballard got things started by ripping a triple. On the next pitch, Holden Clifford unloaded for a two-run homer over the left field fence to put North Clay on top. On the very next pitch, Brady Ingram went deep to make it 3-0.

The Cardinals added single tallies in the fourth, sixth and seventh -- with Clifton collecting RBI singles in the fourth and sixth – to take charge of the contest.

And that was plenty of run support for Carson Burkett. He allowed just three hits and walk, while striking out three, in his seven-inning, 73-pitch performance.

He came within two outs of pitching a shutout. But St. Anthony’s Eli Moore blasted a pitch over the centerfield fence with one out in the seventh to put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard.

St. Anthony had only three other baserunners in the contest. Eli Link walked in the third and had a lead-off single in the sixth and Angelo Mendella had a lead-off base hit in the fourth.

The first two batters for North Clay did much of the damage. Both Ballard and Clifton had three hits in the game. Both scored a run and Clifton finished with four RBI.

Logan Antrim pitched the first four innings and took the loss for the Bulldogs. He gave up six hits and four runs, while walking two and striking out six. Colton Fearday went two innings and Seth Hotze pitched the seventh.

The Bulldogs finished their season with a 17-6 record.

The Dieterich Maroons exploded for seven first-inning runs and then hung on for a 9-8 win at home Tuesday over St. Anthony.

The host Maroons combined four hits, three walks and hit batter to tally seven times in the opening inning. That uprising included a two-run homer by Matt Hunzinger, and two-run single by Pete Britton and three walks with the bases loaded.

Dieterich added a single run in the second and held an 8-2 lead heading into the fifth inning. That’s when the Bulldogs started their comeback.

Logan Antrim led off with a base hit and eventually scored on a fly ball by Colton Fearday. Will Hoene added an RBI single and Kennan Walsh capped the four-run frame with a two-run double to trim the lead to 8-6.

The Maroons got an RBI single from Britton in the bottom of the sixth and that proved to be the difference when Walsh belted a two-out, two-run homer in the top of the seventh.

Britton finished with three hits and three RBI, while Hunzinger had a pair of hits and drove in two runs. Dalton Will pitched the first 4.1 innings to get the win and Hunzinger pitched the final 2.1 frames to earn the save.

Josh Blanchette took the loss.

The Bulldogs dropped to 16-5 on the season. They will now compete in the Class 1A Regional A as the No. 1 seed. Their first game will be Friday, June 4, against either Hutsonville or Oblong. Game time is 4:30 p.m. at Evergreen Hollow Park.

The winner will play for the championship of that regional on Monday, June 7. The winner will play either Dieterich or North Clay. Game time has not yet been set.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

The St. Anthony bats were spraying hits all over Evergreen Hollow Park.

The Bulldogs collected 12 hits and scored 13 runs.

And that was just in the opening inning.

That’s right. SAHS went through its batting order twice, sending 18 hitters to the plate.

When that third out was finally recorded, the host Bulldogs owned a 13-0 lead, en route to an easy 15-0, four-inning decision over Hutsonville/Palestine in an opening round game of the Class 1A Regional A Tournament.

“You always want to be the team that jumps on top,” St. Anthony coach Tony Kreke said. “One of our goals is to be the team that scores first. When that happens, things usually work out in your favor.”

The Bulldogs certainly achieved that goal in a big way Friday afternoon.

Logan Antrim led off with a base hit, Angelo Mendella was hit by a pitch and both runners moved up a base on a ground out. And then things simply exploded.

Six straight batters reached base. Eli Moore drove in the first two runs with a base hit, Brody Niebrugge followed with an RBI double and Will Hoene brought home the third run with a high-bouncing single into left field.

But the Bulldogs were just getting started.

Read more ...

Logan Antrim threw a no-hitter and also drove in three runs Monday, helping the St. Anthony Bulldogs notch their 16th win of the season with an 11-0 shutout at Neoga.

Antrim walked three and struck out four during his 99-pitch, six-inning performance. The host Indians had a total of five baserunners and stranded them all.

The Bulldogs scored all the runs they needed with a three-run second inning. Will Hoene was hit by a pitch and Angelo Mendella singled to get things started. One run scored on an error and Antrim walked to load the bases. Kennan Walsh then delivered a two-run single to stake SAHS to the early 3-0 lead.

St. Anthony tacked on three more in the second. Eli Moore, Brody Niebrugge and Hoene all singled to load the bases. An error let in the first run and Antrim then ripped a single that drove home two more and increase the lead to 6-0.

An RBI single by Mendella made it 7-0 in the fourth and the Bulldogs completed their scoring with a four-run sixth. Moore led off with a home run that sailed over the centerfield fence. With two outs, Eli Link had an RBI double and both Antrim and Walsh added run-scoring singles.

All nine starters had at least one hit in St. Anthony’s 15-hit attack. Antrim, Walsh, Moore, Niebrugge, Hoene and Mendella each had two hits.

With the victory, the Bulldogs improved to 16-4 on the season. They will play their regular-season finale at home Tuesday against Dieterich.