Baseball

Eli Moore had two hits and drove home five runs Saturday, leading the St. Anthony Bulldogs to an 8-2 victory at Marshall.

Moore had a bases-clearing double in the third and a two-run single in the fourth, helping the Bulldogs post their eighth win without a loss so far this spring.

The Bulldogs broke a scoreless tie in the third. Eli Levitt started things off with a double. Kennan Walsh and Colton Fearday both walked to load the bases and Moore then ripped a double, driving in all three runners. He later scored on an error to stake SAHS to a 4-0 lead.

The Bulldogs followed with another four-run frame in the fourth. With one out, Logan Antrim and Walsh singled and both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch. Moore then came through again, collecting a single that got two more runs across the plate. An error and a ground out accounted for the final two runs of the inning.

That was more than enough runs for Brody Niebrugge, who pitched the first five innings and got the win. He gave up three hits and two runs, while walking one and striking out eight. Josh Blanchette pitched the final two innings.

St. Anthony, now 8-0, will play Monday at home against Mattoon and then travel to Newton on Tuesday.

St. Anthony is proving it can win baseball games in a variety of ways.

On Monday, the Bulldogs needed an 11-hit attack, including two long home runs, to rally from a seven-run deficit and win 11-9.

On Thursday, they relied on the arm of Logan Antrim.

The senior left-hander tossed a three-hit, complete game, helping St. Anthony stay undefeated with a 2-1 win at home over South Central.

Antrim walked three and struck out eight while throwing 105 pitches. The only run he allowed was unearned.

That run came in the top of the sixth and gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead.

But the Bulldogs responded in the bottom of the inning and they, too, took advantage of miscues.

With one out, Antrim was hit by a pitch, went to second on a passed ball and scored when Kennan Walsh’s ground ball was booted for an error. Walsh then raced to third on a base hit by Colton Fearday and scored the winning run when South Central pitcher Aaron Dodson threw wildly when trying to pick him off.

South Central got its lead-off man on base in the seventh, but Antrim retired the next three batters to secure the win and improve St. Anthony to 7-0.

It was a pitcher’s duel throughout. Antrim and Dodson matched each other pitch for pitch. Dodson also allowed just three hits and both runs were unearned. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out three.

Fearday had two of St. Anthony’s hits. In addition to his sixth-inning single, he also had a two-out single in the first. The other hit was by Will Hoene. He singled leading off the fifth, but was erased in a double play.

The Bulldogs will travel to Marshall on Saturday.

Another match-up between St. Anthony and Altamont.

Another one-run game.

For the fifth time in a row, these two baseball rivals battled on even terms Friday afternoon.

But this time, the Bulldogs rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, with Kennan Walsh delivering the key two-out hit, to lift St. Anthony to a 6-5 victory at Evergreen Park.

The game was a see-saw affair. St. Anthony led 1-0, but then trailed 2-1, 4-2 and 5-3 before tallying three times in the sixth to remain undefeated on the season.

With one out in the sixth, Will Hoene and Angelo Mendella ripped back-to-back doubles to close the gap to 5-4. With two outs, Eli Levitt and Logan Antrim both walked to load the bases and Walsh then lined the first pitch he saw into center field, driving in the tying and winning runs.

Colton Fearday, who came on in relief in the top of the sixth, got the win, but it wasn’t easy. Altamont had two runners on base in the seventh, but Fearday recorded a strike out to end the game.

The Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the second, thanks to the Hoene and Mendella combination again. Hoene walked and Mendella got his first of two doubles to put SAHS on top.

The Indians got RBI singles from Braydon Stuemke and Kaden Eirhart in the third to gain a 2-1 lead. It was the first of four hits and three RBI by Eirhart.

After St. Anthony tied the game in the bottom of the third, the Indians took a 4-2 lead in the fifth. A single and two walks loaded the bases and Mason Robinson came through with a two-out, two-run single.

Fearday had an RBI single for the Bulldogs in the fifth and Eirhart drove in a run in the sixth to keep Altamont on top 5-3 and set the stage for the sixth inning comeback.

Fearday allowed two hits and one run in his two innings of work. He walked one and struck out three. Antrim went the first five innings, giving up seven hits and four runs. He walked two and struck out 11. Eirhart took the loss for Altamont.

The Bulldogs, now 5-0, will play at home Monday against North Clay and then travel to Casey on Wednesday. Game time is 4:30 p.m.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

When the third out was finally recorded in the top of the first inning, St. Anthony baseball coach Tony Kreke was watching how his team came off the field.

North Clay had just struck for seven runs putting the Bulldogs in an early hole.

Kreke liked what he saw.

“Nobody had their heads down,” he said. “They know we can hit the ball and score a lot of runs. I just told them to take a deep breath and gather their thoughts. And I reminded them we couldn’t score seven runs on one at-bat. We just needed to put a bunch of hits together.”

His team was listening.

St. Anthony started a comeback in the bottom of the first, finished with 11 hits, got a tremendous relief performance and ended up with an 11-9 win at home.

“These kids are resilient,” Kreke noted. “They never gave up. They just kept playing hard and got the job done.”

But it didn’t look good early.