By Steve Raymond
The Sports Report
Baseball players, fans and coaches have learned to never chalk up a victory until the final out is recorded.
Just ask the Texas Rangers, who were one strike away from winning the 2011 World Series title two innings in a row, only to have it snatched away.
“It ain’t over till the fat lady sings” is an old adage that’s been heard many times through the years.
Well, that overweight gal never did actually sing Saturday, but she was certainly warmed up and ready to let loose.
Twice.
The North Clay Cardinals and St. Anthony Bulldogs can both attest to that.
In both games, the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes escaped what looked like two defeats and rallied in their final at-bat to post a couple victories and claim the championship of the annual Wooden Bat Classic.
“It feels good to come back and win these two games,” said THS coach Justin Fleener moments after winning the four-team tournament. “You just have to stay confident and never give up. It says a lot about our kids.”
In Saturday’s opener, North Clay’s Dakota Teague was in complete charge for six innings, shutting out the Shoes on just one hit.
But with one out in the bottom of the seventh, Dylan Pruemer and Derek Konkel both walked and Evan Wermert beat out an infield single to load the bases. Justin Hardiek followed with a ground ball to shortstop. The force out at second base was made, but the relay to first was wild.
Rather than a game-ending double play, the errant throw allowed two runs to score and give T-Town the 2-1 victory.
That set up the championship contest with St. Anthony, who defeated Dieterich 14-5 in the other first-round game Saturday morning.
Sam Bushur is proving to be a tough out at the plate.
After collecting three hits and driving in five runs Wednesday night, Bushur was back at it again Thursday.
He blasted two home runs, went 4-for-5 overall, and drove in six, leading the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes to a 14-8 win at Neoga.
Bushur had a base hit in the first inning, a two-run single in the second, a solo homer in the fourth and then blasted a three-run shot in the seventh to break the game open and give the Shoes their second win in three games.
The game followed a similar pattern to Wednesday night’s 12-11 loss to St. Anthony. T-Town broke out to a 5-0 lead in the second only to have Neoga push seven unearned runs across the plate in the bottom of the second to take a 7-5 advantage.
But this time, the Shoes rallied and didn’t give up the lead down the stretch. They scored four runs in the fourth, another in the sixth and then wrapped things up with a four-run seventh.
In the opening inning, Matt Deters and Kayden Althoff each had run-producing hits and Mitch Althoff made it 3-0 with an RBI ground out. Bushur’s two-run single made it 5-0 in the top of the second.
In the fourth, after Bushur belted a pitch over the center field fence, Derek Konkel reached on an error and Kayden Althoff singled. A bunt single by Mitch Althoff produced two runs and an error allowed another tally to score, putting THS on top 9-7.
Dylan Pruemer smashed a solo homer in the sixth. Then in the seventh, Joey Ruholl and Justin Hardiek both walked and Bushur connected again, this time ripping a pitch over the left field fence for a three-run home run.
The Shoes ended up with 13 hits.
Pruemer was the starter. He pitched 2.2 innings, giving up seven hits and seven unearned runs. Kendall Schmidt, Ben Goeckner and Caleb Siemer then combined to throw 4.1 innings of relief, giving up four hits and one run, while striking out five and walking two. Schmidt got the victory.
Teutopolis High School and St. Anthony High School will now co-host this year’s Wooden Bat Tournament on Saturday.
Due to COVID-19, the schedule has been changed to adhere to the new guidelines.
Games will be played at both Teutopolis High School and Paul Smith Field in Effingham.
Game 1 – 9 a.m. – Teutopolis vs. North Clay at THS
Game 2 – 9 a.m. – St. Anthony vs. Dieterich at Paul Smith Field
Game 3 – Noon – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 at THS
Game 4 – Noon – Loser of Game 1 vs Loser of Game 2 at Paul Smith Field
The Teutopolis Junior High baseball team is headed back to the state tournament.
The Wooden Shoes earned their state tournament berth with a 9-1 win Saturday over Paris Mayo in the championship game of the sectional, hosted by TJHS.
The Class 2A State Tournament will be played Friday and Saturday at the Eastside Centre in East Peoria.
Teutopolis, now 18-2 on the season, will play Pleasant Plains (18-5) at noon Friday. The winner of that game will advance to the semifinals and play at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The third place contest will be played at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and the championship game is set for 4:30 p.m.
As it turns out, there will be one more game at Busch Stadium this year.
The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes will play the North Clay Cardinals Friday at 6:30 p.m. This game was scheduled in September, but was rained out.
Admission is free. You do not need a ticket to see the game.
The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes ended their fall baseball season on a winning note Friday, posting a 7-3 victory over St. Anthony at Paul Smith Field in Effingham.
The Shoes scored three runs in the opening inning and built a 5-0 lead, which was plenty for senior pitcher Trenton Schwerdt, who turned in a complete game performance.
Schwerdt allowed five hits and three unearned runs. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out three, while throwing 93 pitches.
In that first inning, Luke Ungrund led off with a base hit, went to second on a bunt and scored on a single by Schwerdt. With two outs, Evan Wermert and Matthew Deters delivered back-to-back RBI doubles to stake THS to a quick 3-0 lead.
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