EDWARDSVILLE – Hayden Moore and Evan Funkhouser helped the Edwardsville under-15 summer team to a big win Tuesday evening over the St. Louis Recruits club team at EHS’ Tom Pile Field.
Moore went 2-for-3, including a triple to open the game, with two runs scored for the Tigers in a 14-0, five-inning win while Funkhouser was 2-for-2 with a walk, RBI and three runs scored in the win.
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“We came out from this weekend not hitting that well (in a tournament in the Bloomington-Normal area where the team went 2-0-2) and we came out here just trying to get ready for this weekend (with a Diamond Sports Productions tournament the Tigers will be hosting beginning Friday)," Moore said.
“We’ve worked hard all year and it’s starting to finally show; it felt good.”
“It was fun; we took advantage of their pitchers not throwing strikes and got our hits when needed to and produced a lot of runs tonight,” Funkhouser said. “It was a good comeback and it gave us some confidence for our own games this weekend for the tournament.”
The atmosphere on the summer team is a bit different than it might be during the high school season, both players felt. “It’s a little different,” Funkhouser, who’s dad Tim is coaching the under-15 summer team this year. “He’s helped coach out a little when I was younger, but it’s fun; he’s coached me two years before at (under-11) and (under-12).”
Funkhouser is part of a baseball family; not only does his dad coach the Tigers during the high school season, his grandfather Bill also coached EHS in the 1970s and early 1980s. “I like it,” Evan Funkhouser said of being part of a baseball family. “I like baseball, so I’m glad to have a dad and a grandpa who coached and can teach me about the game for me to get better.”
“Around here, you just have fun and you’re out here with your friends just playing the game you love,” Moore said. “We’re making progress, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do to get better.”
The under-15 Tigers will be hosting the Diamond Sports Promotions Midwest Classic this weekend, with games at Tom Pile Field, the JV turf field across from Tom Pile, McKendree University in Lebanon, the O’Fallon High School Milburn campus and Roy Lee Field at SIU-Edwardsville. Group-play games for EHS will be at 9 a.m. Friday (vs. Rawlings Xtreme-Broyles) and 7 p.m. Friday (vs. BNBA 15 Gold-Fulford) and at 4:30 p.m. Saturday (vs. Pekin Gamers) and 7 p.m. Saturday (vs. Missouri Bulls); the top four teams advance to Sunday’s elimination play, with semifinal games at 9 a.m. Sunday at both Tom Pile Field and the JV turf field and the final at 1 p.m. Sunday at SIUE.
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