BETHALTO – Alton and Civic Memorial more than likely weren't figuring their Saturday doubleheader at the Bethalto Sports Complex was going to take as long as it did.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
The two teams spent a total of some six hours playing a doubleheader at Bethalto Sports Complex, and when the day came to an end, the two schools wound up splitting the traditional twin bill – the Eagles defeating the Redbirds 6-5 in eight innings in the opener while Alton scored a 9-4 win over CM in the nightcap.
“We're learning; we're still learning to finish ball games,” said Redbird coach Todd Haug. “We lost a couple of ball games early on this year; both times we had the lead in the sixth inning, so it's a growing experience. We leave here not satisfied, I mean, with a pretty bitter taste in our mouths.”
There were some things Haug was happy to see; in the opener, the Redbirds had fallen behind the Eagles 3-1 through five innings, but battled back to put four runs up in the sixth to take 5-3 lead before the Eagles tied it up in the bottom of the frame. Still, Haug feels the Redbirds have plenty of room to improve their game.
“There's certain facets of our game – again, look at the statistics – and if you look at the box score lines, there's some things we need to work on,” Haug said. “We'll go back to the drawing board and we'll get better at it.
“It's a simple, yet difficult, game. It's simple to say 'OK, we need to throw strikes', but it's difficult to throw those strikes. But at the same token, you're going to be as successful as that day's starting pitcher.”
“I thought we played real well the first game,” said Eagle coach Gary Bruening. “That's (Alton) a very good program; everyone knows that, and I felt we could compete with them, and we did. To get a walkoff with (Corey) Price getting the big hit...
“They're good. Like I said, we were up early 3-1 and I thought we played pretty well. Second game, I don't know why we came out a little flat; we were down 7-0 and then we made it 7-4. Defensively, we played pretty well.”
Alton broke out on top in the opener with a Sam Ballard RBI single that scored Noah Rathgeb, but the Eagles took the lead in the second with a pair of runs, then extended it to 3-1 in the fifth when Brandon Hampton scored on an Alton error. The Redbirds grabbed the lead back in the top of the sixth with a series of hits and walks that brought home Jacob Kanallakan, Robbie Taul, Derrick Allen and Steven Patten, the Redbirds leading 5-3.
CM countered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game, an error and a double scoring Konnor Loewen and Spencer Powell. In the eighth, the Eagles won it on a Price RBI single that drove in Hampton.
The Redbirds got out to a 7-0 lead through the top of the fourth of the nightcap, highlighted by a Mikey Hampton RBI triple in the second and a three-run fourth before the Eagles rallied to cut the lead to 7-4 through four. Alton scored solo runs in the fifth and seventh to put the game out of reach.
The split put the Redbirds at 5-2 for the year and the Eagles at 4-3. Alton travels to O'Fallon for a 4:15 p.m. Tuesday Southwestern Conference game while CM heads to Breese to play Mater Dei at 4:15 p.m. Thursday.
More like this:
