EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville's baseball team looked like they were hitting on all cylinders Friday afternoon, the Tigers getting key hits from the bottom of the lineup – including a 3-for-3 day from Cole Cimarolli – as EHS defeated Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 11-3 at Tom Pile Field.
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“We had a lot better at-bats,” Tiger coach Tim Funkhouser said. “I thought that was a well-played game for us and that's what we needed, more consistency, because we haven't been as consistent as we've needed to be lately.”
One thing that really helped the Tigers was an error-free game on defense. “I thought our defense was sound and when you're making good pitches, it's easier to play defense,” Funkhouser said.
One of the highlights of the game was a third-inning bunt Joe Wallace put down that hugged the third-base line and never crossed before rolling to a stop on the fair side of the line, loading the bases and setting up a three-run inning for Edwardsville. “The bunt was good to see,” Funkhouser said, “but his approach to the plate, he's more in an attack mode, and you could see it in his swings.
“He put a great swing on a ball that went over the second baseman's head (in the second inning) into the gap; even the out he had at first base (a grounder to first in the fourth), he had hard contact. That's what we want to see, pressure on the ground and pressure on the ball and he was really able to do that well today; he carried over the things he's been working on in batting practice.”
Edwardsville broke on top in the bottom of the first when Dylan Burris drew a leadoff walk, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch before scoring on another Jake Shea wild pitch for the Tigers' only run of the inning. The Cyclones tied it in the second when Tommy Drake doubled and came around on a wild pitch to score, but the Tigers took control in the bottom of the inning when Cole Hansel and Cimarolli singled to open the inning and Wallace singled home Hansel to give EHS the lead back.
Cade Burns drew a walk to load the bases and Burris lifted a sacrifice fly to right to bring in Cimarolli; a Collin Clayton single and Jake Garella double brought in two more runs to give EHS control of the game at 5-1 through two. Cade Burns followed Wallace's spectacular bunt with a sac fly to center to score Hansel and a Burris single and fielder's choice Clayton hit into scored two more runs for an 8-2 Tiger lead through three.
Cimarolli doubled home Joel Quirin in the fourth and Wallace's grounder to first brought in Cimarolli for two more Tiger runs; the final EHS run came in the fifth on a Quirin sac fly to left that scored Clayton. The Cyclones got one more run in the sixth.
Burris was 1-for-3 with a RBI, Clayton 1-for-4 with two RBIs, Garella 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, Quiriin 1-for-4 with a RBI and Wallace 2-for-3 with two RBIs on the day. Andrew Frank went four innings for the win, giving up two earned runs on four hits with six strikeouts.
Edwardsville went to 12-3 on the year with the win; the Cyclones dropped to 8-4 with the loss. The Tigers host Belleville East at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in a Southwestern Conference clash.
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