Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
EDWARDSVILLE – When it comes to baseball, good pitching can count for quite a bit.
Edwardsville's summer baseball team certainly showed that Wednesday evening as four Tigers combined to give up just five hits to Greenville as they scored three times in the fourth inning to take a 4-2 win at Edwardsville's junior varsity field.
“We took advantage of the freebies (walks issued by the Greenville pitchers) after their starting pitcher (Luke Carlson) left the game,” said Tiger assistant coach Craig Ohlau. “Our guys battled the whole game and put together some good at-bats and when you battle and keep working the ABs, you're going to eventually break through.”
Edwardsville got their second straight win for the first time this summer, taking their record on the summer to 6-9-1 playing mostly under-18 teams. “We always take it day-to-day,” Ohlau said. “Baseball's that kind of game; you don't ponder the failure of the last at-bat or the failure of the last game. You let that go and move forward. That's life; you believe in yourself and keep going forward and you don't let the bad things get you down, you're going to be successful.
“Summer ball's kind of like that; guys are getting to know each other and you work with get rapport with the younger guys but as the season goes on, they get more comfortable with each other. It's a lot of fun.”
Greenville scored twice in the top of the second, Hunter Gray scoring on an error and Brock Nelson on a RBI single from Drew Frey, with Mason Johnson being thrown out from left trying to score a third run on the play. Edwardsville responded with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning, Daniel Pichotti doubling to lead off the inning and coming home on a pair of wild pitches to cut the Greenville lead to 2-1.
The Tigers took the lead in the fourth with three runs, starting when Ike Bertles drew a walk with one out and Chase Goeckel singled to put runners on base. Zach Modrusic then doubled in Bertles to tie the game, with Cole Hampton then lifting a sacrifice fly to right to bring in Goeckle to give the Tigers their first lead. Dylan Burns, playing in his first game after missing the high school season with a broken right leg, singled in Modrusic for the final Tiger run.
Tiger pitching took over, especially David Grant, giving up just two hits the final three innings to keep Greenville at bay. Four pitchers – Jake DeBouck, Issac Garrett, Andrew Yancik and Grant – saw time on the mound for Edwardsville, with Yancik getting the win and Grant the save as they combined for six strikeouts.
Dylan Burris was 2-for-4 with a RBI for the Tigers, with Pichotti going 1-for-3 with a double; Yancik, Goeckel and Modrusic also had hits for the Tigers and Hampton had a RBI on the sacrifice fly.
Edwardsville will take part in a tournament being hosted by Illinois State in Bloomington-Normal this weekend, beginning group play this afternoon against DTA Wildcats U-17 Navy at 2 p.m., then Mizuno Braves at 12:30 p.m. Friday and Lakeside Legends at 9 a.m. Saturday to complete their group games. Playoff games for group winners begin Saturday evening and conclude Sunday; the final is set for 3:30 p.m. Sunday at ISU's Duffy Bass Field.
SEE RELATED VIDEO BELOW:
More like this:
