Belleville and Bethalto Junior Legion teams face off in double-header

Jun 23, 2015 3:00 PM Save

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After over a week of rain cancellations, the boys are back on the field as the Belleville Hilgards Junior One team took on Bethalto on the away team’s home turf at the Bethalto Sports Complex on June 22, 2015.

Heavy rain and the threat of severe weather turned teams away from their regularly scheduled season, but as the sun peaked through the clouds, the American Legion baseball league returned to doing what they love; playing baseball.

In the top of the 1^st, Belleville’s squad loaded the bases and earned their first walk, ran in by Jake Jenkins.

The bottom of the 1^st, however, was a great inning for Bethalto. Geoffrey Withers scored after Bryce Zupan walked to 1^st base. After two swinging strikes, Spencer Powell and Caleb Denney scored, bringing the score up to 1-3.

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The Hilgards struggled until the top of the 3^rd, until Matt Sisk scored and Jenkins earned his second run of the game, tying the game at 3-3.

Unfortunately for the Belleville, Bethalto came back in the bottom of the 4^th, scoring 2 runs. Denny and Withers were both responsible for the inning’s runs. The score was 3-5, and stayed that way until the game ended. Belleville’s pitcher, Buddy Gore, received the loss. The game’s top hitters were Devin Hubbs, and Tai Kezirian.

The second game of the double-header was one for the record books. Bethalto left three runners with two hits in the top of the 1^st. Thomas Padgett and Matt Sisk scored two runs in the bottom of the 1^st inning.

The 2^nd inning was scoreless for both squad and only resulted in one hit on behalf of Belleville. Sisk earned his second run of the game as result of a triple that landed him on third as pitcher Tai Kezirian advanced to 1^st on a fielder’s choice. This brought the score to 0-3 in Belleville’s favor.

The bottom of the 4^th inning was where Belleville’s offense truthfully shined. After a series of walks and some wild pitches, Padgett and Sisk scored once again. Kezirian scored for a second time and Josh Jones shortly followed. The number of earned in the bottom of the 4^th totaled to 6.

Belleville’s final run scored in the bottom of the 5^th as Sam Bernosky scored. Bethalto fell scoreless to Belleville’s squad, 0-10. Kezirian got the win, and Bethalto’s Spencer Powell got the loss. Matt Sisk produced the most hits for Belleville.