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EDWARDSVILLE - Ty Berumen hit a two-run homer to put Edwardsville ahead for good, while Evan Funkhouser also homered as part of a seven-run third inning and five different pitchers combined to hold Columbia to four hits as the Tigers won over the Eagles 11-1 in a four-and-a-half inning game called by the 10-run rule Tuesday afternoon at Tom Pile Field.
Edwardsville scored in three of the four innings after giving up a first inning home run to defeat Columbia, and everyone played well in a good bounce back game after the Tigers had dropped two in Springfield Friday evening.
"Yeah, it was a good offensive day," said Edwardsville head coach Tim Funkhouser. "A warm day with the wind blowing out a little bit, you give the hitters some advantage, but ultimately, you need to put swings on it, and their kid (Jackson Holmes) did it in the first inning, with hitting the ball to dead center. And then we had some guys get through some balls, and also took some good swings on it, not necessarily home run swings. It was a good day for our guys, and I thought we went into the game knowing we were going to throw one guy per inning to get prepped for the rest of the week and everything, and all of them stepped up and were ready to go for the inning they had. So that was fun to watch."
Cam Grant started the game, as was followed by Quinn Weber, Caden Archer, Hayden Moore and Spencer Stearns, and all five pitchers threw well.
"Cam probably could have been out of the first inning; he just missed on a pitch," Funkhouser said, "and then came back and threw another pitch over the plate, and their guy, credit to him that he put a swing on one. Weber really attacked hitters, he didn't have as good an outing that we've seen out of him this year Friday, and he was able to bounce back and really looked strong and attacked. And I thought Hayden didn't have the performance he wanted as much up in Normal about a week-and-a-half ago, and he responded well. And then Stearns was able to get out of that jam there in the end."
Grant opened the game with a strikeout and ground out, but the third batter, Holmes, connected on a pitch that carried over the center field fence in the deepest part of the park for a home run that gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead. Sam Bonaldi then singled, but Drew Graves was thrown out by the catcher to end the inning.
The Tigers came right back in the home half, starting with Moore drawing a walk and Gavin Huebner doubling down the left field line to put runners on second and third. Stearns grounded out to the shortstop to score Moore, and then Berumen came through with a two-run homer over the fence in right center to give Edwardsville a 3-1 lead.
The Tigers made it 4-1 in the second, all coming with two out. Moore hit a pop fly double that the shortstop overran, then went to third on a throwing error. Huebner drew a walk and Stearns singled home Moore, Huebner going to third. A pop out to the second baseman ended the inning.
The Tigers all but put things away in the third, starting with Funkhouser's lead-off homer to right center to make the score 5-1. After a strikeout, three straight doubles by Caleb Copeland, Adam Powell and Gavin Burns scored two more runs to make it 7-1, then Moore reached on an error and Huebner walked to load the bases. After a line out to the second baseman, Berumen singled home two more runs, and Funkhouser doubled home two more to make it 11-1.
The Tiger pitching was very good, as Weber retired the side in order in the second, Archer allowed a lead-off single in the third while another man reached on an error, but got out of the jam, Moore got out of a first and second situation in the fourth with a double play, and Stearns allowed two runners to reach on an error and a walk, with runners on first and third. Stearns picked off the runner at first for the second out, then struck out Holmes to end the game with Edwardsville taking the 11-1 win.
The Tigers go to 9-3 on the season, and play at O'Fallon on Thursday afternoon, then host Marquette Catholic on Friday, and play twice at home on Saturday, against O'Fallon at 10 a.m., then St. Louis U. High at 2:30 p.m. Funkhouser is looking ahead to the games the remainder of the week.
"Yeah, we look forward to playing, and hopefully, the weather will cooperate the rest of the week," Funkhouser said. "If not, we'll just continue to work on our skills, so when the day comes we have a game, we're prepared, and see where it flies."
The Tigers are off to another good start, but Funkhouser also knows there's always ways to improve and get better.
"We got exposed on some things Friday," Funkhouser said, "and we dropped the split doubleheader, but I think our guys are pretty grounded in what their abilities are, and what they need to continue to work on, and they're doing a good job of being focused each day, and just trying to get better and enjoy the season together."Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
