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GODFREY - With two outs in the bottom of the sixth and trailing 3-2, the Alton Redbirds needed of a clutch hit.
Ben Mossman answered the bell.
He roped an RBI triple to right-center field off Edwardsville’s Grant Schaefer to tie things up at three apiece. Two batters later, Wesley Laaker singled home Mossman for the go-ahead run.
Alton would go on to beat Tigers 6-3 in Godfrey on Tuesday afternoon.
“A victory is a victory. [It’s like] the “Bull Durham” quote, “I sure do like winning better than losing,” Haug said. “We’ve had our fair share of both avenues this year. It’s a May 1 game, and we need to continue to grow and be playing good baseball here in a few weeks.”
Laaker, a sophomore, pitched a complete game. He gave up four hits, three runs, one earned while striking out six and walking three. His catcher and fellow sophomore, Owen Stendebeck have developed a decent understanding over the course of the season.
“A few weeks ago this would’ve been a lot faster [of a] game. Now they’re growing. The game is slowing down for them,” Haug said. They’re becoming big dogs, and we’re proud of them.”
“Wesley has proven to be a reliable guy. He’s pitched in every single big game for us across the board. He gets the best game of the week, and he keeps us in the ballgame.”
Edwardsville took a 1-0 lead with a first-inning Reid Hendrickson RBI triple that scored Drake Westcott.
Tigers starting pitcher Chase Gockel struck out the side in the first two innings, and the second he struck out two straight batters with the bases loaded.
“I thought we controlled the first part of the game a bit more. We had a couple of situations where we’d get a guy [in scoring position] with one out and didn’t get anything done. It was disappointing that we lost the lead late,” Edwardsville coach Tim Funkhouser said. “[Alton] out-executed us. They deserve to win.”
Alton’s first hit of the game came in the third with an RBI triple courtesy of Robby Taul. The next batter, Jackson Brooks drove in Taul with a sacrifice fly to give the Redbirds a 2-1 lead.
Gockel would settle down and pitch five innings allowing two runs on two hits while striking out nine and walking four.
In the top of the fifth, the Redbirds defense helped out Edwardsville.
Alton had a chance to end the inning on a double-play ball with two Tigers on base, but the throw to first base was underthrown and skipped out of play, which tied the game. Reid Hendrickson scored moments later on a passed ball to give Edwardsville a 3-2 lead.
The Tigers had a four-game winning streak snapped and went to 16-8 on the season.
Alton improves to 11-12, and this game could be a turning point in their season. Seven of their 12 losses have been decided by three runs or less, and this was their fourth victory decided by the same margin.
“Today is a prime example of why you have to play 21 hard outs. You have to finish the job. Wins and losses take care of themselves, but there is a formula for each. Finishing the game is a key component, and that has eluded us to this point,” Haug said. “[Our players] know they can play with anybody. We’ve played some of the best competition in the area close. This could be a momentum game.”
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
