EDWARDSVILLE – The Metro East Bears needed someone to step in and rescue an American Legion baseball season that was on the ropes going into their Illinois District 22 playoff elimination game against Belleville Friday night.
Devin Colley was the player who rose his hand and came up big just when the Bears needed it.
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Colley, he of a pitching style that reminds viewers of that of relievers of before like Kent Tekulve or Dan Quisenberry, came in to pitch for Maverick McSpain with one out in the top of the second against Belleville and went the rest of the way, giving up just one hit – a fourth-inning double to Logan Betz – and allowed just four baserunners in 7.2 innings as the Bears defeated the Hilgards 6-3 to advance to the district championship at Highland at 1 p.m. Saturday; should the Bears win that game, a second game would follow, with the winner advancing to the Illinois Fifth Division tournament in West Frankfort beginning Monday.
“I haven't pitched more than four innings since high school ball,” Colley – who pitched for Alton – said. “It just felt pretty good; I tried to get ahead in the strike zone. I knew I hadn't thrown hard enough to keep advancing to the next level, so this winter, I decided to drop to the low slot and see if it would change things up.”
Colley usually comes into a game for a specific situation – halt an opposing team's rally – and Bears manager Ken Schaake didn't hesitate to use him when the Hilgards had managed to forge a 3-3 tie in the top of the second after they had gotten three runs off McSparin. “We normally bring him in to stop any kind of a rally,” Schaake said. “Unfortunately, we had to bring him in a little bit early tonight. I wasn't expecting him to go the whole distance, but he seemed to be in pretty good control and throwing strong as the innings went on.
“The ball was staying down; usually, when he has issues, the ball starts rising up. He made a bad pitch Betz and he smashed the ball legitimately over (Jake) Garella's head...but he did a good job; he made them put the ball in play.”
“I bet that's the longest (Colley has) thrown all season,” said Hilgards manager Jonathon Schweppe. “We couldn't hit him; our kids couldn't hit him. They said his hand was blending in with the (infield) dirt, so with him coming from that angle, they said it was so tough to pick up the ball. He did a fantastic job.
“He came in and did what any coach would want a reliever to do. He did a great job.”
The Hilgards jumped on top in the first when Matthew Sisk and Steven Toenjes opened by getting a pair of bloop singles off McSparin to begin the game before Betz walked to load the bases, and Sisk came in when Wyatt Parker was hit by a McSparin offering. Tai Kerizian then singled in Betz after Toenjes had been thrown out trying to steal home; the bases became loaded again before McSparin got out of the inning.
The Bears countered with a three-run first thanks to a Collin Clayton one-out double and a series of errors by the Hilgards that allowed Clayton, Drake Hampton and Tyler Stamer to score. Two second-inning walks and an error allowed Belleville's Buddy Gore to tie the game before Colley came in with one out in the frame and, after giving up a walk to Kerizian with two out, shut down the Hilgards.
The Bears got back on top in the fourth when Steven Patten led off with a single and Mitchell Krebs was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second; Cole Cimarolli then blasted a two-RBI double to bring him Patten and Krebs to put the Bears ahead 5-3, and with Colley shutting down the Hilgards effectively, that was all they really needed. The Bears got another run in the sixth when Krebs and Cimarolli walked before Clayton struck out. Hilgard catcher Jack Ysursa couldn't handle the pitch and Clayton reached first when Ysursa threw high. The throw allowed Krebs to score, but Cimarolli was thrown out at the plate trying to score. Clayton managed to get to third, but the Bears couldn't bring him in.
Cimarolli was 2-for-5 on the night with a double and two RBIs, with Clayton going 1-for-4 with a double, Cole Hansel 1-for-3, Patten 1-for-4 and Krebs 1-for-3. Colley got the win, giving up just the double to Betz and striking out four. Betz was 1-for-3 with the double while Sisk, Kerizian and Toenjes each had hits for the Hilgards; Parker and Kerizian had RBIs. Keen went the distance but took the loss, giving up three earned runs on six hits while fanning five.
