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Baseball can be a cruel game sometimes.
A team can have a ton of momentum, yet run into another team or a player who, on any particular day, is just a bit better.
Such was the case Wednesday afternoon at Alton's Gordon Moore Park/Lloyd Hopkins Field when Edwardsville took on O'Fallon in the IHSA Class 4A Bloomington Sectional semifinals.
The Tigers had squeezed out a win over the Panthers at Tom Pile Field in mid-April, then scored a decisive win against them in mid-May in both teams' Southwestern Conference finales.
But with everything on the line, O'Fallon's Chris Holba, who will be taking his talents to East Carolina in Greenville, N.C., next season, shut down Edwardsville, limiting the Tigers to four hits in a stunning 3-1 win to advance to Saturday's sectional final at Illinois Wesleyan University against Minooka, who downed Normal West 6-5 at IWU. O'Fallon took their record to 29-9 on the year, while Edwardsville was eliminated at 35-2.
Holba struck out seven and walked one and was helped by two huge sixth-inning catches by right fielder Bradley Harrison and center fielder Dillon Weiss that robbed EHS of potential extra-base hits.
“Chris' slider dominated them at times and he was able to pitch to both sides of the plate,” Panther coach Jason Portz said. “All credit to him; he got the job done and he deserved the win today.”
“We got some swings on (Holba), but they made some great catches out there,” said Tiger coach Tim Funkhouser. “Hats off to him and to them; he was outstanding out there today.
“We did have some good chances out there to score some runs, but they made the plays. That's baseball.”
For a time, it seemed this was going to be a tight dual similar to the Tigers' 2-1, 11-inning win at home in April. The Panthers put runners on base in the first, second and third innings off Tiger starter Jake Garella, but the EHS defense kept coming up with big double plays off hard-hit balls to keep the Panthers at bay. For his part, Holba was also coming up big, striking out the side in the first around a Kyle VanBevern error that allowed Aaron Jackson to reach base, then fanning three more Tigers to reach six strikeouts in the opening part of the game.
O'Fallon broke on top in the fourth when Jackson Penrod opened with a single and Camden Bauer doubled to put runners on second and third with no one out. VanBeveran walked to load up the bases and Penrod scored when shortstop Jordan Hovey fumbled the ball off a Weiss grounder. Nick Crabtree then hit into a fielder's choice to allow Bauer to score, but Snyder hit a screaming liner right into first baseman Bailey Zimmer's glove and Zimmer doubled Crabtree off first to end the inning.
O'Fallon scored again in the fifth when VanBeveran and Weiss singled with one out, then executed a double steal off Tiger reliever Chris Robinson. Crabtree then hit a fly ball to right, where Matt Zielonko made the catch and threw home trying to get VanBeveran, who was tagging up. The throw didn't get there in time and VanBeveran scored to make it 3-0 for the Panthers, and the way Holba was pitching, it looked as though the lead was going to stand up.
Edwardsville made a move in the sixth when Collin Clayton hit a screaming line that looked as though it was going to find the gap, but Harrison, charging hard, dove to his left and snared the ball. Then, with Zielonko on after being hit by a pitch with two out, Garella stepped up and gave the ball a ride, but Weiss somehow came up with a big catch to end the threat and the inning.
With the Tigers down to their last chance, Fahd Shakeel and Zimmer opened with singles to put runners at first and second. Krebs then hit a grounder that Connor Breyer got and tossed to Bauer to force Zimmer at second, and then Holba seemingly picked Krebs off at first. The Tiger bench, fans and Funkhouser, though, disputed the decision.
“We really didn't want to be in the situation that we were in in the first place,” Funkhouser said, “but the umpires do a great job. We just had a disagreement and it happens.”
The Tigers still had life when Breyer fumbled a ground ball from Joe Wallace, allowing Shakeel to score, bringing up Hovey. He got a pitch he liked off Holba and gave it a ride, but it fell short of the fence and Weiss was able to catch it for the final out.
Despite the loss, Funkhouser looked at the big picture and had much to praise his team about.
“We competed every day and competed well,” Funkhouser said. “We met the expectations we had for them every day and I couldn't be more prouder of the kids.”
