The last time it happened in 1998, the team that pulled it off went on to go unbeaten and win a state championship.
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That team was Edwardsville. “It” was a perfect record in the Southwestern Conference. And the Tigers wound up going 40-0 and winning the IHSA Class AA title.
Certainly nothing is for sure, but the Tigers managed to pull off another unbeaten SWC season Tuesday afternoon at Tom Pile Field, getting five runs in the fourth to break a 4-4 tie to knock off Collinsville 9-4. The win put the Tigers' record at 30-1 for the season overall and enabled them to go a perfect 14-0 in the league.
“That is a big accomplishment,” said Tiger coach Tim Funkhouser of the feat. “It says a lot about the conference and the good teams and players in it when you can do something like this.”
The win didn't necessarily come easily; the Kahoks took an early lead and bounced back from 4-1 down to tie the game through three-and-a-half innings before the Tigers scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth to take control of the game. From there, EHS pitching shut down any thoughts the Kahoks had of ruining the Tigers’ dreams of league perfection.
“That’s something we’ve done all year,” Funkhouser said. “We got some good swings and made some adjustments; our bat control was pretty good and we got some good hits.”
Those hits gave the Tigers some good momentum, and Kahok coach Pete Trapp understood it. “Baseball’s a game of momentum,” Trapp said. “Give them credit; they know how to do the things you need to do to create some momentum.
“We battled them and found ways to score off them. We just need to be more consistent on how we do things.”
Collinsville got on top early and did it without a hit; Mitch Reising opened the game with a walk, stole second and went to third on a Jake Garella wild pitch before scoring on a Dylan McEwen grounder to short. The Tigers countered with a pair of runs in the first and second, two runs coming in on a Aaron Jackson single to score Jordan Hovey and on a Matt Zielonko triple that scored Jackson in the first, and two more in the second when Collin Clayton singled in Mitchell Krebs and Hovey.
The Kahoks rallied in the third when Reising walked with one out and came home when McEwen doubled to cut the lead to 4-2, then tied it in the fourth when Jordan Reichert scored on an error and Cole Young singled home Ryan Hoffman. But the Tigers bounced back in their half of the fourth when Krebs opened with a single and Hovey walked to put two on. With one out, both came home on an Aaron Jackson double.
Zielonko then walked and Garella stroked a single to bring home Jackson. With two out, Bailey Zimmer then singled in two more runs to put Edwardsville up 9-4, and from there Chris Robinson, Tyler Hosto and Ty Zeller shut down the Kahoks.
The win put Edwardsville at 30-1 overall for the year; the Kahoks fell to 15-14 overall and finished 6-8 in the league. Edwardsville travels to Highland for a game Wednesday evening, then goes to Chatham-Glenwood Thursday before taking on Triad at 7 p.m. Friday for their Senior Night. The Tigers finish the regular season at Waterloo Memorial Day.
