EDWARDSVILLE – One last tuneup for a big event isn't the worst idea in the world.
The Metro East Bears would certainly agree with that as the Bears got ready for this week's Illinois District 22 American Legion baseball playoffs with an 8-1 win over Lemay, Mo., at Edwardsville's Hoppe Park Sunday night in the team's regular-season finale.
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The win put the second-seeded Bears at 15-4 on the season going into their District 22 playoff opener against Belleville; they'll take on the Hilgards at 7 p.m. Tuesday at SIU-Edwardsville's Roy Lee Field, with the winner advancing to play top-seeded Highland at Glik Park at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Lemay's senior team had played in a doubleheader earlier in the day and sent their junior team to take on the Bears. “I made it clear to their coach that we were a senior team and he said 'we'll give you a run for your money',” said Bears manager Ken Schaake. “Their first pitcher did pretty well; by the same token, our pitchers did a real good job. They kept the ball down.”
Bears pitching – Storm Coffman, Jordan Yenne and Drake Hampton – combined to toss a two-hitter and gave up just one run in the fourth to Lemay, while the bottom of the Metro East lineup did most of the damage, Cole Hansel going 1-for-1, Jacob Kanallakan 2-for-3, Mitchell Krebs 3-for-3 with a RBI and Tate Wargo 1-for-2; Hansel, Kanallakan and Krebs each scoring twice on the night.
“Drake did a real good job for us (pitching) last year,” Schaake said. “We started him a couple of times but used him in relief as the tournaments went on, and he did a fine job for us. Yenne is a guy we can use two or three innings at a time; he's got the breaking pitches and when he gets a little more consistent getting those over, the fastball looks a lot better.”
The Bears broke out on top with a pair of runs in the second inning, starting when Steven Patten drew a one-out walk and advanced on a Hansel single; both runners moved up on a wild pitch and Patten scored on a grounder to second by Kanallakan. Krebs then singled in Hansel for a second run. A single and a pair of errors in the top of the fourth enabled Lemay to cut the lead to 2-1, but the Bears bounced back with a four-run fourth to take command; Tyler Stamer opened it with a leadoff homer to the left-field corner to restore the two-run lead, but a walk to Hansel with two out began to open the floodgates.
Kanallakan singled and a wild pitch and series of errors allowed Hansel, Kanallakan and Krebs to score to increase the lead to 6-1. Kanallakan and Krebs scored the Bears' final two runs in the sixth and Hampton struck out the side in the seventh to close out the game.
Following Tuesday and Wednesday's games, the Tuesday and Wednesday losers will meet in an elimination game Thursday at the higher seed, with Thursday's winner taking on Wednesday's winner Friday night for the District 22 title at Wednesday's winner; if a second game is needed, it will be played Saturday.
