EDWARDSVILLE - Hayden Moore climaxed a six-run second inning with a grand slam home run and Quinn Weber tossed a five-inning no-hitter, allowing only four base runners and striking out two as Edwardsville defeated Collinsville 12-0 in the semifinals of the IHSA Class 4A baseball regional Friday afternoon at Tom Pile Field.
The Tigers also scored one run in the third and five more in the fourth to take the win when the game was called because of the 10-run rule. It was another good performance for Edwardsville, who won their 27th consecutive game.
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"Yeah, I was really impressed with the way our guys had approached at the plate," said Tigers' head coach Tim Funkhouser, "our hitters. And Hayden Moore started off with that big bang in that ball to center field. It really put a charge with the bases loaded, put us up 6-0, and that was a big blow in the game. And then, I thought that Quinn Weber was good all game. I'm really impressed with him and the way he was able to handle the setting of the game, and the same thing with the rest of our team."
Weber pitched exceptionally well in the game, keeping the Kahoks off-balance by mixing his pitches and changing speeds well.
"He does a good job of using all his pitches," Funkhouser said, "changing his speeds, and he's got better each time out, and it was good to see him out there. I've seen him pitching in some other so-called big games or whatever, and he's handled it well. I thought he definitely passed the test."
Although the 27-game winning streak is nice, Funkhouser is very impressed with the way his players are concentrating on the job at hand.
"Yeah, I'm impressed with our guys, because they haven't really - I don't think they're talking about it," Funkhouser said, "because of jinxing it, or anything. They've handled it maturely, and I don't think it's anything where we're tightening up, because of a so-called streak, but the guys are enjoying playing together, enjoy playing the game well, and they did that today."
The Tiger players are also having fun playing the game as well and support each other very well.
"They really like seeing other guys on the team have success," Funkhouser said, "and they want to help contribute to that as well."
After going down in order in the opening inning, Edwardsville started its six-run second with one out, when Evan Funkhouser doubled, Riley Iffrig drew a walk, and consecutive singles by Caleb Copeland, Gannon Burns and Cade Hardy drove home two runs and loaded the bases for Moore, who took a pitch over the center-field fence for a grand slam to give the Tigers a 6-0 lead. In the third, Iffrig scored on a fielder's choice to second to make the score 7-0.
The Tigers added five more runs in the fourth on four walks and a base hit, with the biggest blow being a two-run single by Copeland to make it 12-0. Meanwhile, Weber allowed only four baserunners in the game, a lead-off walk to Rolondo Colon to start the game, Ryker Cain being hit by a pitch in the third, and walks to Chris Thilman and Kyle Moore as Weber struck out two and didn't allow a runner to get to second base as the Tigers won 12-0 to advance.
The Kahoks' season ended with a record of 9-21, while the Tigers are now 33-3 and move on to the regional final Monday afternoon at home against Belleville West, a 6-5 winner over Alton Friday afternoon. Funkhouser knows what to expect from the Maroons.
"We've got a Southwestern Conference opponent," Funkhouser said, "and we've seen both teams before, and we'll just be ready to prepare the next couple of days and be ready for the challenge on Monday."
As for what's ahead in the playoffs, Funkhouser is taking things one day and one game at a time.
"Well, we're hoping to get better tomorrow in practice," Funkhouser said with a laugh, "and the next day, and then for our game on Monday. So I'm not going to go ahead and just stay one pitch at a time like I tell our players."
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
