ALTON – After winning game one of the Saturday afternoon doubleheader against McCluer North High School 15-0, the Alton High baseball team (5-9) were fired up for game two.
Sophomore Alex Siatos pitched all three innings for the Redbirds and picked up seven strikeouts.
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Like game one, this contest was also stopped just three innings in after Alton put up another 15-0 victory over the Explorers. It was their second mercy-rule win of the day outscoring the opposition 30-0 on Saturday (April 16).
Because of the double-header Alton head coach Scott Harper put in some players that didn’t always get a lot of time.
One of those players, freshman Deon Harrington, had a breakout game. He got on base in the first inning and immediately stole second. He eventually put the first run on the board for the Redbirds. He ended the day with a single, two RBI’s and two runs.
Another freshman who had a good performance was Scott Bartow. He hit an RBI double and also had two runs in game two of the DH.
Junior Graham McAfoos was hit by a pitch during all three of his at bats. Every time he got on base, he was either batted or walked in, so he finished with three runs and a stolen base.
Alton scored four in the first, seven in the second and four more in the third to get to the mercy rule limit through three innings.
Regardless of how you look at it, it’s a huge morale boost for the Redbirds, and coach Harper agrees.
“It’s nice to have a day like this. We’ve had a hard time ourselves offensively. Coming out with a couple wins is good for us,” Harper said postgame.
Coming off a couple losses against Belleville East last week, this was a nice breather for Alton before they get back into conference play.
They’ll do so this week on Tuesday and Thursday when they host the undefeated Edwardsville High School Tigers (14-0) in a home and away series.
Tuesday’s game will be at Alton and Thursday will be at Edwardsville’s Tom Pile Field. Both games start at 4:30 p.m.
It should be a good series between two Southwestern Conference rivals.
