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ALTON - Adam Stilts pitched another gem in the first game, striking out 13 Highland batters while allowing only one run and two hits. But Alton Post 126's American Legion baseball team had only five hits combined in the two games as the Legionnaires split a doubleheader with Highland, winning the first game 2-1, but dropping the nightcap 10-1 on Monday night at Lloyd Hopkins Field at Gordon Moore Park.
Alton won the opener on a passed ball after Luke Parmentier, pinch hitting, struck out and reached first base in the bottom of the seventh, but Highland scored four runs in the first inning of the second game and never looked back to gain the split.
"No it's not, not at all," said Alton manager Doug Booten about the split. "Adam, what a performance again. He's like that every time he's on the mound, he's a heck of a competitor. Great, great performance on his birthday. But again, we just couldn't hit the ball in the first game, and it felt like we stole the first game from them. But we'll take it. Second game, didn't fare as well. (Bryce Higginbotham, the second game starter) didn't have his stuff, umpire might have been squeezing him a little bit, he failed to make some pitches and left some over. It showed, but he came back in the second inning, in the third and beared down and was able to keep us in the game. But we just couldn't string any hits together. Just a tough night; we had five hits in two games. It's a tough night to play."
Back-to-back rainouts last week, that cancelled doubleheaders against both Manchester, Mo., and Maryland Heights, Mo., may still be affecting the team, plus the schedule may also starting to become a factor as well.
"You know, yeah, it might," Booten said, "and our schedule isn't like a typical schedule. We have a lot of days off, but you would think, yeah, we basically played a game yesterday (a rain-shortened 0-0 draw against Troy) that went six innings, got rained on. A lot of at-bats in the second game here tonight that we should have turned something around. I don't know what it was, but we've got to figure out a way to change it."
The team is still battling every night, and Booten agrees that it's very much a pleasure to see his players compete with everything that's happened around the area and across the country in the past few months.
"Yeah, I mean, it's fun," Booten said. "Who would have thought we'd been at Lloyd Hopkins Field on July the 6th, with everything that's went on. We're all happy to be here, but it's funner when you win."
In the first game, both pitchers dominated the opening three innings, as Stilts retired the first nine batter he faced, while Highland pitcher Tyler Werner faced the minimum, allowing Trenton Segarra to reach on an error leading off the second inning, but was caught stealing on a nice throw by catcher John Walker. In all, Stilts retired the first 11 batters, fanning four.
With two out in the top of the fourth, Werner doubled over the left fielder's head to the fence for the game's first hit, and Blake Wilson hit a sharp grounder to third and beat out the throw, which got away from the first baseman, allowing Werner to score the game's first run on the error.
The Legionnaires got the run back in the bottom of the inning, staring with a lead-off single by Blaine Lancaster, who took second on an error by the right fielder on the play, was sacrificed to third by Ryne Hanslow on a perfectly executed bunt, and came in on Gage Booten's sacrifice fly to right, scoring Lancaster when he beat the throw to the plate. Cullen McBride then singled, but the inning ended on a ground out to keep the scored tied 1-1.
The Legionnaires had chances to take the lead in the fifth, when the first two batters reached, but Werner struck out the side, and again in the sixth, starting when Lancaster was hit by a pitch and Hansford drew a walk. Both were sacrificed to second by Booten, and McBride was intentionally walked to load the bases. Segarra fouled out to the catcher and Stilts struck out to end the inning, keeping it 1-1.
Meanwhile, Stilts kept dealing, retiring nine of the last 10 batters he faced, allowing only a seventh inning single by Werner with one out, where he stole second. But a pair of strikeouts ended the inning. In all, after allowing the fourth inning run, Stilts struck out seven batters, fanning the side in the sixth and seventh.
The game winning rally in the bottom of the seventh started with a Ted Webb single, but he was forced at second on a Kenny Beachum grounder to second. But the relay throw to first got away, allowing Beachum to take second. Nick Rayfield, hitting for Higginbotham, was hit by a pitch, and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Parmentier, hitting for Caden Shearlock, swung and missed on strike three, but the ball got away from the catcher. allowing him to reach first and scoring Beachum with the winning run as Alton took the first game 2-1.
Highland stormed out to a quick lead to start the nightcap, scoring four times on six hits in the first inning. It started with Landyn Oestringer doubling to left-center, and sacrificed to third by Jack Korte. One out later, Chase Wilson singled home Oestringer with the first run, when he then stole second and went to third on a Bryce Iborg single. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, with Wilson scoring, with a Carter Wiegman triple bringing in Iborg, and a Logan Poil double scored Wiegman to make it 4-0. Kolby Frey singled to put runners on the corners, but J.D. Barnes popped out to short to end the inning.
The Legionnaires had an opportunity to cut into the lead in their half of the first, starting with a McBride single to shallow center that the center fielder made a great effort to make the catch, but just came up short, and back-to-back walks to Segarra and Preston Schepers. Owen Macias fouled to the third baseman to end the inning.
Higginbotham came back strong in the second and third innings, only allowing a walk and stolen base to Korte in the second, and in the third, Wiegman reached on an error and Poil walked, but Frey grounded to third, where Hanslow made a great play to force Wiegman and end the inning. In the bottom of the third, Caleb Noble led off with a walk, went to second on a wild pitch, McBride singled him to third, and a walk to Segarra loaded the bases. A grounder hit to third by Schepers was fumbled by the third baseman for an error, allowing Noble to score and make it 4-1, but Macias grounded to the second baseman, where the pitcher made a nice hustling play to get the throw and the out, ending the inning.
Werner led off the Highland fifth with a base hit, and was promptly tripled home by Wilson to make it 5-1. Shearlock came in to pitch for the Legionnaires, and on an attempted pick-off throw to third, the catcher's throw hit off the bat of Iborg, allowing Wilson to score the sixth run. Undaunted, Shearlock pitched out of the inning, allowing only a hit and a walk to keep the score 6-1.
Alton had a chance in the fifth to cut into the lead, starting with a walk and stolen base by Noble, but a hard-hit ball by Hanslow found the glove of the left fielder, who doubled off Noble at second to end the inning.
Highland took advantage of the great defensive play in the sixth, scoring four more runs to up its lead. It started with a lead-off walk to Tyler Robards and a single by Oestringer. After Korte struck out, Werner walked to load the bases, and an infield single by Wilson scored Robards to make it 7-1. Iborg struck out, but Wiegman delivered the big blow, a two-run single to right center to score Werner and Wilson. Poil walked, and Frey also walked to force home another run, but Barnes grounded back to the box to end the inning, making the final 10-1.
The Legionnaires have Tuesday off, then travel to Jerseyville for another doubleheader on Wednesday before playing a pair of games in Washington, Mo. on Sunday, then back-to-back home games next Monday and Tuesday against Belleville and Troy. Booten is looking forward to the games and hopes his club gets back on a roll.
"Yeah, we have to," Booten said. "We've got tomorrow off, go to Jerseyville on Wednesday, seniors will have Thursday, Friday and Saturday off, again, the schedule. And then, we'll be in Washington, Mo. Sunday for two games, one against them and one against Hannibal."
The Legionnaires have played against both Washington and Hannibal earlier in the season, and Booten is looking ahead to those games as well.
"They're good teams down there," Booten said. "Good competition for us, so we're gonna have to show up down there, not only on the mound, but behind the plate, too."
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
