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EDWARDSVILLE – One of the goals of the Edwardsville summer baseball program is to prepare the younger Tiger players for situations they may face during the high school season.
Edwardsville was faced with such a situation during a Saturday morning game against the St. Louis Prospects Black team in a group-play game of the Mid-America-Prep Baseball Report Missouri U-18 World Series tournament at EHS' Tom Pile Field.
The Prospects jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first, taking advantage of walks and a couple of Tiger miscues to build their lead, but the Tigers battled back and made a run at the Prospects before falling 6-5 to fall to 1-2 in the group. The Tigers later Saturday defeated the Natural 17 club 11-0 and will take on the St. Louis Prospects 17 Red team at 9 a.m. Sunday at the EHS junior varsity field to complete group play.
“Our guys showed great moxie in sticking with the process after that five-run first by the (Prospects),” said Tiger coach Craig Ohlau. “We climbed the hill; we just couldn't get over it in the last inning. Their shortstop made a nice play on (Chase) Goeckel's ball on the last hit – we're proud of how the boys stuck with it and battled back. We showed some great character.
"That's what we like to see, guys picking guys up, sticking with the process and making plays – it's a sign of how much our team has matured over the summer. We've been able to keep our heads and just understanding that games aren't won in one inning – you've got to play seven innings and battle each and every pitch, each and every inning.”
The Prospects got their first five runs in the top of the first, taking advantage of two EHS errors and some walks to get off to a big lead, but the Tigers chipped away, scoring two in the first thanks to an Aaron Young two-RBI single that brought in Joe Toscano and Ben Basarich to cut the lead to 5-2 through one inning.
The Prospects added on a run in the third to extend the lead to 6-2, but the Tigers scored twice more in the bottom of the third when Toscano scored on a fielder’s choice to cut the lead to 6-3 before a Zach Modrusic groundout scored Goeckel to make it 6-4 in favor of the Prospects through three innings. EHS scored once more in the fifth, Toscano scoring on an error, but the Tigers could get no closer.
