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EDWARDSVILLE – For Edwardsville High School's baseball team, it was surely a lights out performance – in more ways than one.
A power failure struck Tom Pile Field during the bottom of the sixth inning of the Tigers' game Thursday night against Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin, which delayed the game for 14 minutes. When the lights were restored, Edwardsville put the finishing touches on a 10-3 win over the Cyclones, a game in which the Tigers put together an 11-hit attack and scored in every inning.
“I thought our guys really played well,” said Edwardsville coach Tim Funkhouser. “Second game of the day (the Tigers had nipped Alton 3-2 in an earlier game), we hadn't been getting a lot of games on a consistent basis. I think this our third semi-doubleheader of back-to-back games.”
Starting pitcher Grant Schaefer shut down the Cyclones in recording the win. In his four innings of work, Schaefer scattered five hits and struck out four without walking a batter.
“Grant Schaefer was really good on the mound,” Funkhouser said. “He had good rhythm, had his fastball and his other pitches working out well, and was able to really command the zone. And we had some good, timely hits too.”
Edwardsville consistently put together quality at-bats at the plate, battling down to the last strike. Both Blake Burris and Drake Westcott reached base five times at the top of the lineup, while Reid Hendrickson and Cole Hampton got on base four times during the game. Every starter in the lineup reached at least once.
“We struggled the first game, where the pitcher gave us a hard time,” Funkhouser said. “And then, just the accumulation of at-bats, and feeling a little rhythm, and we got better pitches to hit, and we were able to square those up better. And then kind of stack runs. I was impressed we were able to just keep pushing runs across as the game went on, and didn't just sit on a 4-0 lead.”
The Tigers took an early lead in the opening frame, starting with Burris drawing a walk and Westcott stroking a single to deep right field. Burris kept running and slid home easily when the throw to the plate was wide, giving Edwardsville a 1-0 lead. Singles by Hendrickson and Hampton loaded the bases, but the Tigers could not score.
In the second inning, Edwardsville added on two more runs on RBI singles by Westcott and Hendrickson, then added another run in the third, all happening with two out. Joe Copeland and Jonathon Yancik drew walks, and Copeland scored on a Burris single. Two more runs came in in the fourth, again after two out. Walks to Hendrickson and Copeland brought in Collin Elvers, who doubled down the left field line to score both runners and extend the Tiger lead to 6-0.
Meanwhile, Schaefer pitched very well, keeping SHG batters at bay. The only trouble he faced was in the fourth when the Cyclones loaded the bases on hits by Will Elvers, Matt Brenneisen and Cole Taylor. Schaefer got out of the inning on a force out at the plate and a grounder to third.
The Tigers broke things open in their half of the fifth with three runs, starting with a RBI double over the center fielder's head by Westcott that drove home Burris, who had walked and stole second. A Hendrickson double brought in Westcott, and a bases loaded walk to Elvers brought in another run. The Cyclones got on the board in the top of the sixth when Matt Evans scored on a wild pitch, but the Tigers got the run back in the bottom of the frame. A Hendrickson bases loaded sacrifice fly to center scored Burris. The Tigers had the bases loaded with one out when the lights went out, and couldn't score after power was restored.
The Cyclones did push across two more run in the seventh, on a Evans RBI single that scored Sam Antonacci and a passed ball that scored Sean Dunbar, but could come no closer as the Tigers took the 10-3 win.
Edwardsville batters kept to the team's philosophy of putting together quality at-bats and battling with two strikes. It's been a Tiger trademark for many years, and it's one that's very effective as well.
“That's kind of a boring outlook, but that is the case,” Funkhouser said, “that you just want to take at-bats every day the best you can, and if you stack enough of them together, you usually score a lot of runs, and that leads to more wins. Boring approach, but it's tried and true.”
The chance to get on the field and get games in is a plus for the Tigers.
“We're just looking forward to getting in the rhythm,” Funkhouser said. “It was nice to get out there on the field and play with the nice weather. It was maybe 50 to start the day, or 55 to start the day. But to be out there, you could tell the guys were really excited about playing, and it'll be good to settle in and make adjustments you can do better out on a baseball field than in a gym.”
Brent Feeney also contributed to this story.
