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EDWARDSVILLE – Things weren't looking good for Edwardsville's baseball team when it came to the bottom of the seventh in their Southwestern Conference game against Granite City at Tom Pile Field Wednesday evening.
The Warriors had just put three runs up on the board to extend a 1-0 lead to 4-0.
Collin Elvers led off the inning by reaching base after he was hit by a Freddie Edwards pitch before Josh Ohl singled Elvers to second. Ben Basarich stepped up as a pinch-hitter and drew a walk from Edwards to load the bases before Blake Burris got Edwards to walk him to force in Elvers.
The Warriors then brought in Reide Wilson to pitch and got to a 1-1 count on Drake Westcott before a fastball came to Westcott.
Westcott made no mistake and drove the pitch over the fence in right-center for a walk-off grand slam home run to give EHS a 5-4 win over the Warriors to go to 4-1 on the year, 1-0 in the SWC; GCHS fell to 2-3 on the season, 0-1 in the league.
Warrior pitching, led by starter Brennan Haddix, kept the Tigers at bay most of the day, felt EHS coach Tim Funkhouser. “Their pitching did a good job against us and we didn't get the swings that we wanted on balls,” Funkhouser said. “Fortunately, we were able to hang around in the game long enough.
“We've got a lot of different things we need to get better at; we need to take better at-bats, but credit (Haddix) for disrupting us and for their guys making big hits. We got a big hit at the end, but we have a lot of things we need to get better at leading up to that.”
“I don't think we relaxed a little bit,” said Warrior coach Scott Smallie. “We were up 4-0 and they score five runs to beat us and we just needed three outs; it shows that when you put guys on base...”
Before that Tiger seventh, EHS had managed just one hit – a bunt single by Burris in the third. “Their offense woke up at the right time for them,” Smallie said. “They're winning at one time – and the only time, at the only time it matters. Westcott – that kid's going to (NCAA) Division I, he's a Division I baseball player and he hits it a long way.”
The Warriors took the lead in the top of the fourth when Mason Roehr led off with a walk, stole second and reached third when Bennett Smallie grounded to second before Cameron Hibbets delivered a sacrifice fly to left to bring in Roehr and give Granite a 1-0 lead. It stayed that way until the top of the seventh when the Warriors scored three times, helped by walks and a pair of errors that brought in Edwards, Haddix and Austin Bonvicino.
Then came the bottom of the seventh, capped off by Westcott's walkoff slam.
“With the way our lineup was, we knew that potential might come up there,” Funkhouser said. “It was big for those first guys to get on base; we had a few guys taking some pitches and with (Westcott), he ended up taking a strike, but he was clear to swing. Credit the guys that were in front of him and credit him for putting a swing on one.”
Westcott was 1-for-3 on the day with the homer, four RBIs and the run scored, while Burris was 1-for-3 with an RBI and run scored and Ohl 1-for-2 with a run scored; Edwards was 1-for-3 with a run scored for the Warriors, with Jonas Barnes 1-for-4 with two RBIs, Roehr 1-for-3 with a run scored and Hibbets 1-for-2 with an RBI.
The Tigers are scheduled to take on Collinsville at 4:30 p.m. today, Moline at 2 p.m. Friday in a game rescheduled from earlier in the week, both at Tom Pile Field, before meeting Parkway South on the road at 11 a.m. Saturday. Granite is scheduled to visit East St. Louis at 4:30 p.m. today at JJK Center before hosting Rock Falls at 4:30 p.m. Friday and Riverview Gardens at 11 a.m. Saturday, those games at Babe Champion Field.
