Wooden Shoes Head Back to State

Teutopolis High School heads back to the Class 2A State Baseball Tournament this weekend.

SAUGET -- Teutopolis High School is heading back to the Class 2A State Baseball Tournament to defend its championship after winning the 2A Sauget Super-Sectional at GCS Park Monday.

The Wooden Shoes downed Benton 8-5 behind a 12-hit attack.

T-town struck in the bottom of the first inning after Cody Jansen put the Rangers down in order. With one out, Lee Hardiek singled and Jansen followed with a home run and the Shoes moved ahead 2-0. Eric Kremer doubled but was left stranded.

Kremer, who suffered an injury while pitching at the sectional championship game at Flora, will undergo an MRI today. Although he can't pitch, Kremer was a valuable asset as the designated hitter.

The Shoes moved their lead to 4-0 in the third on another single by Hardiek who stole second and came home on a second double by Kremer. Jansen reached on an error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Drew Thoele. The Rangers ended the inning on a double play.

Benton scored in the top of the fourth on an error, a passed ball and a double by Brett Bonenberger.

But the Shoes came right back in the bottom of the frame with two more runs. Mitch Hemmen led off with a single. Jackson Goeckner doubled Hemmen home. With two outs, Jansen produced a single and Goeckner scored. Thoele was hit by a pitch to load the bases but Benton got out of the inning without further damage.

T-town moved its lead to 7-1 in the fifth. With two outs, Collin Funneman reached base on an error and took second on an error. He came home on Goeckner's second double of the game.

Then in the sixth, Hardiek reached on a walk, moved to second on a single by Jansen and took third on a balk. He was sacrificed home on a fly ball by Kremer.

Then things got a little rocky in the seventh. With one out, Ian McMahon doubled and Kael Pearce drew a walk. Tyler Butler was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Gehrig Wynn doubled home two runs and Hamilton Page drove in a run. Reliever Ethyn Dust got the last two outs to end the threat.

The Shoes had firepower up and down the lineup with Goeckner and Kremer with two doubles each. Goeckner had two RBI. Jansen had two singles a home run and two RBI. Hardiek and Hemmen finished with two singles each.

Jansen pitched a stellar game, going 6.1 inings, allwoing four runs on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

Benton ended the season with a 26-12 record while T-town advances to the State Tournament with a 29-6 mark.

The Shoes will face Herscher who edged Elmhurst Timothy Christian, 1-0. Other members of the State Tournament field are Spring Valley Hall who blanked Brimfield Co-op 12-0 and Tuscola who edged Pleasant Plains, 2-1.

T-town will face Herscher at 3 p.m. Friday while Tuscola takes on Spring Valley Hall at 5 p.m. The winners advance to the championship game Saturday at 5 p.m. while the losers will square off for third place at 3.

Class 2A Sauget Super-Sectional

Benton                  000    100    4    --    5- 6-3

Teutopolis            202    211    x    --    8-12-2

WP -- Jansen. LP -- Avery.

Benton -- Wynn, 2 singles, double, 2 RBI; Page, single, 1 RBI; Bonenberger, double, 1 RBI; McMahon, double

Teutopolis -- Goeckner, 2 doubles, 2 RBI; Hardiek, 2 singles; Jansen, 2 singles, home run (first, one on), 2 RBI; Kremer, 2 doubles, 2 RBI; Funneman, single; Hemmen, 2 singles