St. A, Altamont Advance To NTC Tourney Title Game

Effingham St. Anthony and Altamont advanced to the championship game of the National Trail Conference Baseball Tournament with victories Wednesday.

St. Anthony, seeded third, traveled to Kinmundy to face second-seeded South Central.

The Bulldogs edged out to a 1-0 first inning lead on the Cougars. With one out, Logan Antrim singled, took second on a passed ball and stole third. He then came home on an throwing error.

South Central put two runners on base in the bottom of the first. Chase Dodson drew a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. With one out, Hunter Brandt singled and ended up stealing second. With runners at second and third, St. Anthony's Gavin Braunecker got tough and struck out the next two batters to end the threat.

The Bulldog's Eli Moore got on with a double in the second but was left on base.

In the third, everything St. Anthony did was right and everything South Central did wasn't. It started when Jack Hoene was hit by a pitch. Antrim and Kaden Fearday drew back-to-back walks. Hoene came home on an error. Davis Tingley hit a sacrifice fly to score a run. Aaron Webb drew a walk. Brody Niebrugge reached on an error and Moore drew a walk. Angelo Mendella doubled home a run. Hoene and Antrim drew walks, Fearday singled home two runs, Tingley singled home a run and when the dust had cleared, the Bulldogs led 11-0.

The Cougars could not get untracked, commiting two errors that inning, allowed six walks and gave up three hits. A rundown went astray and everyone was safe.

South Central finally tallied a run in the fourth. With one out, Ethan Watwood drew a walk and was doubled to third by Aiden Dodson. Watwood came home on an error. St. Anthony got out of the frame, leaving the bases loaded.

The Bulldogs tacked on three more runs in the fifth as Mendella was hit by a pitch and took second on a wild pitch. With one out, Antrim drew a walk. Tingley singled home a run and Webb drew a walk. Two errors later, the Bulldogs led 14-1.

As if that wasn't bad enough for the Cougars, Brandt led off the fifth with a single but the Bulldogs came up with a double play as Hayden Patten hit a grounder to second. The final out was a pop up to first and that ended the game via the 10-run rule.

St. Anthony finished with six hits led by Tingley with two singles and three RBI, Mendella with a double and an RBI and Moore with a double. The Bulldogs drew nine walks and the Cougars committed five errors.

It took eight innings before No. 4 Altamont handed top-seeded North Clay (Louisville) a 5-2 loss Wednesday.

The two teams went scoreless through five innings before Altamont moved ahead in the top of the sixth with two runs. But that didn't last long as the Cardinals came back in the bottom of the frame to knot the score at 2-2.

Both teams went through the seventh scoreless. Then Altamont tallied three runs in the top of the eighth for the win.

The Indians finished with six hits led by Jared Hammer with a single, double and an RBI, Brayden Stuemke with two singles and an RBI and Kaden Eirhart with a single and two RBI.

Tyler Robbins picked up the pitching win. Noah Teasley started the contest and threw a three-hitter with three walks and four strikeouts through six innings. Robbins came on in the seventh and finished out, allowing one hit, one walk and striking out one.

North Clay was led by Clifton Harmon with two singles.

St. Anthony and Altamont will meet for the championship Friday at Paul Smith Field in Effingham at 7 p.m. North Clay and South Central will square off for third place at 4 p.m. If the games are postponed by rain Friday, they will be played Saturday at 10 a.m. and noon. If it's still too wet Saturday, the games will be played Monday. Both games will be heard on KJ Country 102.3.

NTC Tournament

Game Six

Altamont                 000    002    03    --    5-6-2

North Clay               000    002    00    --    2-4-1

WP -- Robbins. LP -- Zimmerman.

Altamont -- Hammer, single, double, 1 RBI; Eirhart, single, 2 RBI; Robinson, single; Stuemke, single, double, 1 RBI

North Clay -- Harmon, 2 singles; Ballard, double; Bible, double

Game Seven

St. Anthony                 10(10)   03    --    14-6-1

South Central              00    0   10    --     1-3-5

WP -- Braunecker. LP -- C. Dodson.

St. Anthony -- Antrim, single; Fearday, single, 2 RBI; Tingley, 2 singles, 3 RBI; Moore, double; Mendella, double, 1 RBI

South Central -- Brandt, 2 singles; A. Dodson, double