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News (23)

Haug reflects on ‘incredibly mature’ Redbirds - The Telegraph - 6/1/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

PREP BASEBALL: Haug reflects on ‘incredibly mature’ Redbirds

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By Louie Korac - For The Telegraph

 

Alton’s Rob Taul, left, waits for the ball as O’Fallon’s Hayden Schaefer attempts a stolen base in Saturday’s Class 4A regional championship. Taul tagged out Schaefer, but O’Fallon won the game 2-1. 
Billy Hurst | For The Telegraph
Alton’s Derrick Allen reacts after the final out of Saturday’s Class 4A 2-1 regional championship game loss to O’Fallon. 
Billy Hurst | For The Telegraph

GODFREY — There were hugs and tears, laughs and cries. But through it all, Alton coach Todd Haug kept things in perspective when describing his 2016 Alton Redbirds baseball team, including 14 seniors.

“They’re one of the winningest classes in Redbird history right there with last year’s class,” Haug said of the 2016 class that won a total of 103 games in their prep careers and a regional title. “They’re incredibly mature, a close-knit group which has been a part of some very big games. The really neat thing about them is if you go and down the line, what is the real purpose of high school baseball? Well, it’s to be a solid steppingstone, maybe get them onto college, maybe get them to play and get them a little bit of money for them to get an education.

“If you go up and down the lineup, two pharmacists, four accountants, one of them (Nick Cauley) that’s going to Northwestern, one of the best schools in the country. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do yet, but these are guys that are going to continue to do great things. They’re going to be great men. Just tip your cap to them. They’re on the path to greatness.”

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Those seniors may be on the path to greatness in the future, but in the heat of the moment Saturday in a 2-1 loss to the O’Fallon Panthers and ace lefty Bradley Harrison, the sting of defeat resonated in center field afterwards at the new Alton High School ball diamond.

The Redbirds, who finished 23-13, were down to their final three outs and trailing 2-0 to Harrison and his minuscule 0.34 earned-run average in the seventh inning.

They wouldn’t roll over and play dead for the Panthers (32-5).

The Redbirds rallied and had Harrison (12-0) on the ropes, scoring one and having the tying tun at third and go-ahead run at first with one out.

A double play, on a fly ball to shallow left and subsequent throw to the plate to get pinch-runner Matt McDonald ended the game and halting Alton’s rally just short.

It was the kind of ending that epitomized this group’s efforts throughout the season. No matter what the circumstances, the Redbirds played for 21 outs.

The inning started with a nice 10-pitch at-bat by freshman Rob Taul, one in which he worked a leadoff walk. After Aaron Bonnell’s single up the middle on a 1-1 pitch, the ultimate sacrifice came from Jacob Kanallakan, who bunted the runners to second and third instead of hacking away as the potential go-ahead run and biggest source of power on the team.

“It had been 20 innings since we got a guy to third base (off Harrison in three starts),” Haug said. “So with (nobody) out, we absolutely needed to move him over. (Kanallakan) is the type of guy that he knew what he had to do. That’s what this ballclub was like. That’s what it means to have the birds on the bat. You have to be able to be selfless. It doesn’t matter where you are in the lineup. You give yourself up for the team. The team is more important than individual stuff. It was not an issue. He laid down an outstanding bunt.

“It would be different if there was runner on first base and we only had one runner on, but the opportunity to put two in scoring position with one out, it’s a no-brainer.”

Steven Pattan lined a single to center to plate Taul, but McDonald, who was pinch-running for Bonnell, had to be held at third.

Seth Boschert was able to fight off an 0-2 pitch to short left field, where Hayden Schaefer made the catch and fired a strike, albeit a bit high, but close enough where catcher Chase Hackstadt doubled up McDonald to end the game.

The senior class includes Derrick Allen, Sam Ballard, who gave up what turned into the game-winning run on Harrison’s solo home run in the fifth, Bonnell, Boschert, Cauley, Devin Colley, Max Hunter, Kanallakan, McDonald, Noah Rathgeb, Jacob St. Peters, Marcus Schomburg, Jon Witt and Jacob Bozovich.

“We talked as a group, no matter what, we’re going to go down with our boots on and in this case, we would rather that than leave the guy standing at third base,” Haug, who completed his eighth season, said. “We have an outstanding group of very mature seniors. They’re going to go do things far greater than this game after this. They’re on a path to greatness and I felt very fortunate to be a steppingstone, a stopping point on their way of their journey.”

Reach Louie Korac at telegraphsports@hotmail.com

O'Fallon holds off Redbirds 2-1 in Baseball Regional Championship 2-1 - The Telegraph - 5/28/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

PREP BASEBALL: O’Fallon holds off Alton, 2-1

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By Louie Korac - For The Telegraph

 

Alton’s Matt McDonald (left) is tagged out at the plate by O’Fallon catcher Chase Hackstadt for the final out of Saturday’s Alton Class 4A Regional championship game. McDonald was thrown out after tagging from third on a flyball to left field and O’Fallon won 2-1. 
Billy Hurst / For The Telegraph

GODFREY — Going against one of the top pitchers in the Metro East area, Todd Haug had no choice but to send the runner even though the fly ball the Alton Redbirds wanted was shallow.

The Redbirds had just battled back against O’Fallon ace Bradley Harrison, who carried a two-run lead into the seventh inning three outs away from a regional championship until Alton battled back and infused drama into a sun-splashed field and ignited a Redbird crowd.

It wasn’t meant to be for a dramatic comeback, as Panthers left fielder Hayden Schaefer gunned down pinch-runner Matt McDonald at the plate after a flyout to end the game in O’Fallon’s dramatic 2-1 victory against the Redbirds Saturday afternoon in the Alton Class 4A Regional championship game at Alton High School.

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The Redbirds (23-13) worked a run off the unflappable Harrison on a run-scoring single by Steven Pattan and had runners on first and third with one out and the left-handed Seth Boschert at the plate against the left-handed Harrison, a SIU Carbondale recruit.

Harrison worked the count to 0-2 on Boschert, who was 0-for-2 with two strikeouts. But the Alton designated hitter fought off a high delivery and lofted a fly ball towards shallow left. Instead of taking the play for granted that Alton would not send the runner, Schaefer delivered a strike that catcher Chase Hackstadt had to come down with a high throw and get McDonald trying to slide around the tag to end the game and send O’Fallon (32-5) on to the Bloomington (Illinois Wesleyan) Sectional on Wednesday against surprising Belleville West, upset Edwardsville 8-4 on Saturday to win its own regional.

“We practice it in practice, do-or-die,” Schaefer said. “I knew with it being the last out of the game that they’re definitely going to try and push it because off Brad Harrison, let’s be honest, you don’t score that many (runs). They went for it and luckily I got the throw to get it down.”

O’Fallon coach Jason Portz also called it a do-or-die situation and credited his pitcher and left fielder for executing when needed.

“Credit Bradley for competing like heck and credit Hayden Schaefer for doing an outstanding job in left field of doing what he’s asked to do in practice a million times,” Portz said. “Catch the ball, work through it and throw a dart in a do-or-die situation. Some credit has to go to our catcher there, too, because he’s got to catch that ball, he’s got to make the tag and what a great team win for our guys.

“You know they’re going to hang around any time you play a team that you’re so familiar with on a third occasion. In the game of baseball, you just don’t know what’s going to happen. … Any time you’re in a tight ballgame in the postseason, anything can happen. They were able to flip some balls out there and they took some really good at-bats late and put themselves in a position to score.”

McDonald, who was pinch-running for Aaron Bonnell after the Alton catcher singled after Rob Taul’s leadoff walk to start the seventh, came in with 26 stolen bases on the team and is arguably the fastest runner on the team. It was the first time in 20-plus innings that the Redbirds had even advanced a runner to third base against Harrison. That’s how dominant the lefty has been against the Redbirds.

“I wouldn’t change a thing,” Haug said. “The only thing I’ve asked of them all year is you buckle up your chin strap, you lace up your boots and you go to work and if you absolutely gave everything you had and you left it on the field, then we can walk away with our heads held high. I don’t know what more this group could have done. We went toe-to-toe with an outstanding team. I think that this shows that we’re an outstanding ballclub as well.

“… It had been 20 innings since we got a guy to third base on (Harrison). Part of the process of giving it yout all is not second-guessing yourself, trusting that what you do all year … the recipe of a good ballclub is you do not change what you do to fit somebody else. You do what you do and trust you do it well enough and every single ballgame we would have played this year, we’d send (McDonald) in that situation.”

O’Fallon seemed well on its way to a win after spotting Harrison with two runs, which can seem like it’s multiplied by five when he’s on the mound considering his miniature 0.34 earned-run average would attest.

Jared Dalonzo lined a RBI single to right in the third off Alton starter Jacob St. Peters (7-4) and Harrison helped his own cause with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth off reliever Sam Ballard, a lefty brought in to face the left-handed hitting Harrison after Devin Colley relieved St. Peters in the third.

But Alton would not go away quietly after putting the first two runners on against Harrison. Jacob Kanallakan, the one bat in the Alton lineup that could put the Redbirds ahead with one swing of the bat, was asked to bunt the runners into scoring position and did so before Pattan lined a first-pitch single into center against a shallow O’Fallon outfield that prevented two runs from scoring.

Harrison (12-0) had to buckle down and did.

“I just had to make a pitch,” he said. “Postseason baseball’s all about making pitches, getting hits. I thought I made a decent pitch. The kid made a decent swing on it and Hayden Schaefer made a heck of a play. He saved the game. It was an unbelievable play.”

Haug got what he wanted at the very least there, a fly ball. It just wasn’t deep enough to keep the Alton hopes alive.

“What does a coach ask of a player at that point,” Haug said. “‘Hey, let’s get the ball into the outfield.’ Why is that a crucial situation? Because the fastest guy on the field is at third base with one out. It was not a deep ball and it was really close. And quite honestly when the ball was thrown, I thought it was high. It looked high. They have to make a perfect play. Otherwise we are tied.

“We talked as a group that no matter what, we’re going to go down with our boots on and in this case, we would rather (have) that than leave the guy standing at third base.”

O’FALLON 2, ALTON 1

Alton 000 000 1 — 1 4 1

O’Fallon 001 010 x — 2 7 0

Alton (23-13) — Bonnell 2-3, Pattan 2-3 RBI. LP-St. Peters (7-4) IP-2 2/3 H-3 R-1 ER-1 BB-0 K-1.

O’Fallon (32-5) — Weiss 1-3, Dalonzo 1-3 RBI, Snyder 1-3, Harrison 1-2 HR RBI, Schaefer 2-3, Hackstadt 1-2. WP-Harrison (12-0) IP-7 H-4 R-1 ER-1 BB-2 K-8.

Reach Louie Korac at telegraphsports@hotmail.com

 

O'Fallon shades Redbirds 2-1 in Regional Championship - AdVantage News - 5/28/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

BASEBALL: Panthers shade Redbirds for regional title, 2-1

by  

GODFREY — Alton coach Todd Haug said the O’Fallon Panthers needed a stroke of perfection to beat the Redbirds on Saturday afternoon.

The Panthers got the required play at the right time in the championship game of the Class 4A Alton Regional.

They can thank left fielder Hayden Schaefer for it. He threw out Alton pinch-runner Matt McDonald at the plate to complete a game-ending double play and preserve O’Fallon’s 2-1 victory.

The 32-5 Panthers, defeating the Redbirds for the third time this season, advanced to the semifinals of the Illinois Wesleyan Sectional. They meet Belleville West on Thursday at Edwardsville's Tom Pile Field at a time yet to be determined. The Redbirds closed the season at 23-13.

“It was an outstanding game,” O’Fallon coach Jason Portz said. “I can’t be prouder of our guys and how they competed.”

Neither could Haug. He said they battled O’Fallon, the Southwestern Conference champion, to the wire.

“This group gave everything they had,” he said of the Redbirds. “It’s an outstanding group and one that is on the path to greatness.”

The Birds thought they might be on the path to a sectional semifinal during an eventful seventh inning. They finally scored a run against O’Fallon ace Bradley Harrison, who improved to 12-0 with a 4-hitter.

Steven Pattan provided a one-out RBI single and broke Harrison’s scoreless streak of 20.1 innings against the Redbirds this season. They had runners on first and third with one out and threatened to tie the game or take the lead.

Left-handed hitter Scott Boschert battled Harrison before he hit a fly ball to shallow left field and near the foul line. Haug, coaching third base, sent the pinch runner McDonald home.

That’s when Scahefer rose to the occasion. He fired a strike to O’Fallon catcher Chase Hackstadt and he tagged out McDonald to end the game.

“I wouldn’t change a thing,” Haug said of the frenzied finish. “McDonald is the fastest guy on the field, so they (Panthers) have to make the perfect play or the game is tied.

“You do what you do and trust you do it well enough. In every single game that we played this season, we would have sent him in that situation.”

Portz expected the Redbirds to go for it.

“When you are the visiting team and trailing, you have to gamble,” he said. “So it didn’t surprise me when they sent him. Hayden (Schaefer) did what he was asked to do in practice. It’s a credit to him and our catcher because it’s not a guaranteed throw and out in that situation.”’

Schaefer, who went 2-for-3, said: “We practice that play a lot and I knew they (Redbirds) were going to try and push it. So it’s definitely my biggest thrill in baseball.”

Aaron Bonnell went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles to pace the Redbirds. His second one came after Robbie Taul walked to lead off the seventh. Jacob Kanallakan bunted along the runners and Pattan singled to center to score Taul before the game-ending double play.

“It was a great team win because anything can happen in a tight game during the postseason,” Portz said.

Harrison, bound for SIUC, led the way with his pitching and hitting. The left-hander slammed a solo home run over the right field fence off Alton reliever Sam Ballard in the fifth to stretch O’Fallon’s lead to 2-0. Jared Dalonzo’s RBI single off Alton starter Jacob St. Peters in the third supplied the game’s first run. St. Peters went 2.2 innings after working 4 innings Thursday against Quincy.

“That was my biggest home run of the season,” Harrison said

Portz added, “I’ll bet when their coaching staff goes back and looks at it, they’ll wish they wouldn’t have pitched to him.”

No regrets, Haug said. The Redbirds gave it their all.

“I don’t know how much more this group could have done,” he said. “We went toe-to-toe with an outstanding team. I think that shows we have an outstanding club as well.”

He pointed out, “It’s a deep, mature group and a close-knit one that helped build our new field. It’s also one of the winningest classes in Redbird history."

CLASS 4A ALTON REGIONAL

(Championship)

O’FALLON 2, ALTON 1

Alton 000 000 1 – 1 4 1

O’Fallon 001 010 X – 2 7 0

Alton (23-13) — Aaron Bonnell 2-3, Steven Pattan 2-3 RBI. LP 00 Jacob St. Peters IP-2.2 H-3 R-1 ER-1 BB-0 K-1; Sam Ballard IP-0 H-1 R-1 ER-1 BB-0 K-0; Devin Colley IP-3.1 H-3 R-0 BB-2 K-3

O’Fallon (32-5) — Dillon Weiss 1-3, Jared Dalonzo 1-3 RBI, Bradley Snyder 1-3, Brad Harrison 1-2 HR RBI, Hayden Schaefer 2-3, Chase Hackstadt 1-2. WP – Harrison IP-7 H-4 R-1 ER-1 BB-2 K-7

- See more at: http://advantagenews.com/sports/baseball-panthers-shade-redbirds-for-regional-title-2-1/#sthash.Ei9QalOA.dpuf

Alton eliminates Quincy - Riverbender.com - 5/26/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

Alton eliminates Quincy 3-1 in baseball regional

 
by Brent Feeney, Sports Writer
published May 27 2016 6:58 AM
updated May 27 2016 7:04 AM
 
 
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GODFREY - “We preach to them this time of year, the keys to victory are, during a ball game, someone's got to make the big pitch, someone's got to make the big play, someone's got to get the big hit,” said Alton baseball coach Todd Haug.

And Alton got enough of those Thursday afternoon to eliminate Quincy 3-1 at Redbird Field in a semifinal contest of the IHSA Class 4A Alton Regional.

The win put the Redbirds (23-12) into Saturday's regional final against O'Fallon, who defeated Danville 5-4 Wednesday afternoon to get to the final; that game gets under way at 4 p.m., with the winner taking on Saturday's Belleville West Regional champ, either Edwardsville, Belleville West or Belleville East (the East-West game was suspended by darkness in the top of the 10th Thursday with the teams tied 5-5; it's scheduled to be resumed at 12:30 p.m. today) in Wednesday's Bloomington Sectional at Illinois Wesleyan University. The Blue Devils were eliminated at 16-13.

“On the pitching side of things,” Haug said, “with (Jacob) St. Peters able to work out (of a jam in the fourth after giving up a run) and not give up a second run and with (Devin Colley) able to come in in the fifth, sixth and seventh and do his thing and make a big pitch there (after a missed tag in the sixth) and we worked out way out of that too, so those are our big pitches.

“On the big-play side, we had a freshman (Rob Taul) go out and make a backhand play, makes a play with ease and gives (Steven Pattan) a good opportunity to turn a double play and that's as good a double play as you're going to see at the high school level – two guys with great hands.”

That run St. Peters gave up came in the top of the third when Derek Green stroked a one-out double to left and came around to score on the next batter when Masen Melton singled in Green. St. Peters got Alex Harbin to hit into a fielder's choice to erase Melton for the second out and got Hunter Wienhoff to ground back to the box to end the inning and keep the game 1-0.

Alton's first big hit came in the fourth when Steven Ngyuen opened with a single and stole second. Aaron Bonnell then got Blue Devil pitcher Drake Green to issue a walk to put runners at first and second; Jacob Kanallakan then walked to load the bases and bring up Pattan.

Pattan got ahold of a Green offering and drove it to the fence in left field, almost clearing the fence; Ngyuen and Bonnell came around to score, but Kanallakan was thrown out trying to get to third. Pattan came to second with a two-RBI double, though, to give the Redbirds a 2-1 lead.

“I was just looking first pitch on that one and he (Green) gave it to me,” Pattan said. “He got it up and luckily, I hit it a decent amount, hit it pretty far, not quite enough. I was looking for a strike early in the count and he'd been pounding the (strike) zone all day.”

Colley then came into the game in the fifth for St. Peters and kept the Blue Devils at bay in the fifth and sixth, making a big pitch in the sixth with runners at first and third to strike out Green and retire the side. When the Redbirds came to bat in the sixth, Taul opened with a single and, one out later, Kanallakan stepped to the plate and drove a 1-0 Green pitch deep to right-center field for a triple to score Taul and give Alton an big insurance run.

“We were talking about it before I came up,” Kanallakan said, “if Robbie got on, we were going to try to bunt him over and hopefully get that run home. That didn't work out; I came up and first pitch was a ball. (Haug) gave me the hit-and-run all I have to know is that I've got to swing at it, so if he gives me something to swing at, I've got to put a good swing at it; that's what I did.

“You know your job is to swing at it, so if he gives you a good pitch, you've got to get a good swing at it and let it go somewhere; that's what happened (on the triple).”

The Redbirds will be facing a formidable task against the Panthers; O'Fallon will be sending Bradley Harrison to the mound Saturday with the regional title on the line. Haug knows Alton is facing a huge task, but said “we're in a very, very unique and dangerous position; there's not a soul outside our circle of trust that is expecting us to win this ball game on Saturday.

“(Harrison) is a heck of a pitcher; he's one of the best ballplayers in the state of Illinois, pitcher or hitter. We've played him 14 innings and haven't got a runner to third base (against the SIU-Carbondale recruit). Outside of our circle of trust, I'm not sure if we're getting of notoriety on our chances...our unique position is – nobody's really expecting this and we have just enough talent to do it. That's a recipe for being very scary in the playoffs; no pressure and the talent to do it.”

 

 

 

 

Send your news tips to news@riverbender.com or on twitter @RiverBenderNews

Redbirds eliminate Quincy in Baseball Regional - The Telegraph - 5/26/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

PREP BASEBALL: Alton again eliminates Quincy in regional

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By Greg Shashack - gshashack@civitasmedia.com

 

Alton second baseman Rob Taul (left) attempts to turn a double play while Quincy’s Masen Melton slides into second base during a semifinal baseball game at the Alton Class 4A Regional in Godfrey. Alton won 3-1 and will play O’Fallon for the regional title on Saturday. 
Billy Hurst / For The Telegraph
Alton’s Jacob Kanallakan reacts after hitting a RBI triple to give the Redbirds a 3-1 lead over Quincy in the sixth inning Thursday at the Alton Class 4A Regional at AHS. 
Billy Hurst / For The Telegraph

GODFREY – The Alton Redbirds and Quincy Blue Devils renewed their long-distance regional baseball rivalry Thursday.

The fledgling rivalry remains all Redbirds.

Alton scored twice in the fourth inning to take a lead it would not relinquish and put away the Devils 3-1 in a semifinal of the Alton Class 4A Regional. The Redbirds improve to 23-12 and will play top-seeded O’Fallon (31-5) for the regional championship at 4 p.m. Saturday.

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It is the third straight season Quincy had its season ended by Alton in the regional semifinals. The Redbirds then fell to Edwardsville in the title game each of the last two seasons after beating the Tigers in 2013 for Alton’s last regional title.

The new sub-sectional postseason format has Alton and Edwardsville in separate regionals for the first time in nine years of four-class baseball. But the Redbirds get no favor with O’Fallon expected to start ace Bradley Harrison (11-0, 0.28 ERA) in Saturday’s title game. Harrison already owns two shutouts – 5-0 and 7-0 – against the Redbirds this season.

Alton earned another shot at the Panthers by again putting down the Devils. Jacob St. Peters went four innings for the win, giving one unearned run on three hits, one walk and six strikeouts. Devin Colley worked three scoreless innings for the save.

Quincy led 1-0 before Steven Pattan put Alton up 2-1 with a two-run double in the third inning. The Redbirds tacked on another run in the sixth on Jacob Kanallakan’s RBI triple. Steve Nguyen and Kanallakan each had two hits for Alton, which outhit Quincy 8-7.

The champ of the Alton Regional will meet the Belleville West Regional champion on Wednesday at a Metro East site yet to be announced. Edwardsville plays the winner of a semifinal match Belleville West and Belleville East at West.

The Maroons and Lancers played to a 5-5 tie through nine innings Thursday before darkness suspended play. The semifinal will resume at 12:30 p.m. Friday.

Greg Shashack may be reached at 618-798-1486 or on Twitter @gregshashack

 
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Redbird Baseball honors seniors with pride - Riverbender.com - 5/19/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

Redbirds honor 13 baseball seniors with pride in final regular season home game

 
by Brent Feeney, Sports Writer
published May 20 2016 6:35 AM
 
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GODFREY – This year's group of seniors for Alton's baseball team have contributed quite a bit to the program since they started with the program in the 2013 season.

Those seniors were honored prior to Thursday afternoon's Southwestern Conference game against Belleville East at Redbird Field. While the game didn't turn out the way Alton would have liked – the Redbirds, on the strength of three Lancer home runs, dropped a 7-2 decision – what those seniors have contributed to the program won't soon be forgotten.

“I couldn't be prouder of (the 13 seniors being honored),” said Redbird coach Todd Haug. “It didn't exactly go their way tonight, but I'm proud of all of them. They're one of the most winningnest classes in our school's history, they've been part of a lot and I couldn't be prouder of them.

“I talked with them (after the game), told them I loved them and told them we're right there with them. This isn't the end – we've got a few more games – but I wanted the community to see them, wanted to reward them for the efforts they've made. If you continue to play on, you're never going to have this again. You're going to know these people; you're never going to play again with someone you've known since kindergarten again. You're never going to have that sense of camaraderie.

“We'll replace them in terms of the physical body; we'll put someone else in that uniform, but it's going to be hard to replace the leadership, the camaraderie, the special memories. That's going to be difficult.”

Jacob St. Peters got the start for the Redbirds and managed to get himself out of a two-on, one-out jam in the top of the first when Patrick Gaul got a leadoff single and Drew Millas drew a walk with one out, but St. Peters struck out Jordan Yates looking and got Isaiah King to ground back to the box to get out of it. From that point, St. Peters and Lancer pitcher Cody Freppen hooked up in an old-school pitcher's duel, both hurlers getting the sides retired without much trouble to keep the game scoreless.

Alton mounted a threat in the bottom of the fourth when Aaron Bonnell managed to draw a two-out walk and went to third when Jacob Kanallakan singled to put runners at the corners, but Freppen struck out Seth Boeschert to end the threat. East finally broke the tie when Izaiah Hitt took a St. Peters offering deep to left and the ball barely cleared the fence for a home run to put the Lancers up 1-0. Alex Phillips then singled but was doubled off first when Kanallakan speared a shot off Jalen Jones' bat and tagged the base for a big double play. Gaul singled and stole second, but St. Peters struck out Trevor Sanchez to end the inning.

The Redbirds mounted another threat in the bottom of the fifth when, again with two out, Mike Hampton drew a walk and went to third on a Noah Rathgeb single, but Frappen struck out Steven Ngyuen to end the inning and keep East up 1-0. The Lancer lead expanded to 2-0 in the sixth when Millas homered to right, and that was followed by a Yates single and a one-out Evan Lawrence single. Both stole bases and, with runners at second and third, Hitt drove both runners in with a single to seemingly break the game open at 4-0.

Rob Taul opened the bottom of the sixth a single and stole second, going to third when Bonnell singled to put runners at the corners. Kanallakan then grounded to short for an out, but Taul came in to score to cut the lead to 4-1. East scored three more times in the seventh, highlighted by a two-run homer from Yates that made it 7-1 in East's favor. The Redbirds scored once again in the bottom of the seventh, Derrick Allen scoring on a rundown, but the Redbirds could not get another threat going.

The Redbirds fell to 21-12 on the year, while the Lancers went to 24-10; Alton travels to Arthur Fletcher Field in Collinsville to close out the SWC and regular season at 4:30 p.m. today against the Kahoks.

 

 

 

 

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East clouts 3 homers to down Redbirds - The Telegraph - 5/19/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

PREP BASEBALL: East clouts three homers in win over Alton

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Telegraph Staff Report

 

Alton’s Tyler Moxey, back left, slides in safely ahead of the tag by Belleville East’s Drew Millas during Thursday’s game at Alton High School. Belleville East won the game 7-2. 

GODFREY — A close Southwestern Conference battle at Alton High School turned not-so-close quickly Thursday, thanks to three Belleville East home runs.

With the game scoreless after four innings, East (24-10) erupted for three runs in the last two innings, thanks in part to homers from Izaiah Hitt, Drew Millas and Jordan Yates.

Hitt led the way for East (24-10). He clouted a solo homer in the fifth and drove in three runs on the day. Millas had a pair of RBIs, as did Yates.

Alton countered with solo runs in the sixth and seventh, but could get no closer.

Rob Taul and Jacob Kanallaan paced the Redbirds. Kanallakan was 2 for 3 with an RBI and Taul was 2 for 4. Steven Ngyyen had the other RBI for the Redbirds, who dropped to 21-12. Tyler Moxey and Taul scored the Redbirds’ runs.

Jacob St. Peters took the loss for the Redbirds. He worked the first 5-1/3 innings, struck out seven and walked one. He gave up nine hits and four earned runs. Max Hunter relieved in the sixth inning and Devin Colley pitched the seventh.

East’s Cody Freppon got the win on the mound. He worked 6-1.3 innings, struck out four, walked four and scattered six hits.

Earlier this season, the Redbirds won a 6-1 decision March 31 in Belleville.

Alton is scheduled to finish its regular season schedule at 4:30 p.m. Friday against Collinsville at Fletcher Field.

Report results to telegraphsports@hotmail.com

Edwardsville's two HR's beat Alton - AdVantage News - 5/5/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

BASEBALL: E'ville pounds two homers, beats Alton

by  

GODFREY — Taking advantage of opportunities, that was the name of the game Thursday for the Edwardsville Tigers at Alton High School.

The Tigers scored seven runs in two innings and staved off a late push by the Redbirds to win 7-2. The victory avenged a 4-1 loss to Alton on April 5, improving Edwardsville's record to 21-4 overall and 9-2 in the Southwestern Conference. It was the eighth straight win for the Tigers.

The Birds will have to wait for their 20th victory. They dipped to 19-8 overall and 6-4 in league action.

“I think we got a lot better at-bats,” EHS head coach Tim Funkhouser said of Thursday's game compared to the first meeting. “(Jacob) St. Peters (Alton's starter) is a good pitcher and he was just so dominant the first time we faced them and you could tell we got a lot better at-bats than we did previously. I just like the way our guys are competing and the way Andrew Frank was able to deal.”

Jacob St. Peters was the starter for the Redbirds, just like the first time around, but didn't fare quite as well Thursday. He went 3.1 innings, fanning two, walking four, hit a batter and allowed four runs on five hits on 72 pitches.

His counterpart for the Tigers, Andrew Frank, notched the win, tossing six innings. He struck out four, walked two, plunked two more batters, scattered three hits and surrendered two unearned runs on 79 pitches.

“(St. Peters) did not hit his spots like he did the first game,” Alton coach Todd Haug said. “He had a hit batsmen and few borderline calls early that didn't go our way as well. He wasn't quite as sharp and it is what it is. These are teenage boys, we're asking a lot out of them and it doesn't always go your way.”

Frank was happy to get the nod on the hill and the opportunity to get revenge on the rival Redbirds.

“I was excited,” Frank said. “Coach told me I was throwing on Monday and I just got ready and prepared to pitch today.”

Edwardsville senior Jake Garella just thinks the Tigers are in a better place as a team than they were a month ago, too. Garella was one of the stars for EHS Thursday, going 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a double in the win. It was Garella's fourth dinger of the season.

“We came into this game with some good confidence,” Garella said. “Not to say we didn't have confidence last time, but it got under our skin a little bit taking that loss and we came out (today) with a great mentality and great at-bats and we jumped on them early.

“We love each other as a team, but I think we're playing together a little better than we were earlier. We have some good chemistry going on and I think we need to keep it going.”

Both squads had their chances early, but were unable to score.

The Tigers loaded the bases in the top of the first, but St. Peters got Cole Hansel to pop out to end the threat. Alton loaded them up in the second inning, but Frank induced a double play ball off the bat of Seth Boschert to end the inning and keep it scoreless.

“I think our approach kind of changed after hitting into that double play early on,” Haug said. “Then we kind of went back out there and struggled a little bit the next half inning.”

It was Garella putting the charge into a ball over the left field fence in the top of the third to put EHS up 1-0. Collin Clayton then hit an infield single and ultimately scored on a RBI single by Hansel to make it 2-0 in favor of Edwardsville.

“I was expecting a curveball and he came at me with a changeup and left it in just a little bit and it felt great,” Garella said of his homer.

The Tiger really poured it on in the fourth. Andrew Yancik drew a leadoff walk and Joel Quirin singled to put the first two runners on. After Kade Burns sacrificed them to second and third, Yancik scored on a wild pitch to elevate the lead to 3-0, ending St. Peters' day.

Cole Cimarolli chased home Quirin on a sac fly against reliever Charlie Erler to make it 4-0. After Garella doubled and Clayton walked, Tyler Stamer provided the exclamation point. He walloped a three-run bomb to left — his seventh homer of the season — to push it to 7-0.

“I was definitely looking for a fastball to drive and and I think with getting hit and walked earlier my mindset was to get a good pitch to drive and get some more runs in,” Stamer said. “I definitely got my pitch there. I was sitting dead red and drove it over the fence.”

It proved to be the last hit for EHS. Erler got Hansel to fly out to end the fourth and sat down the next six Edwardsville hitters in a row. Devin Colley came on in the seventh and retired the three Tiger hitters he faced, so the final 10 batters for EHS went down in order.

Alton kept plugging away, stranding two runners on base in both the fifth and the sixth and finally struck pay dirt in the seventh. Steven Pattan reached on an error to start things and Boschert walked to put the first two on. Frank was lifted for Jordan Yenne, who walked Derrick Allen and then induced a ground out from Mikey Hampton that plated Pattan to cut it to 7-1.

After walking Noah Rathgeb to reload the bags, Robbie Taul hit a long fly ball to center, but Clayton, playing shallow, raced a long way for a nifty catch. It scored pinch runner Jon Witt, but kept the Birds from clearing the bases and getting any closer than 7-2. They stranded a total of eight base runners in the game.

Haug thought it was just a matter of a couple of mistakes and Alton will regroup from the loss.

“Both home runs came on two strikes and we just missed our spot,” Haug said. “They are a good quality ball club with good hitters in the middle. We'll regroup, we'll come back and we'll be ready to go next time we see them.”

Funkhouser said the win over the rival Redbirds was a good spark for a big stretch of baseball. EHS plays host to the Tiger Classic on Friday and Saturday, the 10th edition of the annual tournament at Tom Pile Field. The Tigers see Lockport Friday and Chatham Glenwood and Highland on Saturday. They then welcome SWC-leading O'Fallon at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“First this gives us positioning on the conference to where we can at least control our destiny and be with it toward the end and that's what we wanted,” Funkhouser said. “It also puts us in a position where we can be a top four seed (in the sub-sectional). We've got the weekend to still battle for that.

“And when we put this tournament on the schedule, we did it with the intent to see some good teams and get us hardened for the postseason.”

The Redbirds are back in action at 11 a.m. Saturday with a doubleheader vs. Lindbergh at home. At 10 a.m. they will have a dedication ceremony for their new baseball field.

SOUTHWESTERN CONFERENCE

EDWARDSVILLE 7, ALTON 2

Tigers 002 500 0 — 7 7 2

Redbirds 000 000 2 — 2 4 1

Edwardsville (21-4, 9-2) — Cole Cimarolli 0-3 SAC RBI, Jake Garella 2-4 2B HR RBI, Collin Clayton 2-3 BB SB, Tyler Stamer 1-2 HR HBP BB 3 RBIs, Cole Hansel 1-4 RBI, Joel Quirin 1-2.

WP — Andrew Frank 6.0IP 3H 2R 0ER 2BB 4K 1HBP

Jordan Yenne 1.0IP 0H 0R 0ER 2BB 0K

Alton (19-8, 6-4) — Mikey Hampton 0-4 RBI, Robbie Taul 0-3 SAC RBI, Steven Nguyen 2-3, Seth Boschert 1-2 BB.

LP — Jacob St. Peters 3.1IP 5H 4R 4ER 4BB 2K 1HBP

Charlie Erler 2.2IP 2H 3R 3ER 1BB 2K

Devin Colley 1.0IP 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 0K

- See more at: http://advantagenews.com/sports/baseball-e-ville-pounds-two-homers-beats-alton/#sthash.PmE5ATLn.dpuf

O'Fallon tops Alton Baseball 7-0 - The Telegraph - 4/28/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

REP BASEBALL: O’Fallon tops Alton 7-0

By Greg Shashack - gshashack@civitasmedia.com

 

Alton pitcher Jacob St. Peters reacts after walking in a run in the third inning of Thursday’s game against O’Fallon at Alton High School. 
Billy Hurst | For The Telegraph
Alton’s Steven Pattan, left, leaps for an errant throw as O’Fallon’s Ben Belongy steals second base Thursday at Alton High School. 
Billy Hurst | For The Telegraph

GODFREY — The Southwestern Conference baseball standings reveal a tight race remains for the title.

But any performance-based evaluation suggests the O’Fallon Panthers have separated themselves from the pack of top contenders in the league.

O’Fallon again dealt its ace at Alton on Thursday and Bradley Harrison extended his season of excellence by shutting out the Redbirds 7-0 at Alton High. Harrison threw a complete-game three-hitter, walking one and striking out eight.

“Pitching is a real integral part of any game plan,” Alton coach Todd Haug said. “And in this case, when you’ve got a lefty like him, you like your chances. You get behind your horse and you ride him all the way through. He was dominant from start to finish.”

Harrison, a senior left-hander signed with SIUC, improved to 7-0 while lowering his ERA to 0.26. In 53 innings, he has allowed 20 hits and 15 walks while striking out 75. Harrison also shut out the Redbirds 5-0 on two hits March 29 in O’Fallon.

“Just very good today,” O’Fallon coach Jason Portz said his ace. “You saw in the latter innings, he was able to change his approach up a little bit, went from his slider to his breaking ball as well as his changeup. They started to square some balls up and were getting a little better timing. Bradley’s able to go out there and command both sides of the plate and he’s able to throw four pitches for strikes.

“When you’re able to do that, you’re going to be a quality guy on the mound. I don’t care if you throw 88 or 92 or 72, you’re going to have a chance to win.”

The victory was 12th straight for O’Fallon since suffering back-to-back losses to Collinsville on March 31 and Naperville North on April 1. The Panthers are 20-3 and 7-1 in the SWC. Alton, which has lost nine of its last 10 meetings with O’Fallon, drops to 15-7 and 5-3 in the conference.

Edwardsville and Belleville West both posted SWC victories Thursday – the Tigers beat Collinsville 7-2 and the Maroons beat Belleville East 4-3 – to stay one-game back of the Panthers at 6-2 in the SWC.

But O’Fallon has owned the league’s elite in 2016, beating Edwardsville 12-2 and West 10-0. Throw in the two wins over Alton, and the Panthers have outscored their chief rivals in the SWC race 34-2.

All five of those victories came with Harrison on the mound. The win over Alton was the 23rd of his career, tying him with Brian Gass (2005-06) for No. 6 on O’Fallon’s all-time wins list. Harrison is 22-3 to go along with offensive ranks of No. 4 with 106 career RBI and No. 3 with 135 hits for the Panthers.

O’Fallon got to Alton senior Jacob St. Peters for two runs in the third inning. The Panthers tacked on two more in the fourth and three in the fifth. Four Redbirds pitchers combined to allow eight hits and eight walks.

St. Peters, who came in with a 5-0 record and 1.54 ERA, suffered his first career loss in nine decisions. He left with one out in the fourth inning, surrendering four runs on four hits, four walks and three hit batters.

“An uncharacteristic outing by our guy,” Haug said. “But it’s April. It’s kind of up and down lately, but we’ll bounce back. All you have to do is be hot at the end.”

The Redbirds hinted at getting to Harrison in the fifth and sixth, but both threats fizzled.

The 20-win season is the 14th in a row for O’Fallon, with that streak starting in the first of Portz’s 14 seasons as head coach at his alma mater. Included among the crowd to watch the Panthers at Alton’s new field, stationed in lawn chairs near the O’Fallon dugout, were retired baseball coaches Tom Pile of Edwardsville and Ken Schell of Jersey. Portz welcomed the scrutiny from the hall of famers.

“It’s a good day when Tom Pile and Kenny Schell come out,” Portz said. “Any time you’ve got two guys that have fields named after them watching the game, you’re real happy.”

 
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Baseball Redbirds pick up win over Highland - AdVantage News - 4/22/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

BASEBALL: Redbirds pick up win over Highland

by  

GODFREY — The Highland Bulldogs encountered a hot-hitting Alton Redbirds baseball team in Friday afternoon’s non-conference contest in Godfrey.

The Redbirds banged out 10 hits to Highland’s four in the 8-3 win. But Alton’s defense also turned in an errorless effort and starting pitcher Jacob St. Peters proved to be a factor. St. Peters worked 6.2 innings for the Redbirds. He struck out four, walked three and gave up just two hits and no runs.

“Offensively, we’re clicking very well,” Alton coach Todd Haug said. “Tonight I thought we played some tremendous defense and I thought we got a tremendous effort on the mound from St. Peters. When you can score one run here and one run there, then all of the sudden it starts to feel like a touchdown.”

Charlie Erler relieved St. Peters in the sixth, as St. Peters suffered an injury. Highland’s Will Greenwald hit the ball to the pitcher’s mound and the ball struck St. Peters’ armpit. Haug said St Peters should return after a five-day rest.

“I think he’ll tell you that he wasn’t as sharp as some instances,” Haug said of St. Peters. “But he made the pitches when he needed to. It’s the sign of a veteran varsity hurler, but he also had a tremendous defense behind him. We got a couple of key plays from our infielders, we got a tremendous play from (Jacob) Kanallakan at third base.”

The Bulldogs’ defense struggled at different times in the contest. Alton’s Noah Rathgeb, who went 3-for-4 at the plate in the contest, scored Alton’s first run in the first inning, as he ran home from third after a wild pitch from Highland’s Mike McGill. Rathgeb’s one-run single in the second made the score 2-0 Redbirds. Alton scored its third run in the fourth inning behind a one-run single from Steven Pattan.

“Our starting pitching was strong,” Highland coach Joel Hawkins said. “I also thought there guy (St. Peters) did a good job, he mixed his pitches up really well. Their third baseman (Kanallakan) is terrific. He caught a line drive and made a diving play. He’s very athletic.”

The Redbirds tacked on two more runs in the fifth. Rathgeb led off the inning with a triple and came home to score the Redbirds’ fourth run when Robbie Taul singled into right field. Right fielder Stephen Nguyen’s one-run single made the score 5-0.

The Redbirds continued the offensive onslaught and scored two more runs in the sixth. A wild pitch from Highland pitcher Jake Ramsey, who relieved McGill in the fifth, allowed the Redbirds' Derrick Allen to score their sixth run and a bawk called on Ramsey sent Pattan home from third to make the score 7-0 Redbirds. Taul’s one-run double made the score 8-0 Alton.

Highland surged a bit in the seventh inning. It scored its first run behind a one-run single from Jordan Smith. Sam Greene’s two-run blast over the left-field fence cut the score to 8-3 Alton.

The Redbirds improve to 15-5 with the win. Highland drops to 7-9 with the loss.

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- See more at: http://advantagenews.com/sports/baseball-redbirds-pick-up-win-over-highland/#sthash.VGSYKB9u.dpuf

Sam Ballard's hard work pays off with scholarship to UI-C - Riverbender.com - 4/20/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

Sam Ballard's hard work pays off with baseball scholarship to University of Illinois-Chicago

 
by Brent Feeney, Sports Writer
published April 21 2016 6:20 AM
 
 
 
 

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A win to remember - AdVantage News - 4/12/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

BASEBALL: A win to remember

by  

GODFREY — Jacob Kanallakan etched his name into Alton baseball lore forever on Tuesday.

Kanallakan christened the new AHS field by launching a 3-1 Collinsville pitch over the center field fence in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving the Redbirds a walk-off 2-1 victory. The Birds couldn't have imagined a better way to begin the era of their new picturesque diamond.

Alton improved to 11-4 and 4-1 in the Southwestern Conference with the win. The Kahoks slipped to 9-8 and 2-3 with the tough luck loss.

“I wasn't trying for a home run, I know that,” Kanallakan said smiling. “I was just trying to get something started because we only needed one run. Me getting on was important. If I got on we'd get a pinch runner and get a guy going and maybe get a run. I wasn't thinking home run, but then I got 3-1 so I knew I was going to get a good pitch to hit and I just put a good swing on it.”

Hitting it out to center, the deepest part of the park, was surprising to AHS pitcher Jacob St. Peters. St. Peters went the distance on the hill to earn the win.

St. Peters had just surrendered the first home run in the field's history to Collinsville's Brayden Arnold in the top of the seventh to tie it 1-1. Arnold smacked a ball over the left field fence and left St. Peters fuming.

“I let up a home run in what we thought would be a non-home run hitting baseball park and I just got really mad about it,” St. Peters said. “They just started chirping, but I just stayed in with myself, throwing strikes and pitching to contact.”

Then Kanallakan offered redemption.

“We just started jumping and going crazy once we saw it sail over center,” St. Peters said. “It was just crushed. I don't know what to say about it still.”

Alton head coach Todd Haug was all smiles thinking about the storybook ending to the game.

“It's such a rush of emotion,” Haug said. “Some very dramatic events took place there. For a game to kind of move very quickly it got kind of dramatic there at the end, but I can't imagine a better way. I'm very happy for these boys. We take care of the field enough. It's nice to get to play on it.”

The pitchers' duel lasted just 1 hour and 33 minutes and what was squandered was a great performance by Kahok starter Parker Marchbanks.

While St. Peters fanned six, walked one, hit a batter and scattered just three hits on 87 pitches, Marchbanks also went the distance, striking out four, walking one and just surrendering five hits on 77 pitches.

It's been the hard luck way of Collinsville so far in the SWC, which has lost its three league games by a total of six runs.

“It was a good high school baseball game,” Collinsville coach Pete Trapp said. “You’ve got to give (Alton) credit. They did a little bit more than we did to win the game.

“You know what though, that’s just part of baseball. At the same time, those three losses have all come on the road, so hopefully we’ll have a little more luck at our own place.”

The Redbirds cracked a scoreless stalemate in the third. Steven Pattan led off with an infield single, moved to second when Mikey Hampton was hit by a pitch and to third on a passed ball. He scored on what was credited as a sacrifice fly by Robbie Taul, but the relay throw from right field went toward second base.

“It was probably a mistake on their half not tagging up right away,” Trapp said. “And it was a mistake on our half not throwing to the right guy. Next thing you know, they’re up 1-0. It hurts, but it’s part of the game. We have to be a little better with that.”

Haug was just happy to pull out the win over a formidable opponent in Collinsville.

“Credit to Pete (Trapp) and his group, that's a very good ball club over there,” Haug said. “Their record is not indicative of how good a ball club they are. We feel very comfortable and very proud of our victory today because it was against a worthy opponent.”

As for Kanallakan being the hero and forever becoming the answer to an Alton baseball trivia question, he just grinned.

“It was exciting,” he said.

Next up for the Redbirds is a game at Belleville West at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. The Kahoks now welcome Granite City at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Arthur Fletcher Field.

SOUTHWESTERN CONFERENCE

ALTON 2, COLLINSVILLE 1

Kahoks 000 000 1 — 1 3 0

Redbirds 001 000 1 — 2 5 0

Alton (11-4, 4-1) — Mikey Hampton 0-2 HBP SB, Noah Rathgeb 1-3, Robbie Taul 0-2 SAC RBI, Aaron Bonnell 1-2 BB, Sam Ballard 1-3 2B, Jacob Kanallakan 1-2 HR SAC RBI, Steven Pattan 2-2.

WP — Jacob St. Peters 7.0IP 3H 1R 1ER 2BB 6K 1HBP

Collinsville (9-8, 2-3) — Jordan Reichert 1-3, Brandon Harris 0-2 SAC, Braydon Arnold 2-3 HR RBI, Clay Hartman 0-2 BB, Sam Vlasak 0-1 BB HBP.

LP — Parker Marchbanks 7.0IP 5H 2R 2ER 1BB 4K

- See more at: http://advantagenews.com/sports/baseball-a-win-to-remember/#sthash.Jy6QsCLC.dpuf

AHS opens field with win over Kahoks - The Telegraph - 4/12/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

PREP BASEBALL: AHS opens new field with win over Kahoks

, , , 

By Greg Shashack - gshashack@civitasmedia.com

 

Alton’s Jacob St. Peters pitches during Tuesday’s game against Collinsville at Alton High School. 
Billy Hurst | For The Telegraph
Alton’s Mike Hampton attempts to leap over the tag from Collinsville catcher Sam Vlasak during Tuesday’s game at Alton High School. Hampton was initially called safe, but after a brief meeting between umpires, he was ruled out on the tag. The Redbirds won the game 2-1. 
Billy Hurst | For The Telegraph

GODFREY — Jacob Kanallakan will go down as the first Redbird to execute as sacrifice bunt at the new baseball field at Alton High. He will prefer the status earned from his next at-bat.

Kanallakan sent a 3-1 pitch over the fence in the deepest part of the park for a walk-off home run to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning and beat the Collinsville Kahoks 2-1 in a Southwestern Conference baseball game on Tuesday.

“I wasn’t thinking home run, but I got 3-1 so I knew I was going to get a good pitch to hit and I put a good swing on it,” said Kanallakan, a senior whose only previous home run from 224 career at-bats came as a sophomore. “It felt good, but I didn’t think it was going for a home run.”

Kanallakan did not see the drive clear the fence. “I just heard everyone going nuts,” he said. “So I went nuts.”

The victory was the Redbirds’ fourth straight in the Southwestern Conference and improves their record to 11-4 and 4-1 in the SWC. Collinsville, which had its winning streak halted at four straight, is 9-8 and 2-3 in the league.

“It was a good high school baseball game,” Collinsville coach Pete Trapp said. “You’ve got to give (Alton) credit. They did a little bit more than we did to win the game.”

Pitching commanded the spotlight with Alton’s Jacob St. Peters and Collinsville’s Parker Marchbanks each deserving of a win. Marchbanks, a lefty who came in with a 2-2 record and 2.10 ERA, gave two runs on five hits and one walk while striking out four to take the loss.

But St. Peters, coming off a complete-game 4-1 win over Edwardsville a week earlier, improved 3-0 while limiting the Kahoks to one run on three hits, two walks and six strikeouts.

“I’ve heard words like deceptive,” Alton coach Todd Haug said of St. Peters’ delivery. “At this point, I would just say he’s a mature high school baseball player that can throw multiple pitches for strikes and he won’t back down from anybody.”

Alton took a 1-0 lead to the seventh inning when Brayden Arnold hit his third home run of the season to draw the Kahoks even at 1-1.

“I gave up the home run in what we thought would be a bad home-run hitting baseball park,” St. Peters said of the pitching-friendly dimensions at AHS. “I just got really mad about it. (The Kahoks) just started chirpin’ and did their little screaming. But I just stayed in with myself and tried to pitch to contact and do what I had to do.”

After yielding a walk after the homer, St. Peters retired the next two Kahoks to set up the dramatic blast from Kanallakan. “To hit one over in left-center to walk-off in a home opener,” St. Peters said, “is just crazy.”

The victory kept Alton in a four-way tie for the lead in the SWC with Edwardsville, O’Fallon and Belleville West also at 4-1. For the Kahoks, it was the third well-pitched defeat in the SWC, joining losses to Edwardsville (3-0) and Belleville West (2-1).

“You know what though, that’s just part of baseball,” Trapp said. “At the same time, those three losses have all come on the road, so hopefully we’ll have a little more luck at our own place.”

Alton played a flawless game in the field, with catcher Aaron Bonnell making a spectacular diving catch of a foul ball directly behind the plate on a failed sacrifice bunt after a leadoff walk in the fifth inning.

It was a Kahoks miscue that enabled Alton to take a 1-0 lead in the third inning when the Redbirds baserunner on third was slow to tag, but still scored when the Kahoks outfielder threw to second base instead of home.

“It was probably a mistake on their half not tagging up right away,” Trapp said. “And it was a mistake on our half not throwing to the right guy. Next thing you know, they’re up 1-0. It hurts, but it’s part of the game. We have to be a little better with that.”

ALTON 2, COLLINSVILLE 1

Collinsville 000 000 1 — 1 3 0

Alton 001 000 1 — 2 5 0

Collinsville (9-8, 2-3) – Reichert 1-3, Arnold 2-3 HR RBI. LP-Marchbanks IN-6.0 H-5 R-2 ER-2 BB-1 K-4.

Alton (11-4, 4-1) – Ballard 1-3 2B, Kanallakan 1-2 HR RBI. WP-St. Peters IN-7.0 H-3 R-1 ER-1 BB-2 K-6.

 
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Carlyle uses big inning to roll past Alton - STLToday - 4/11/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

Carlyle uses big inning to roll past Alton

 
 

SAUGET • The Carlyle High baseball team got a chance to flex its muscles at 6,100 seat GCS Ballpark in Sauget on Monday.

The Indians hope to get the opportunity to do it again.

With IHSA sectional and super-sectional post-season games scheduled for big stadiums such as GCS, the Indians showed they are comfortable in the larger environs by beating Alton 7-4 in a nonconference battle between large and small-school toughies.

“This is different than our regular ball game,” Indians senior infielder Ricky Huge said. “The ball comes at you fast. It's smoother and you don't have bad hops or anything. You just play your game and you don't have to worry about anything else."

The Indians, who are in Class 2A, enjoyed throttling the bigger Redbirds, who hold an enrollment advantage of 2,020-340.

"Alton is a 4A ball club and we're from the small town of Carlyle," Huge said. "This just gives us momentum.”

Carlyle (15-1, No. 1 in the STLhighschoolsports.com small-schools rankings) exploded for five runs in the fourth inning to take control. The Indians sent 10 batters to the plate and did all of their work on just three hits.

Huge's two-out single paved the way for a bevy of Alton miscues, which Carlyle parlayed into the lead.

 
 
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Two runs scored on errors and a third came home on a wild pitch. Adam Alexander had the only RBI in the frame.

“You name it, it went wrong,” Alton coach Todd Haug said. “We had more errors in that inning than we've had in the last 10 games.”

Huge, who went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI, slapped a two-run double early in the game. Jacob Kanallakan temporarily gave Alton (10-4) the lead at 3-2 with a sacrifice fly.

Dru Johnson was 1-for-2 with a triple and two runs scored for the Indians.

Landon Michael earned the win for Carlyle. Colin Szczeblewski claimed the save.

“You put pressure on people, it doesn't matter what class you play," Carlyle coach Rusty Barr. "Even good ball clubs will hiccup. That's a big part of our game.”

The Indians only loss was a 7-0 setback at home against Columbia last week.

“We've bounced back and we're playing the way we want to now," Huge said. "We're on a good streak now and we want to keep it that way.”

Alton Rocks Granite City Baseball - The Telegraph - 4/7/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

PREP BASEBALL: Alton thumps Granite City, 20-0

, 

By Greg Shashack - gshashack@civitasmedia.com

 

 

The Alton Redbirds landed a first-inning knockout punch Thursday at Babe Champion Field.

Alton scored 11 runs in the first inning and pounded the Granite City Warriors 20-0 in a five-inning Southwestern Conference baseball game in Granite City.

The victory is the third in a row for the Redbirds, who improve to 8-3 and 3-1 in the SWC. Alton joins O’Fallon, Edwardsville and Belleville West at 3-1 in the conference. Granite City is 2-10 and 1-3 in the league.

The Redbirds made their 20 runs on 12 hits and nine walks. Mikey Hampton had two doubles, and joined Marcus Schomburg, Noah Rathgeb, Matt McDonald and Steven Nguyen with two RBI. Rathgeb also had two hits for Alton.

Four Redbirds pitchers combined on a one-hitter, with sophomore Gary Volz striking out two and walking one in a hitless inning for the win. Max Hunter worked two hitless innings before Nguyen and Jon Witt each pitched an inning to close out the rout.

In other SWC games Thursday, O’Fallon defeated Belleville East 4-0 behind Bradley Harrison’s shutout with 12 strikeouts, Edwardsville beat Belleville West 7-3 in eight innings, and Collinsville blanked East St. Louis 13-0.

 
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St. Peters goes the distance in Alton Baseball win over Edwardsville - AdVantage News - 4/5/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

BASEBALL: St. Peters goes the distance in Alton win over E'ville

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EDWARDSVILLE — Alton starting pitcher Jacob St. Peters was expecting to pitch two innings Tuesday. His performance warranted something different.

St. Peters threw 100 pitches in a complete game effort, leading his Redbirds past rival Edwardsville 4-1 at Tom Pile Field on Tuesday.

With the win Alton improved to 7-3 overall and 2-1 in the Southwestern Conference, while the Tigers slipped to 10-3 and 2-1 after the loss.

“I was feeling good out on the mound,” said St. Peters. “All my stuff was working for me. I was only supposed to throw two innings and I ended up throwing the whole game. It’s just ironic.

“After the second inning, (coach) told me to go out again and after that he said 'batter to batter, you never know when you’re going to get pulled, just do your best.' That’s what I did.”

St. Peters ended up tossing all seven innings, fanning 10 and walking just one while scattering five hits and surrendering one run.

“(We) kind of harnessed St. Peters from the summer time, and his arm slot was a lot better today,” Alton head coach Todd Haug said, referencing St. Peters' work as the ace of the Metro East Bears during the 2015 American Legion baseball season. “He was consistently ahead. He had multiple pitches going, and it’s a credit to him and the defense that played behind him.”

Edwardsville head coach Tim Funkhouser thought St. Peters threw well. He can be deceptive with his delivery, basically slinging the ball from behind his head and he did a good job of keeping the Tigers off balance on Tuesday.

“I think he gets some late movement and it could be it's hidden a little bit,” Funkhouser said. “He gets that late movement, but from our end we needed to be in hit mode and being able to attack the ball early on in at-bats and being able to lay off the balls that did move and with two strikes we struck out looking at times and had some flailing swings on some breaking pitches, which shows a lack of an approach.”

Funkhouser had no complaints about his pitcher. EHS starter Jake Garella threw five innings, fanning 10 and walking 2, while surrendering just two hits and allowing three runs, but none earned.

“It was a tough day to get a feel for your breaking pitch and he overcame that,” Funkhouser said. “The way he pitched, we needed to do better on our offensive end and the defensive end.”

Edwardsville was plagued with four errors in the field and the Redbirds took advantage of that.

They broke up a scoreless stalemate in the second when catcher Aaron Bonnell reached on an infield single. Bonnell's grounder toward first base brought about miscommunication as Garella and EHS first baseman Cole Hansel both went for the ball with no one was able to get to the bag in time to beat the Alton runner.

Matt McDonald entered as a courtesy runner, stealing second and later coming around to score on Edwardsville's second error of the game.

The Birds struck again in the fifth. Sam Ballard led off with a single and stole second before Noah Rathgeb walked to join him on the bases. A successful sacrifice by Ryan Boyd moved them to second and third and a throwing error on Derrick Allen's grounder allowed both Ballard and Rathgeb to score and elevate the Alton lead to 3-0.

The Redbirds' final tally came in the sixth when Jacob Kanallakan drew a leadoff walk and gave way to McDonald to pinch run. McDonald swiped second and then advanced to third and home on a pair of wild pitches, pushing the AHS lead to 4-0.

“It was an absolute team effort,” Haug said. “We didn’t have many base runners, but you have to make due with what you have.”

The Tigers finally broke through in the sixth. Collin Clayton smacked a one-out double into left center, moved to third on Garella's single and scored on Joel Quirin's sacrifice fly to center to cut it to 4-1.

That was all EHS could muster. St. Peters pointed to the bottom of the fourth as what he thought was the key point in his performance and the game.

After fanning Clayton to start the inning, St. Peters allowed consecutive singles to Garella and Quirin. Garella's courtesy runner, Andrew Yancik, moved to third and Quirin stole second to put runners in scoring position with one out, but St. Peters struck out Tyler Stamer and Cole Hansel looking to thwart the threat.

“I think that’s what shut the door,” St. Peters said. “We were all up after that. When they went down we were just ready to win. They’re our rivals, it feels good to beat them. Last year we didn’t have too much luck with that and now we’re ready. We’re feeling good.”

Funkhouser admits it's back to the drawing board for the Tigers, who need to polish their approach.

“Right now, we aren’t playing the game that well. We don’t think the game that well, and we don’t execute,” Funkhouser said. “We’re not making adjustments in the game, and we aren’t going to be that good until we do that.”

The Redbirds are back in action at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday at Waterloo before delving back in SWC play at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Granite City. Edwardsville is idle until 4:30 p.m. Thursday when it travels to conference foe Belleville West.

SOUTHWESTERN CONFERENCE

ALTON 4, EDWARDSVILLE 1

Redbirds 010 023 0 — 4 2 0

Tigers 000 001 0 — 1 5 4

Alton (7-3, 2-1) — Derrick Allen 0-3 BB, Jacob Kanallakan 0-2 BB, Aaron Bonnell 1-3, Sam Ballard 1-3, Noah Rathgeb 0-2 BB.

WP — Jacob St. Peters 7.0IP 5H 1R 1ER 1BB 10K

Edwardsville (10-3, 2-1) — Dylan Burris 1-3, Collin Clayton 1-3 2B, Jake Garella 2-2 BB, Joel Quirin 1-2 SAC RBI.

LP — Garella 5.0IP 2H 3R 0ER 2BB 10K

Andrew Yancik 2.0IP 0H 1R 1ER 1BB 0K

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St. Peters pitches Alton past Tigers in Baseball - The Telegraph - 4/5/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

PREP BASEBALL: St. Peters pitches Alton past Tigers

Alton hurler shuts down Tigers

First Posted: 8:32 pm - April 5th, 2016
 

By Greg Shashack - gshashack@civitasmedia.com

 

Alton’s Matt McDonald (left) gets back to the bag as Edwardsville first baseman Cole Hansel takes the pickoff throw during Southwestern Conference baseball action Tuesday at Tom Pile Field in Edwardsville. 
Scott Kane / For The Telegraph
Alton’s Jacob St. Peters works to the plate during his complete-game victory over the Tigers on Tuesday in Edwardsville. The Redbirds senior gave one run on five hits and one walk while striking out 10. 
Scott Kane / For The Telegraph
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EDWARDSVILLE – The chilled wind whipping through Tom Pile Field took a toll on Jacob St. Peters.

“My ears were cold on the mound,” he conceded.

But Edwardsville, like the elements, could muster little else to faze St. Peters, who struck out 10 in a complete-game effort to lead the Alton Redbirds to a 4-1 Southwestern Conference baseball victory over the Tigers on Tuesday.

“I was feeling good out on the mound,” said St. Peters, who came in with a 4.94 ERA from 6 2/3 innings. “All my stuff was working for me. I was only supposed to throw two innings and I ended up throwing the whole game. It’s just ironic.”

Alton, which had won just three of 15 games vs. the Tigers over the previous five seasons, improves to 7-3 and 2-1 in the SWC. Edwardsville is 10-3 and 2-1 in the conference.

“I’ll end up probably talking about our team a lot, but their pitcher was right around the plate all day and really, when he wanted to locate his pitches, he did,” Tigers coach Tim Funkhouser said of St. Peters. “We didn’t do a good job of having at-bats, but he made it tough on us. I remember seeing him last season in the postseason and he showed some gumption there. And he did so today.”

The Redbirds made their four runs on just two hits. Alton did not get a ball out of the infield until Sam Ballard grounded a single to right field to lead off the fifth inning.

“We got just enough,” Alton coach Todd Haug said. “You make the most of what you have.”

Edwardsville senior Jake Garella deserved a better fate from his start. The right-hander went five innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on two hits and two walks while striking out 10. Andrew Yancik finished and fanned four more Redbirds.

But the Tigers committed four errors and squandered their best shot at getting to St. Peters by twice taking strike three on a 3-2 count after putting runners on second and third with one out while facing a 1-0 deficit in the fourth inning.

“I think that’s what shut the door,” St. Peters said. “We were all up after that. They went down.”

“Just bad at-bats,” Funkhouser said. “Their pitcher executed, so you credit him. But we look on our end a lot on what we need to do and we obviously need to get better at playing the game. … Disappointing at-bats, kind of the theme for us and not making plays.”

Alton took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Aaron Bonnell singled on a slow roller to the right side after Tigers miscommunication left no one covering first base. Courtesy runner Matt McDonald stole second and scored on a two-out throwing error.

The Redbirds made it 3-0 with two runs in the fifth, set up by Ryan Boyd’s two-strike sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third ahead of Derrick Allen’s RBI fielder’s choice, and tacked on another run in the sixth on Jacob Kanallakan’s leadoff walk, pinch runner McDonald’s 14th stolen base and two wild pitches.

The Tigers got a run in the sixth inning on Collin Clayton’s double, Garella’s single and Joel Quirin’s sacrifice fly. That spoiled St. Peters’ shutout bid and extended Edwardsville’s string of games without being shutout to 65 in a row. But the positives were few for the Tigers.

“Right now, we’re not playing the game that well,” Funkhouser said. “We don’t think the game that well, we don’t execute, obviously, the game that well and we’re not making adjustments within the game. We’re not going to be that good when we do that.”

St. Peters’s record goes to 2-0, thanks to a slider the Tigers were unable to solve. “It was just on,” St. Peters said of his out-pitch. “Couldn’t have been any better.”

The Redbirds pitcher was certainly the star, but Haug called the victory a “team effort. We had three really good days to prepare. … We felt like we had a very, very good game plan going into this ballgame. Credit to (St. Peters) and credit to the defense behind him. Credit to the game plan, credit to the Redbirds.”

It was the 10th straight road game for the Redbirds, who have yet to try out their new field behind Alton High. Five more games are on the schedule before Collinsville comes to AHS next Tuesday. Still, Haug said the run of road dates – home games were rained out twice last week — has not been a burden for his team.

“I think everybody’s really ready to play at home,” Haug said. “But then again, we&rs

St. Peters, Alton shut down Edwardsville - Riverbender.com - 4/5/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

St. Peters, Alton shut down Edwardsville 4-1

 
by Brent Feeney, Sports Writer
published April 6 2016 7:15 AM
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

EDWARDSVILLE – Going into Tuesday's early Southwestern Conference showdown against Alton, Edwardsville's baseball team hadn't been on the losing end of a league game for quite awhile.

Something like close to two years, in fact; O'Fallon defeated the Tigers in a league game in May 2014. EHS had gone unbeaten in the 2015 league campaign, defeating the Redbirds three times, including the IHSA Class 4A regional final at Tom Pile Field.

The Redbirds' Jacob St. Peters took the ball against the Tigers' Jake Garella, and St. Peters went in thinking he was only going to be throwing the first two innings.

St. Peters, though, came through with a performance much like those he had as he had as part of the Metro East Bears American Legion last summer, keeping the Tigers in check all day as the Redbirds, also taking advantage of four EHS errors, defeated Edwardsville 4-1.

“After the second inning,” St. Peters said, “(Redbird coach Todd Haug) told me to go out again and after that, he said, 'batter-to-batter. You never know when you're going to get pulled, just do your best.' “

St. Peters was definitely on his game; he wound up giving up just five hits and one run (which was earned) while striking out 10 to get the win.

“My slider,” St. Peters said when asked which pitch was working best for him. “It was just on; it couldn't had been any better.”

Haug said preparation for the Tigers was key to Tuesday's win. “We had three really good days to prepare; we put in a little time – not that we don't have the resources to do it consistently – but we put in a little extra time scouting, getting a good read on them and we had a very, very good game plan going in.

“We kind of harnessed the St. Peters from the summertime; his arm slot was a little bit better today. He was consistently pitching ahead, had multiple pitches going and credit to him and credit to the defense behind him.”

Edwardsville coach Tim Funkhouser gave St. Peters plenty of credit for shutting the Tigers down. “Their pitcher (St. Peters) executed, so you credit him, but we look at our end a lot at what we needed to do, and we obviously need to get better playing the game, too,” Funkhouser said. “Their guy was really good on the mound, we didn't play well in the field and we didn't have good at-bats.”

Garella himself had a pretty good outing; he struck out 10 in five innings of work while giving up three hits and no earned runs in cool, somewhat windy conditions. “It's such a tough day to get a feel for your breaking pitch,” Funkhouser said, “and (Garella) was able to overcome that. The way he pitched, we needed to do better on our end, on the offensive end and defensive end.

“Right now, we're not playing the game that well; we don't think the game that well, we don't execute, obviously, the game that well and we're not making adjustment within the game. We're not going to be that good when we do that.”

The Redbirds got their first run in the second when Aaron Bonnell singled and stole second. Garella responded by striking out Steven Patten and Sam Ballard, bringing Noah Rathgeb to the plate. Rathgeb grounded to third, but the throw sailed away, allowing Matt McDonald, who was courtesy running for Bonnell, to come home.

In the Redbird fifth, Ballard singled and stole second, then Rathgeb walked to put runners at first and second. Ryan Boyd sacrificed both over to leave first base open; Derrick Allen then grounded to second but the throw home to get Ballard bounced away to allow both Ballard and Rathgeb to score to up the Redbird lead to 3-0.

Jacob Kanallakan walked to open the Alton sixth and was replaced by McDonald as a pinch-runner; he stole second and then went to third and scored on a pair of wild pitches to increase the lead to 4-0. Edwardsville responded with a run in the bottom of the sixth when Collin Clayton got a one-out double and came home on a Garella single.

The Tigers had a big chance, though, in the fifth, when Garella got a one-out single and went to third on a hit-and-run when Joel Quirin singled; he subsequently stole second, but both were stranded when St. Peters got both Tyler Stamer and Cole Hansel on strikeouts to end the threat.

The win put the Redbirds at 7-3 overall and 2-1 in the SWC; the Tigers fell to 10-3 overall, 2-1 in the league. Alton travels to Waterloo for a 4:15 p.m. Wednesday game before going to Granite City's Babe Champion Field for a 4:30 p.m. Thursday game; the Tigers go to Belleville West for a 4:30 p.m. Thursday league game.

 

 

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Three Redbirds combine to no-hit Jersey - The Telegraph - 3/21/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

Three Redbirds combine to no-hit Jersey

First Posted: 8:22 am - March 22nd, 2016
 

By Greg Shashack - gshashack@civitasmedia.com

 

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The Alton Redbirds offense set the tone early Monday in Jerseyville.

And staked to a quick 5-0 lead, Redbirds pitchers assumed control throughout with Gary Volz, Charlie Erler and Devin Conley combining for a no-hitter in Alton’s 10-1 nonconference baseball victory over the Jersey Panthers at Ken Schell Field.

The Redbirds split two games with Murphysboro on Saturday in Marion, losing 9-6 and winning 15-1. Alton is averaging 11.5 runs per game in a 3-1 start. Jersey is 2-2.

Volz, a sophomore, started and earned the win. He gave one run on five walks while striking out six in 3 2/3 innings. Erler struck out five and walked no one in 2 1/3 innings and Colley pitched around two errors to close out the no-hitter in the seventh.

Noah Rathgeb and Sam Ballard each had three hits and drove in a run for the Redbirds, who got three RBI from Steven Nguyen and two RBI from Steven Pattan.

Baseball drops SWC opener to O'Fallon - AdVantage News - 3/29/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

BASEBALL: Redbirds drop SWC opener in O'Fallon

by  

O'FALLON — Efficiency on the pitching mound proved to be the difference in Tuesday's Southwestern Conference opener between the Alton Redbirds and O'Fallon Panthers at Blazier Field.

O'Fallon senior Bradley Harrison, bound for Southern Illinois University Carbondale next season, was on his game Tuesday, guiding his Panthers past the Redbirds 5-0.

With the loss Alton dipped to 5-3 overall and 0-1 in the SWC. O'Fallon improved to 8-1 and 1-0 with the victory.

Harrison threw the complete game shutout, fanning 11, walking one and surrendering two hits on 74 pitches.

“Strike one is a big emphasis and I think it should be an emphasis in every program and it certainly is in ours,” O'Fallon head coach Jason Portz said. “He had command of all of his pitches today and was getting a lot of swing and misses and was really able to command the zone. He has the potential to do that. That's as good an outing as he can have and I'm real happy with his approach. He’s been outstanding every time out this year and he continues to work at his game.”

Getting ahead in the count was an issue for the Redbirds. Starting pitcher Sam Ballard showed good stuff Tuesday, but worked behind in the count to many of the batters he faced.

Ballard — who is committed to Illinois-Chicago — took the loss, tossing 3.2 innings, striking out three, walking five, scattering four hits and allowing five runs, four earned on 94 pitches. Two of his walks were intentional ones to Harrison.

“When you’re pitching ahead, it allows you to do other things,” AHS head coach Todd Haug said. “When you’re pitching ahead, it allows you to go deeper in ballgames. Oftentimes, we feel like we’re behind the eight-ball, our pitchers are constantly 2-1, 3-1. We saw that a lot tonight.

“I didn’t think Ballard threw bad tonight. He worked his way out of few jams and he showed good velocity. He cut down on his walks. We’ll bounce back. This is a learning experience for us.”

Haug just thought the Birds ran into the ace of the Panthers when everything was clicking for him.

“The name of the game tonight was the pitching side of things,” Haug said. “We ran into a really good pitcher. You go on the road in the Southwestern Conference, this is what you’re going to expect. You've got to protect your home turf and play tough at home. He’s their horse and he was on his game today.”

O'Fallon threatened early, loading the bases in the first and second innings, but came away empty both times.

In the first with the bases loaded Ballard was able to get Joe Guithues to ground to third and Alton's Steven Nguyen fired home to get the force out. Ballard then fanned Camden Bauer looking to get out of the inning.

In the second an error, an infield single and a walk filled the bags full of Panthers, but Ballard got Josh Gibson to fly out and induced a ground ball to get the final out and keep it scoreless.

“Those were missed opportunities but I don't feel we took poor at-bats,” Portz said. “That's going to happen sometimes and certainly we should have come through big, but one thing in that scenario is you don't want guys to press too hard. There are a lot of outs left in the baseball game and I don't think our guys did.”

O'Fallon broke through in the third. Harrison led off with a single through the middle, was sacrificed to second and moved to third on a groundout before scoring on an Alton error to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. It was one of four errors on the day by the Redbirds.

O'Fallon then tacked on four more runs in the fourth inning. All of its runs came with two outs in the game.

The Birds had just five base runners in the game. Aaron Bonnell poked a first-inning single and Ballard singled in the fourth. Nguyen coaxed the only Harrison walk in the third and Ryan Boyd and Noah Rathgeb each reached via drop third strikes in the third also.

Devin Colley and Jon Witt contributed scoreless work out of the bullpen for AHS, too.

Now the Redbirds turn their attention to opening their new baseball field. The beautiful new facility on the campus of Alton High in Godfrey will be the site for a 4:30 p.m. game between the Birds and Freeport on Wednesday. Haug is happy to finally showcase the pristine field.

“The field itself, like any coach that takes care of a ball field, it's a living, breathing creature and every day presents new obstacles, but it's our responsibility now,” Haug said. “We're not reliant on anyone else but ourselves to get the field ready, we're proud to be on campus, we're proud of the field they've given us and hopefully we put on a good show.

“When you build a field literally from scratch, we've got a lot of things to accomplish.”

SOUTHWESTERN CONFERENCE

O'FALLON 5, ALTON 0

Redbirds 000 000 0 — 0 2 4

Panthers 001 400 X — 5 5 0

Alton (5-3) — Steven Nguyen 0-2 BB, Aaron Bonnell 1-3, Sam Ballard 1-3.

LP — Ballard 3.2IP 4H 5R 4ER 5BB 3K

Devin Colley 1.2IP 1H 0R 0ER 1BB 0K

Jon Witt 0.2IP 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 0K

O'Fallon (8-1) — Dillon Weiss 0-2 2 BBs, Josh Gibson 1-4 2B, Brad Snyder 1-4 RBI, Bradley Harrison 1-2 2 IBBs, Joe Guithues 1-2 SAC SB RBI, Camden Bauer 0-3 BB, Jordan Richardson 1-3 RBI, Jared Dalonzo 1-2 BB SB.

WP — Harrison 7.0IP 2H 0R 0ER 1BB 11K

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Redbird Baseball splits with CM - AdVantage News 3/26/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

BASEBALL: Alton, CM split marathon doubleheader in Bethalto

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BETHALTO — It was a marathon day of baseball Saturday at the Bethalto Sports Complex with the Alton Redbirds and Civic Memorial Eagles splitting a doubleheader that lasted nearly six hours.

CM won the first game in dramatic fashion, 6-5, as Corey Price punched a game-winning RBI single into right field to score Brandon Hampton in a walkoff in eight innings. The second game went to the Redbirds, who prevailed 9-4 and got stellar work on the hill from sophomore starter Gary Volz.

The Birds are now 5-2 on the young season, while the Eagles are 4-3.

“I thought we played really well the first game,” CM head coach Gary Bruening said. “That's a real good program, everybody knows that and we felt we could compete with them and we did. To get a walkoff with Price getting the big hit and win the game was big.

“The second game, I don't know why, I thought we came out a little flat. We're down 7-0 then all of the sudden we make it 7-4 and we're in the ball game and then they go out and put a couple more up.”

Alton head coach Todd Haug wasn't quite as satisfied with his squad's performance.

“It's early on and while we have a lot of seniors around, I think if you look at the box score and who played we did have significant young people out there as well and we're still learning to finish ball games,” Haug said. “We've lost a couple ball games early on and both times we've had the lead in the sixth inning, so it's a growing experience. We leave here not satisfied and with a pretty bitter taste in our mouth.”

After taking a 1-0 lead after one inning in the first game Saturday, AHS found itself down 3-1 entering the sixth inning. The Eagles scratched a pair of runs across in the second on RBIs from Collin Hall and Konnar Loewen and one more in the fifth, taking advantage of an Alton miscue in the field.

The Redbirds leaped in front behind four runs in the sixth. They chased starter Corey Price off the mound after a one-out double from Jacob Kanallakan and a RBI single by Robbie Taul. The Birds then took advantage of a passed ball and a bobbled ball in the outfield, nabbing a 5-3 edge through five and a half innings.

CM answered again though. Another Alton error led to a run and Jaxsen Helmkamp smacked a RBI double to tie it 5-5.

It set up extra-inning drama, with Hampton's leadoff hit leading to Price's flare to right to score him and secure the win.

“He's been hitting the ball hard,” Bruening said of Price. “He's been getting robbed a few times so it was nice to see him get that hit. That was his first hit of the game and it was nice to see him get the game winner.”

Good pitching halts offensive momentum though and that's what happened in the second game as Alton's sophomore righty Volz started strong and got the Eagles off balance.

Volz shut CM down for the first three innings and saw the Birds nab a 7-0 lead entering the bottom of the fourth. Altogether, he tossed 3.2 innings, scattering three hits, fanning six, walking six and allowing four unearned runs on 85 pitches.

“Your only going to be successful as that day's starting pitcher and Gary gave us a really solid effort in the second game,” Haug said. “When you come out and compete you can see what happens.”

The AHS offense was highlighted early by a RBI triple in the second inning by Mikey Hampton and a two-run single in the third by Steven Pattan to help construct the 7-0 lead.

CM took advantage of a two-out error to tally four unearned runs in the fourth, cutting it to 7-4. Caden Clark and Helmkamp supplied a couple RBI hits to highlight the inning.

The Redbirds scored once in the fifth when Sam Ballard's leadoff double was complemented by a RBI single off the bat of Ryan Boyd. Pattan logged his third RBI of the second game in the seventh inning, plating Kanallakan.

Haug applauded Pattan and Kanallakan, who had good days. Pattan had four hits and three RBIs altogether on the day, while Kanallakan had four hits, including a pair of hard-hit doubles.

Haug also liked what he say from side-throwing Devin Colley over the final three innings of the second game. Colley allowed no hits and one walk, while striking out two.

“That was a really good plus,” said Haug, who watched his staff walk a total of 18 CM hitters on Saturday. “He's a work in progress. He's a sidewinder, but when you make contact you drive the ball into the ground, what more can we ask — pitch to contact, put the ball in play and see what happens.”

Bruening was just pleased to compete with Alton. The Eagles have already played Edwardsville, Belleville East and Alton of the Southwestern Conference this season and gone 2-2 in those games. It's a nice barometer for where they should be.

“It wasn't too bad today,” he said. “We got Belleville East and split with Alton, so we're showing that we can play. We've shown we can be pretty bad sometimes too though. We lost to Breese Central when they had four of their starters out, so that's a game I thought we gave away. We're not good enough where we can just go out and win, but if we compete the way I think, we can be in about every ball game and win quite a few.”

CM will be without senior John Whitworth until likely the beginning of May. Whitworth broke his hand when hit by a pitch in a game with Edwardsville on March 19.

Next up for the Eagles is Mater Dei at 4:15 p.m. Thursday in Breese. The Redbirds are back in action at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday with their SWC opener at O'Fallon.

NONCONFERENCE

(doubleheader)

GAME 1

CM 6, ALTON 5, 8 INNINGS

Redbirds 100 004 00 — 5 9 3

Eagles 020 012 01 — 6 8 1

ALTON — Noah Rathgeb 1-2 SAC BB RBI, Steven Nguyen 1-2 SAC BB SB, Sam Ballard 1-4 SB, Jacob Kanallakan 2-4 2B, Robbie Taul 2-4 2B RBI, Steven Pattan 1-3 BB, Ryan Boyd 1-2 SAC SB.

LP — Pattan 1.2IP 2H 1R 1ER 1BB 1K

Ballard 1.1IP 2H 2R 2ER 4BB 1K

Charlie Erler 2.2IP 1H 1R 0ER 1BB 3K

Jacob St. Peters 2.0IP 3H 2R 1ER 3BB 4K

CM — Brandon Hampton 1-3 2 BBs RBI, Jaxsen Helmkamp 2-4 2B IBB RBI, Corey Price 1-4 BB SB RBI, Collin Hall 1-3 BB RBI, Konnar Loewen 2-4 2B RBI, Derek Walker 1-1.

WP — Spencer Powell 2.0IP 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 1K

Price 5.1IP 7H 3R 3ER 2BB 3K

Jack Walker 0.2IP 2H 2R 2ER 1BB 1K

GAME 2

ALTON 9, CM 4

Redbirds 112 310 1 — 9 14 1

Eagles 000 400 0 — 4 3 1

ALTON — Rathgeb 1-3 BB, Nguyen 1-4 2 RBIs, Kanallakan 2-3 2B BB, Ballard 2-4 2 2Bs, Pattan 3-4 3 RBIs, Boyd 3-4 RBI SB, Derrick Allen 2-4 SB, Mikey Hampton 1-4 3B RBI.

WP — Gary Volz 3.2IP 3H 4R 0ER 6BB 6K

Nick Cauley 0.1IP 0H 0R 0ER 2BB 0K

Devin Colley 3.0IP 0H 0R 0ER 1BB 2K

CM — Caden Clark 1-3 BB RBI, Helmkamp 2-4 2B RBI, Price 0-2 2 BBs RBI.

LP — Geoff Withers 3.0IP 6H 4R 4ER 2BB 2K

Christian Stawar 2.0IP 5H 4R 4ER 0BB 3K

Hall 2.0IP 3H 1R 1ER 0BB 0K

- See more at: http://advantagenews.com/sports/baseball-alton-cm-split-marathon-doubleheader-in-bethalto/#sthash.uJ2cfEEy.dpuf

Alton Baseball Preview - AdVantage News - 3/18/2016

Updated on 06/10/2022

SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW: Alton baseball

by  

The Alton Redbirds baseball program has become a force to be reckoned with over its recent history.

In head coach Todd Haug's seven seasons at the helm, the Birds are 157-87, they've won 20-plus games in each of the last five seasons and finished 30-7 in 2015, setting a new program benchmark.

Haug expects more success this season, but there are definitely holes to fill.

Gone is a senior class that provided a lot to the '15 campaign. Drake Hampton, Matt Hopkins and Jacob Skrabacz were regulars in the lineup and Ben Cusac and Bryan Hudson helped anchor the pitching staff.

Hudson is arguably the best pitcher ever to play for Alton. He was selected in the third round of the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft by the Chicago Cubs and is currently listed as the 13th best prospect in the organization according to mlb.com.

Haug understands the loss of Hudson will create a buzz early, but assures the Redbirds are ready to reload without the lanky lefty ace.

“That's going to be the very popular topic of discussion, especially early on for this program,” Haug said. “It was a tremendous circus last year. You lose a player like that and you can do one of two things, you can focus on what you lost, or you can use it as momentum to prove to everybody that this is a program bigger than any one person.”

Looking at what the Birds have back it definitely looks like reloading, not rebuilding. Haug is going to carry 21 players, including 14 seniors in '16.

“This is as reload as I can possibly describe,” said Haug.

Starting with the pitching staff, Alton returns a trio of seniors in Nick Cauley, Sam Ballard and Jacob St. Peters that look to lead the charge. Cauley has already procured a scholarship to Northwestern, while the southpaw Ballard is headed to Illinois-Chicago.

“Right now while we don't have a proven ace, we have about four 1As,” Haug said. “We might not have the highest peak pitcher, but what we have is a much deeper staff. Two D-I's on the staff and several younger pitchers that are Division I talent.”

Cauley is touching 93 MPH so far in the spring with his fastball, while Ballard hits 92, St. Peters has reached 87 and 6-foot-3 sophomore Gary Volz sits at 90 MPH. Charlie Erler is another solid sophomore who will help the staff.

The Redbirds also return 6 players with solid innings in the field. Derrick Allen, Noah Rathgeb, Jacob Kanallakan, Steven Nguyen, Steven Pattan and Aaron Bonnell return with good experience.

Allen (left field), Rathgeb (center field) and fellow senior Matt McDonald (right field) should anchor the outfield. Kanallakan is back at first base, while Nguyen shifts from short stop to third base to make room for Pattan at short. Second base will be a hybrid of juniors Braden Flanigan and Ryan Boyd.

“This is the fastest team I've ever had and probably the best defensive team I've ever had,” Haug said. “Will we hit? I like our chances, but obviously you've got to do it on the field, but I'm really excited about this year.”

At catcher Bonnell will get help from another senior, Seth Boschert, who is already agreed to play at Lindenwood-Belleville after high school. Haug likes the depth there.

“We've got an all-conference catcher back in Aaron Bonnell, a middle-of-the-order hitter,” Haug said. “With Seth Boschert we have two very competent, college projectable catchers. I've had (Brent) Gibbs, I've had (Nick) Paulda, but when I had them I had one, now I've got two and one's a right-handed hitter, the other is a left-handed hitter.”

The Southwestern Conference will prove formidable again. Last season Alton was 11-3 in the SWC, tied with O'Fallon for second place behind champ Edwardsville, which went 14-0. O'Fallon reached the super-sectional round of the 4A playoffs and all three SWC powerhouses eclipsed 30 wins.

Haug is honored to have his program in the conversation of SWC supremacy with the Tigers and Panthers.

“When you have people come to you and say its kind of O'Fallon, Edwardsville and you guys and everybody else — and I'm not saying it because I think we're any better — I'm just humbled by the fact that we're getting compared to Edwardsville and O'Fallon,” Haug said. “I think Jason (Portz) and Tim (Funkhouser) run great programs. They're the cadillac of how you should run a high school program and I think we've made great strides.”

The biggest stride to take it to the next level is the brand new baseball field at AHS. The Redbirds will shift their home games there instead of Lloyd Hopkins Field at Gordon Moore Park.

With state-of-the-art bullpen and batting facilities on site, a soon-to-be constructed clubhouse and a top notch field, Haug thinks the program can grow even further. And best of all, it's on the AHS campus.

“It's well on the way to being one of the nicest complexes we believe in the state,” Haug said. “It's truly our field of dreams here in Alton. We like to think the quality of the product on the field will match the quality of the field.”

Alton opens on the road at 4 p.m. today at Herrin. The home opener is set for March 30 at 4:30 p.m. against Freeport.

Roster

NAME POS

SENIORS

Derrick Allen OF

Sam Ballard P, OF

Aaron Bonnell C

Seth Boschert C

Jacob Bozovich P

Nick Cauley P, OF

Devin Colley P

Max Hunter P

Jacob Kanallakan 1B

Matt McDonald OF

Noah Rathgeb OF

Marcus Schomberg OF

Jacob St. Peters P

Jonathan Witt P

JUNIORS

Ryan Boyd UTL

Braden Flanigan 2B

Steve Nguyen 3B

Steven Pattan SS

SOPHOMORES

Charlie Erler P

Mike Hampton OF

Gary Volz P

Schedule

REDBIRDS

March 18 — at Herrin, 4 p.m.

March 19 — at Murphysboro (DH), 9 a.m.

March 21 — at Jersey, 4:30 p.m.

March 23 — at Cahokia, 4:30 p.m.

March 26 — at Civic Memorial (DH), 11 a.m.

March 29 — at O'Fallon*, 4:30 p.m.

March 30 — vs. Freeport, 4:30 p.m.

March 31 — vs. Belleville East*, 4:30 p.m.

April 5 — at Edwardsville*. 4:30 p.m.

April 7 — at Granite City*, 4:30 p.m.

April 9 — at MICDS (DH), 11 a.m.

April 11 — vs. Carlyle (at GCS Ballpark), 6 p.m.

April 12 — vs. Collinsville*, 4:30 p.m.

April 14 — at Belleville West*, 4:30 p.m.

April 16 — vs. McCluer North, 11 a.m.

April 19 — vs. East St. Louis*, 4:30 p.m.

April 22 — vs. Highland, 4:30 p.m.

April 26 — at Belleville East*, 4:30 p.m.

April 28 — vs. O'Fallon*, 4:30 p.m.

April 30 — vs. Valmeyer (DH), 11 a.m.

May 2 — vs. Gibault, 4:30 p.m.

May 3 — vs. Granite City*, 4:30 p.m.

May 5 — vs. Edwardsville*, 4:30 p.m.

May 7 — vs. Lindbergh (DH), 11 a.m.

May 10 — vs. Belleville West*, 4:30 p.m.

May 12 — at Collinsville*, 4:30 p.m.

May 16 — at Triad, 4:15 p.m.

May 17 — at East St. Louis*, 4:30 p.m.

May 18 — vs. Jersey, 4:30 p.m.

May 21 — vs. Marshall County (at Busch Stadium), 4 p.m.

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  • Baseball Redbird's Nick Cauley signs with Northwestern - Riverbender.com - 11/17/2015

    Updated on 06/10/2022

    Alton High's Nick Cauley signs with Northwestern University

     
    by Madelaine Gerard, Staff Writer
    November 17 2015 7:45 PM
     
     
     
    2
     

     

    Nick Cauley and his mother, Rebecca and AHS Baseball Coach Todd Haug celebrate the young athlete's signing with Northwestern University.
    Nick Cauley and his mother, Rebecca and AHS Baseball Coach Todd Haug celebrate the young athlete's signing with Northwestern University.

     

    ALTON - Surrounded by his teammates, friends and family, Alton High School senior Nick Cauley made the first and largest decision of his career so far; signing his letter of intent to attend and play collegiate baseball at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

    With his mother to his right and his head baseball coach Todd Haug to his left, Nick made his decision to head upstate to study at the school known for its position in the “Big Ten.”

    “These days are always paramount,” Coach Haug said. “Often times in our sport, unlike many of the other sports, we don’t get to take the time to celebrate someone’s accomplishments, since you’re finding out at the very end where you’re going. In this case, we had the opportunity to stop and reflect upon what Nick has done and hopefully what he will continue to do.”

    Cauley’s great work as a pitcher for the Redbirds has made him the team’s ace since the drafting of Bryan Hudson to the Chicago Cubs. His 90-plus miles-per-hour fast ball has shown that Cauley is truly a force to be reckoned with. However, he is incredibly humble and gracious for his teammates and coaches for their ongoing support.

     

    “I try not to think about [the fastball speed] too much,” Cauley said. “I learned over the last few years that it is not all about the velocity. I have to improve on my other weaknesses. It helps to throw a little harder, but it’s not everything.”

     

    “He’s a self-made man. We often say that getting better and improving is a lonely act. It means going the other way and improving never stops,” Haug said. “It’s a testament to him. He’s the complete package. We know that he will do great things on and off the field.”

    When Coach Haug passed the torch onto Nick to speak, the joke-cracking teen wished his brother, Aaron, and a few friends happy birthday to break the serious tone of the room.

    “I don’t think I’d be here if it weren’t for the help and support of all of you guys, each and everyone of you,” Cauley said. “Thank you very much.”

    Looking forward to next fall, Cauley is excited to head to Evanston to start the next chapter of his life come next autumn.

    “I feel like the whole package I’m getting is electrifying,” Cauley said. “I love the campus and the opportunities they give me with academics.”

    Aside from the brilliant academics that Northwestern provides all of its students, the coaches at the university’s baseball program definitely influenced Cauley’s decision. Before choosing Northwestern, St. Louis University and Missouri State University were his other top choices.

    “The new coaches they have are definitely breathing life into the program. I really like where its headed,” he said. “When they recruited me, there was just something different about them. They’re so full of life.”

    Nick is looking forward to possibly majoring in biological sciences at Northwestern and intends to travel down the medical career path.

    To contact Madelaine Gerard for any potential stories, please send an e-mail to madelaine@riverbender.com.

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