Around the Horn with Bob

Just a quick note to keep everyone up to date. The Wildwood Dodgers, the Metro League’s representative to the NABF World series, has advanced beyond pool play.

Thursday’s two games were split – a 1-0, complete game shutout by Joe Scanio and a tough, 1-0 loss.  Friday’s 10-1, complete game victory behind Ryan Clubb propelled them into the quarter finals with a 2-1 record.

The quarter-final and semi-final rounds will both be played on Saturday, with the Championship round on Sunday.  Seeding is yet to be announced, but the Dodgers are in a good position, having surrendered only two runs in three games.  Furthermore, the two complete-game performances by Scanio and Clubb have ensured that Gus Lombardo and his boys will enter the final rounds with a well-rested pitching staff.

Stay tuned.

- Bob T.

Wildwood – 11          Alton – 9

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new champion. The three-year reign of the Alton Indians came to an end Tuesday evening at the Ballwin Athletic Complex … but they didn’t go quietly.  In fact, this one was a real donnybrook.  The two teams collectively scored twenty runs while banging out thirty hits.  Three times during the game five runs were scored in an inning, as the two opponents took turns handing the game to each other.

Drew Schlereth was rudely greeted in the top of the first as Wildwood sent nine men to the plate, scoring five times on six hits.  Facing elimination, that presented an enormous hill for Alton to climb.  Still, they answered with a single run in the bottom of the inning.  The two teams each scored once in the third to make it a 6-2 game, a third of the way through.

Dodger starter Drew Boyer was effective through six, but sputtered in the seventh.  A one-out triple by Drew Standefer and an RBI single by Kyle Stanton sent him to the showers.  He was relieved by Will Schierholz who faced only three men, retiring one and surrendering two hits.  He was quickly pulled by Gus Lombardo who sent Philip Bodenschatz in to put out the fire.

With runners at first and third and two out, Mike Swinnen hit a weak chopper in front of the plate which was fielded by the catcher and fired to first.  The throw was on target but glanced off the glove of first baseman Taylor Bax and two runs hustled home on the error.  Alton took the lead 7-6 on an RBI single by Zach Steed.  They wouldn’t have long to enjoy it.

Scott Turmail had pulled Schlereth after three innings of work and replaced him with Joe Scanio.  The big righthander settled things down for the Indians, pitching four innings of scoreless ball.  When he took the hill in the top of the eighth he was defending a tenuous, one-run lead.

A pitch call by home plate umpire Brian Brasher appeared to unnerve the hurler and he became erratic, walking Bax and Wisdom.  After a bunt single by Stephen Kohler loaded the bases with no one out, a bomb to the centerfield fence off the bat of Paul Richmond quickly unloaded them.  The RBI triple made it 9-7, Wildwood.  But the Dodgers still had a bit of thunder left.  Dylan Mooney Smoked a line drive deep over the right field fence and the lead now stood at four.  More runs might have been had in that inning but Ryan Hall, who had been hit by a pitch, was doubled off first by rightfielder John Pilackas and Taylor Howe flied out to left.

Down but not out, the Indians scored twice in the bottom of the eighth after a walk and a hit batsman put runners at first and second with no one out.  When Ian Sikes’ RBI single eluded Dodger centerfielder Jacob Ripp, the second run scampered home, scoring all the way from first; 11-9, Dodgers.

That’s where it stayed until the bottom of the ninth, Wildwood having gone down in order in the top of the frame.  The bottom two hitters for Alton singled and moved up to second and third on a passed ball, sitting there for the top of the order with no one out.  Both bullpens were deserted, so this one belonged to Scanio and Bodenschatz.  Everyone sat on the edges of their seats, anticipating yet another Indians come-from-behind victory.

But the Alton magic, the mojo, the lightning strike we’d come to expect from this talented team, was gone.  Maddox popped up to short, Standefer flied weakly to center and Stanton bounced out to short for the winner.  This night and this series belonged to the Wildwood Dodgers as they mobbed each other on the field.

The blood, sweat and tears of an intense Metro Collegiate season, not to mention two playoff rounds played in severe heat, came to fruition in this exhilarating moment.  It is the one time that men can act like boys.  And that’s okay; this is why we play the game.  Enjoy it, you Wildwood Dodgers.  Congratulations, Gus and Mike.  Yours was a job well done.

Congratulations as well to Scott Turmail and the Alton Indians, as they made the championship round for the fourth consecutive season … and I’m quite sure they’ll be back.

So now it’s on to Dayton, Ohio and the NABF World Series, which begins August fourth.  Gus has some patchwork to do, as certain of his players will not be making the trip and must be replaced on the roster.  We have seen that this Wildwood team can score and they can pitch effectively when the chips are down.

But one major area of concern for coach Lombardo has to be the untimely errors that seem to haunt this team.  Dodger pitchers had to work around four of them last night and two the night before.  This is a very unforgiving game and the Dodgers can ill afford to spot their opponents any unearned runs in the NABF World Series.  Perhaps the week off will grant them the much-needed time to recuperate and refocus.

In any event, I am confident that Gus Lombardo and the Wildwood Dodgers will represent the St. Louis Metro Collegiate Baseball League in fine fashion.  Last year Turmail and the Indians fell just short, losing the championship game.  This year, who knows?

WP:  Philip Bodenschatz          LP:  Joe Scanio

Wildwood – 5          Alton – 4

Winning the first game in a short series puts a team in the driver’s seat. The pressure is shifted to the losing team to even the series in game two and if they get that little bit of business done, the best-of-five becomes a best-of-three.

Alton found themselves in that position and jumped out in front early.  After leadoff hitter Keenan Maddox flied out deep to left field, Drew Standefer and Kyle Stanton hammered back-to-back singles.  With two out, John Pilackas skied a Zach Gronek pitch into the right-center gap.  Both fielders gave chase but, being that right field was a vicious sun field at that point in the evening, centerfielder Taylor Holman took charge and ranged over to gather in the third out – but it wasn’t to be.  The ball popped out of his glove, scoring both baserunners and putting Alton ahead, 2-0.

To Dodgers fans, that was a bad omen.  The one thing you do not want to do when you have a good team down, is to send any daylight their way.  Spotting them two runs in the top of the first was not exactly what Lombardo and Co. had in mind.

The score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the fifth.  A leadoff double by Holman and a single and stolen base by Ryan Hall put the tying runs in scoring position for Spencer Ammons.  The first Dodger run scored on his RBI single; the second came across on a sac fly by Ian Foege.  Kory Wisdom then slammed a Bill McFarland pitch deep to the right field fence to score Ammons, but was thrown out attempting to stretch the sure double into a triple.  Nevertheless, Wildwood had captured the lead for the moment.  That moment was short lived.

Standefer walked to lead off the top of the sixth and took third on a two-out single by Pilackas.  Nolan Rappe followed that with an RBI knock and we were all knotted up at three apiece.

Wildwood came to bat in the bottom of the frame against Andrew Tretter, who had relieved McFarland the previous inning.  Dylan Mooney singled and was bunted to second by Taylor Howe.  After Holman walked, the two runners advanced on a passed ball.  Hall then fouled out to the catcher and Ammons walked to load the bases.  Facing right-handed hitter Ian Foege, Tretter bounced a fastball through the left-hand batters box.  On a close play and with a terrific head-first slide, Mooney scored on the wild pitch.  The Dodgers had regained the lead, 4-3.

Wildwood added another run in the seventh on a single and a stolen base by Kory Wisdom and a two-out, RBI double by Mooney.  Facing Dodger reliever, Brandon Sarkissian, singles by Stanton and Sikes and a passed ball set runners up at second and third.  With one out, Rappe hit a two-hopper to third baseman Dustin Dineen who surprised everyone by winging it home.  But the Dodger third-sacker hurried his throw more than was needed to get the slow-footed Kyle Stanton.  It sailed twenty feet up the line and over everyone.  The tally now stood at 5-4, Wildwood.

The Dodgers tried to push an insurance run across in the bottom of the eighth with one out and the bases loaded.  On a passed ball that seemed to elude the notice of the Alton catcher, Taylor Holman dashed home, only to be tagged out by a diving Ian Sikes.  The stage was set for the ninth in a one-run game.

Leading off, Keenan Maddox smoked a Sarkissian pitch deep into right field.  Taylor Holman, who had moved to right when Jacob Ripp entered the contest, gave chase and retired the speedy Maddox with a diving catch, redeeming himself from his first inning foible.  Standefer followed that with a routine fly to right.

Now with two out, Kyle Stanton was Alton’s last hope.  Fighting off a couple of two-strike offerings, he singled solidly to left.  Sikes followed that with a Texas leaguer over second and it appeared that the Indians just might pull it out.  Pilackas promptly skied one on the infield which was gathered in by second baseman Kory Wisdom and the Dodgers secured their second victory in the series.

The clear favorite coming into this series, Alton faces elimination this evening at the Ballwin Athletic Complex.  But they have the right guy on the hill this evening.  Last wednesday’s winner, Drew Schlereth, will toe it up for the Indians.  He will be opposed by Drew Boyer, who was the winner in his semi-final game last Wednesday.  Both pitchers will be working on an extra day’s rest.  We shall see if that affects either pitcher’s sharpness tonight.

For Wildwood, it’s win one and go;  for Alton, it’s win one and live to fight another day.  This is playoff baseball at its best.  Come on out and catch it.

WP: Zach Gronek     LP: Bill McFarland     SV: Brandon Sarkissian

Alton rode its three-year dynasty into the championship round of the Metro Collegiate playoffs Sunday afternoon. The top-ranked Indians had every right to exude confidence as they squared off with the Wildwood Dodgers … then they ran into Ryan Clubb.

Ryan went the distance for Wildwood, scattering five hits and one free pass while striking out five in nine full innings of shutout baseball.  Alton put only one man in scoring position over the course of the game and never more than a single baserunner at any one time.  Clearly, the afternoon belonged to Ryan Clubb and the Wildwood Dodgers.  One also had to wonder if the last two games played by Alton in the first round, wherein they scored twenty-four runs, left Scott Turmail’s team a bit flat.

Travis Felax fared well enough in his eight innings of work for the Indians, surrendering only two earned runs.  But the normally sound Alton defense committed two critical errors that accounted for an additional three runs.  The most damaging misplay occured in the bottom of the second with one out and the bases loaded.  Ian Foege hit a slow bouncer which was booted by Alton second baseman, Mike Swinnen.  That plated two runs and advanced another runner to third, who subsequently scored on Kory Wisdom’s infield grounder.

Wildwood added single runs in the seventh and eighth and two more in the ninth to add an exclamation point to the victory.  Leadoff hitter Kory Wisdom led the charge for Gus Lombardo’s team, banging out three hits in four at-bats with two RBIs and a run scored.

Wildwood – 7          Alton – 0

WP:  Ryan Clubb;  LP: Travis Felax

The two teams go at it again this evening in game two.  That contest will be played at SIUE, 7:00PM.  On the hill for Alton will be 6′ 4″ righty, Bill McFarland.  The starter for Wildwood has not yet been announced.

Alton – 12          St. Charles – 5

The heat was on at BMAC last evening – literally and figuratively. Temperatures soared over 100 degrees in St. Louis and the park was a veritable oven for the start of game four between St. Charles and Alton, with the Mules facing elimination.

On the hill for St. Charles was Aaron Brett, who pitched four innings, surrendering single tallies in the second and fourth.  The pace of the game was slow, as the fatigued pitchers for both teams labored and ran the counts deep.  Eric Tiefenthaler came in to relieve in the fifth and set the side down in order.  In the bottom of that frame, St. Charles loaded the bases with one out on a walk to Crain and singles by Tom Mancuso and Matt Robinson.  Crain then scored on a 6-3 put-out to cut the Indians’ lead in half.

But, as had been the case in the two previous games, the witching hour for these two teams lurked out there somewhere between the sixth and seventh innings.  After holding the Indians scoreless for two innings and retiring the first two batters he faced in the seventh, Tiefenthaler simply ran out of gas. Alton batters touched Eric and fellow reliever Drew Stanton for eight consecutive base hits and seven runs … and the rout was on.

St. Charles scored three in the bottom of the seventh to answer the challenge, but Alton responded with three of their own in the top of the eighth to seal the deal.  Sixty runs were scored in this four game series, thirty-nine wearing the Alton orange.  Certainly, both teams have some fine hitters, but most of the offensive production came as a result of a St. Charles team running on fumes.

The winning pitcher was Andrew Tretter; Eric Tiefenthaler shouldered the loss for St. Charles.  Now it’s on to the championship round for the Alton Indians, a series they have won the previous three seasons.  Will 2011 be number four?  Stay tuned.

Wildwood – 13          Ballwin – 3

While the Alton series was like a steel cage bout, the first three contests between Wildwood and Ballwin were close, low-scoring affairs.  That wouldn’t be the case in game four.

Coach Fiala was without three of his pitchers for this series.  That certainly hurt his chances.  Both squads had lost a few of their starting position players and key hitters.  So who would win the battle of attrition in this elimination game?

As it turned out, it was over before Ballwin ever picked up a bat.  Wildwood scored five times in the top of the first, twice in the second and six times in the third.  That’s thirteen Wildwood runs before ninth-place batter Joe Winckel came to the plate for Ballwin in the bottom of the third.

The Bandits managed a single run in the fourth and two in the fifth, but couldn’t push another across to avoid the mercy killing in the seventh inning.  Ryan Wilkinson took the loss for Ballwin.  Wildwood starter Matt Meyer, who pitched four strong innings in the shortened game, got the win.

The top two seeds now advance to the Metro Collegiate championship round and I suppose that’s the way it should be.  That all being said, the Indians and the Dodgers can now enjoy two much-needed days of rest before cranking it up again on Sunday.  That game will be played at 1:00 PM at Parkway South.

We shall see if Gus Lombardo, Mike Hunt and the Wildwood Dodgers can unseat Scott Turmail and the Alton machine.  Congratulations and good luck to them both.

Alton – 12          St. Charles – 2

I haven’t mentioned it yet, but this first round of the St. Louis Metro Collegiate playoffs is being played in near-record heat, with little or no relief in sight.  July in St. Louis can be practically unbearable and this one is beginning to take its toll.

The resulting fatigue was evident Wednesday evening as the Mules squared off against the Indians to see who would grab a 2-1 series lead.  C.J. Rose took the hill for Pat Evers’ boys and struggled through six grueling innings, scattering twelve hits, but walked no one and gave up only four runs.  When he exited the game after the sixth, Alton was out in front, but reachable.

Reliever Michael Hollander entered the contest with a job to do and his team down 4-2.  That seventh inning saw five Indian runners cross the plate on only one infield hit, one error and five bases on balls.  The baseball never left the infield and all three outs were registered at home plate – two on force outs and one on an attempted steal.

Alton Starter Drew Schlereth went the distance in what could only be described as a gutty performance, considering the oppressive heat.  In eight innings of work, Drew allowed only two runs on six hits and two walks, while striking out eleven.

Meanwhile, his counterpart returned to the hill to pitch the bottom of the eighth.  In a game that was already out of reach, Hollander ‘took one for the team’ to avoid taxing an already depleted pitching staff.  The Alton eighth looked a lot like the Alton seventh.  The Indians scored three more runs on one hit, three walks and an error.  With daylight fading fast, the twelfth run crossed the plate and the game was called on the ten-run mercy rule.

Winning Pitcher : Drew Schlereth;  Losing Pitcher : C.J. Rose

Wildwood – 3,          Ballwin – 2

While the Alton series has seen an offensive explosion totaling 43 runs in three games, the Wildwood series has posted only ten.  These two teams are short a number of key players due to injury, illness and other unforeseen absences.  Still, they are slugging it out like two, one-armed heavyweights.

The game was scoreless until Cesar Tovar put Ballwin on top in the fourth with a solo shot.  Wildwood quickly answered in the bottom of that frame when a walk and two Bandit errors set the table for Ryan Hall.  He doubled home the tying run, but when the throw went astray on its way to the infield, he attempted to advance to third.  The runner at third held and Hall was tagged out.

In the Wildwood fifth Ian Foege reached on a hit and scooted all the way to third on a sac bunt.  Controversy ensued when he scored on a ball hit hard to first base.  The catcher’s tag met a standing runner.  Coach Fiala protested vehemently that the Dodger runner had never reached the plate, but to no avail – the score now stood at 2-1, Wildwood.

The Dodgers plated another in the bottom of the sixth on a one-out, bases-loaded infield hit by Ian Foege.  Ballwin added another tally in the top of the eighth on a one-out sac fly off the bat of Curran Collins, but went down quietly in the ninth.  Drew Boyer pitched seven strong innings to collect the win; Patrick Jacobs snagged the save.  The losing pitcher was Derek Emily.

The stage is set this evening at BMAC for Wildwood and Alton to advance to the championship round.  Standing in their way are two worthy opponents … and the oppressive heat.

Ballwin – 3          Wildwood – 1

The Bandits had their sights set on evening the series when they hosted the Dodgers at BMAC on Tuesday.

Kory Wisdom led off the Dodger first with a double, advancing and scoring on two infield outs.  The Bandits answered in the bottom of the first with singles by Taylor Stoulp and Cameron Berra and an RBI double off the bat of Cesar Tovar.  Kyle Leslie drove in the second Ballwin run with a base hit.  That ended the scoring until Ballwin added an insurance tally in the bottom of the seventh on a single by Stoulp and an RBI double by Berra. 

Wildwood loaded the bases with no one out in the top of the ninth, but failed to score.  Jake Sinovich pitched five and a third in collecting the win; Jason Bell threw three and two-thirds scoreless innings to nail down the save.  Zach Gronek took the loss for Wildwood.

St. Charles – 11          Alton – 9

This one was a donnybrook.  Since I was at BMAC for the Dodgers and Bandits, I had to rely upon the accounts given to me by the two coaches.  They weren’t very talkative.

The game posted double-digit errors – twelve to be exact.  Alton held a comfortable 8-2 lead until the sixth inning, when the wheels came off the wagon.  I’m sorry that I cannot provide a blow-by-blow, but then, I wouldn’t have the room here to contain it.  According to the PrepCasts team, Steve Crain was the hitting star for St. Charles with four safeties.

An ugly game is ugly for both teams.  Even the winner takes little pleasure in it.  The good news for Pat Evers and his Mules team is that they evened the series going into Wednesday’s action.

Wildwood – 1          Ballwin – 0

The Edwardsville campus of Southern Illinois University was the site of games 1A and 1B in the first round of the 2011 Metro Collegiate Baseball playoffs.

In the first game of this best-of-five series face-off between Ballwin and Wildwood, the game story should have been Shawn Spainhoward’s strong pitching performance.  The Ballwin lefty allowed just one Wildwood run in eight innings of work, striking out six while walking only one.  That would have been the game story, but for Ryan Clubb’s equally strong performance.  The Dodger righty went the distance, shutting the Bandits out while scattering 6 hits and 5 free passes.

Ballwin had runners on  base in every inning, stranding twelve in the contest.  Clubb’s ability to work out of trouble frustrated Fiala’s crew Monday night, leaving them to wonder, like the women’s World Cup soccer team, what in the world they had to do to score.

The Dodgers posted the only run they would need in the bottom of the eigth inning on a leadoff double by Aaron Vogt.  He was then promptly driven home on a single by catcher Taylor Howe with what proved to be the game winner.  The two teams meet this evening for a 7:00 Game at BMAC in Bridgeton.

Alton – 6          St. Charles – 3

In the nightcap, St. Charles appeared to be on their way to a victory with a single tally in the first and two more in the top of the second.  But the tables quickly turned in the bottom of that frame when starter Drew Schrader made one a bit too good for Tyler Mikrut, who slammed a two-out triple to center.

After a walk to Dustin Dineen, Jared Dooley singled home the first Indians run.  Keenen Maddox followed that with an RBI single to right and when the throw from right fielder Drew Levi sailed to the backstop, Dooley hustled to the vacated plate with the third run of the inning.  Moments later, Maddox scampered home with the fourth run on a wild pitch and Alton took a lead that they would never relinquish.

The Indians added single tallies in the third and the sixth, but the fine pitching of Travis Felax kept Pat Evers’ troops scoreless through eight.  Andrew Tretter relieved in the ninth and shut the door to seal the victory.

Eric Tiefenthaler threw four strong innings in relief for St.Charles to give his team a chance, but Felax proved to be too much for the Mules hitters who fell behind 1 – 0 in the series.  The two teams face each other this evening, 7:00 PM at the Ballwin Athletic Complex.

Wildwood 4, St. Charles 3
Clayton 7, Bridgeton 6
Alton 8, Kirkwood 2

In an unbelievably tight, three-team race for the fourth seed in the upcoming Metro League playoffs, the most unlikely thing happened – none of the contenders won their deciding game! The fourth and final playoff team was therefore determined by tie-breakers.

In the previous entry, I detailed what could happen Friday evening in four different combinations of outcomes. The fourth scenario had all three teams losing their games and finishing the season at 13-15.  That’s exactly what happened.  Since St. Charles held the deciding tie-breakers against both Bridgeton and Kirkwood, they now advance to play the number one-seeded Alton Indians in the best-of-five first round.  The Wildwood Dodgers will square off against the Ballwin Bandits.

Both brackets will play Monday evening, July 18 at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE).  The Dodgers and Bandits occupy the “B” bracket and will play at 5:30.  The “A” bracketed Alton Indians and St. Charles Mules will square off at 8:30.  All playoff contests will be broadcast live and archived via the internet on Prepcasts.com.

Get in the game!

- Bob T.

As I write this morning, we have 3 teams deadlocked in a fight for the fourth and final seed in the Metro League playoffs. Alton (#1), Wildwood (#2) and Ballwin (#3) have already clinched, but Bridgeton, Kirkwood and St. Charles each cling to a 13-14 record after last night’s games. Bridgeton played a twin-bill at BMAC, beating Kirkwood 10-3 only to lose the nightcap when Wildwood came from a 1-0 deficit in the eighth to win 2-1. Across the river at SIUE, St. Charles dropped the front end of their doubleheader 13-2 to Normandy, but handed it to Clayton 8-2 in the second game.

All of that has brought the drama to a boil for this evening’s game between Alton and Kirkwood (5:30 @ Ballwin) and two games at BMAC between Wildwood and St. Charles (5:30) and Bridgeton vs. Clayton (8:30). Tonight’s action will decide who goes and who stays, but does so under four possible scenarios:

Scenario 1: St. Charles wins over Wildwood - In this case, St. Charles would advance regardless of the results of the other two games since they hold the first tie-breaker over Bridgeton (head-to-head) and the second tie-breaker (runs-allowed) over Kirkwood.

Scenario 2: St. Charles loses and Bridgeton wins  -  Bridgeton advances by virtue of holding the first tie-breaker over Kirkwood (3-1).

Scenario 3: St. Charles & Bridgeton lose; Kirkwood wins  - Kirkwood advances.

Scenario 4: All 3 teams lose  - St.Charles advances on tie-breakers.

I hope that makes a muddy picture a bit clearer for you. In any event, excitement will abound in the Metro League this evening. Come on out and catch the action!

- Bob T.