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In the first game, the 4th seeded Millstadt VFW (14-8) prevailed over the #5 seed Valmeyer Lakers (14-8) by the score of 5-3.
Millstadt took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a single by Kenny Weston, advanced to second on a groundout, then came home to score on a throwing error by the pitcher, who had taken a hard hit grounder off the bat of Eric Muskopf.
The Lakers knotted the score at 1 in the top of the 4th on a leadoff home run by Justin Rohlfing.
Valmeyer took the lead at 2-1 in the top of the 6th with a leadoff double by Justin Rohlfing, a bunt single by Chris Mosbacher down the 3rd base line, which put runners on 1st and 3rd. Kenny Mathews then laid done a perfect suicide squeeze bunt to score Rohlfing from 3rd and the Lakers led for the first time in the game.
Millstadt came roaring back in hurry in the bottom half of the 6th. DH Austin Voelker singled to leadoff off the inning . Representing the tying run, Manager Lenny Voelker went to his bench for the speedy Steven French to pinch run for Voelker. The move paid off when Michael Adamson lined a double in the right centerfield gap driving home French from 1st to tie the game at 2 runs each. Starting Valmeyer Pitcher Dave Breisacher fanned the next hitter for the 1st out of the inning. With 1st base open, Valmeyer Manager Dennis Pieper then elected to intentionally walk the hot hitting Jay Francois of Millstatdt in order to set up a double play. Unfortunately, the first pitch to home was wild and Adamson moved up to 3rd base with one out. The intentional pass was completed and set up runners at 1st and 3rd with one out when Valmeyer opted to also give Kenny Weston a free pass as well - the bases were loaded with one out. Greg Steen stepped to the plate looking for a fastball he could drive and promptly took the first pitch to the right centerfield gap for a base clearing double to give Millstadt a 5-2 lead.
Valmeyer would not go down easily.in the top of the 7th - Jeff Riebeling lined a double to right center with one out and scored on a two out base hit by the game's hitting star Justin Rohlfing to close the scoring at 5-3.
Tough loss loser Breisacher yielded only 4 hits, 2 walks (both intentional) and fanned 3 over 6 innings.
Matt Germann was the winner with a complete game effort - 9 hits, 2 walks and fanned 3 over 7 innings.
In the second game, the #2 seed St. Louis Spikes (15-7) outlasted the #7 Belleville Merchants (10-12) in a contest that lasted 3 hours and 20 minutes. Belleville had twice taken the lead in extra innings only to see the Spikes tie the game and prolong the battle. The final was 4-3 St. Louis in 11 innings.
The third game matched the 3rd seeded Fairview Heights Redbirds (14-8) against the #6 seed Marissa Young Guns (11-11). Marissa led for much of the contest until Fairview bolted ahead to take the game 6-4.
Marissa jumped out to a 4-0 lead through 5 innings. Young Guns starting pitcher Kyle Cato held the Redbirds to only 2 hits after 5.
In the bottom of the 6th, Cato showed signs of wearing down in the 90 degree heat as he walked the bases loaded. Manager Jason Chandler went to his bullpen calling on John Norton to put out the fire. After an RBI groundout, the Redbirds put together a pair of RBI singles before Wahlig delivered the crushing blow - a 3 run homer to give Fairview Heights a 6-4 lead.
Blumberg started the game for Fairview and managed 5-1/3 innings before Ryan Meyler relieved in the sixth to pick up the victory. Adam Hill pitched a scoreless 7th to earn the save.
The final contest of the evening saw the top seeded Waterloo Buds (21-1) move past the #8 seed Columbia Saints(9-13) by the score of 5-2 . Waterloo jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first, and left the rest to starting pitcher Cory Blackwell who limited the Saints to just four hits while fanning twelve.
Thursday's games will pit the #2 St. Louis Spikes (16-7) against the #3 Fairview Heights Redbirds (15-8) in a battle that promises to include solid pitching and defense. In regular season league action, the two teams split with St. Louis winning 8-2 and Fairview Heights winning 5-3. Game time is 6:30 PM on the main field at Long Acre Park in Fairview Heights.
The nightcap will feature the #1 Waterloo Buds (22-1) against the #4 Millstadt VFW (15-8) ballclub. Waterloo's only set back of the regular league season came at the hands of Millstadt with Waterloo taking the other half of the twinbill for a split. Game time will be 15 minutes following the first game on the same field.
The winners of each game will advance to the Best 2 out of 3 Championship Series on Saturday, August 5th - game time is 1:30 for the first game and 15 minutes following for the second game. If there is a split on Saturday, the Final Championship Game will be played at 1:30 on Sunday.
Jay Francois of Millstadt got things going in the bottom of the first with a ground rule double to right with one out. Jake Bayers of Fairview Heights corked the next pitch deep to right field for a two run homer. Bayers earned Most Valuable Player honor for the Mon-Clair ballclub after finishing the night going 2 for 3 with a walk, two runs scored and 2 RBI, including the first innning homer - congrats to Jake.
Steve Maher of the St. Louis Spikes added an RBI single later in the first to make score 3-0 after one.
The score remained 3-0 through the first 4 innings behind the strong pitching of Musso, Matt Germann of Millstadt and Justin Clayton of Granite City - the 3 pitchers gave up just 3 hits combined. Clayton was the only Mon-Clair pitcher to throw 2 innings as Manager Lenny Voelker of Millstadt had an arsenal of a pitching staff on hand - 9 pitchers for 9 innings (Brandon Waeltz of Waterloo was unavailable due to an outing on Wednesday evening).
Adam Hill of Fairview Heights entered the game in the top of the fifth. After a leadoff walk, a base hit to left center sent the lead runner to third with the throw from the outfield going to third. Mon-Clair third baseman Brian Fuess of Waterloo attempted to pick off the runner at first, but the ball sailed into the seats (a short rain delay had the field in wet conditions) as Fuess failed to get a firm grip on the ball. Both runners moved up on the error - the only miscue of the game by both teams - resulting in Clinton County's first run. A sacrifice fly later in the inning made it 3-2 after 4-1/2 innings.
The Mon-Clair All Stars came roaring back in the bottom of the 5th - Bayers walked and Ryan Holland of Marissa followed with a booming drive to left center near the 345 Ft. mark and cleared the towering high wall to make the score 5-2 after 5 innings.
Clinton County closed the scoring with a run in the top of the 7th to make the score 5-3.
The match up between these two leagues was the first since 2001 and hopefully this will become an annual event - Mon-Clair holds an 8-1 advantage overall aginst Clinton County.
The attendance, based on ticket sales, was 376 paid, children 13 and under were free.
A special thanks to Clinton County officials - President Ken Haselhorst and Secretary-Treasurer Pete Schumacher for their fine effort in working with Mon-Clair League President Dave Powell, Vice President Ed lange and Vice President Rich Fisher to pull this event off.
In addition, we appreciate the donations made by all of the Managers from both Leagues for attendance prizes, and to all of the managers, coaches, players and umpires for their participation.
Last, but not least, we appreciate the hospitality of The Gateway Grizzlies for the use of their fine facility. Rich Sauget and his staff provided excellent accommodations to hold this event - thanks Jeff!!
Starting Position Players
C Steve Maher St. Louis .500 AVG
1B Ryan Holland Marissa .609 AVG
2B Jay Francois Millstadt .471 AVG
SS Eric Stechmesser Columbia .409 AVG
3B Brian Fuess Waterloo .396 AVG
OF John Atlis St. Louis .526 AVG
OF Jake Bayers Fairview .405 AVG
OF Kevin Sangiolo Belleville .515 AVG
DH Craig Ohlau Waterloo .467 AVG
Pitchers:
Brandon Musso Waterloo 4-0 1.81 ERA
Matt Germann Millstadt 5-0 2.97 ERA
Cory Blackwell Waterloo 4-1 2.07 ERA
Brandon Waeltz Waterloo 3-0 1.98 ERA
Dave Briesacher Valmeyer 4-2 2.22 ERA
Kit Crooks St. Louis 3-1 1.11 ERA
Adam Hill Fairview 3-2 2.66 ERA
Justin Clayton Granite City 3-2 3.02 ERA
Darrel Garcia Fairview 2-0 2.45 ERA
Reserves:
OF Matt Jones Alton .405 AVG
C Chaz Macklin E St. Louis .300 AVG
IF Bobby Lyons Edwardsville .353 AVG
OF Michael Adamson Millstadt .567 AVG
IF Carl Heuer Belleville .512 AVG
IF Jake Friedrich Waterloo .455 AVG
IF Garrett Rohlfing Valmeyer .385 AVG
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