TEUTOPOLIS — Luck can be rewarding.
Other times, it can be painful and heartbreaking.
The sectional championship game pitting St. Anthony and Teutopolis on Saturday at Teutopolis High School Baseball Field had both.
Leading by three runs in the bottom of the seventh, the Bulldogs went to ace pitcher Brock Fearday to deliver, just as he did one season ago in this spot against this very same opponent, and just as he has done all season.
A little bit of that luck was needed for St. Anthony to overcome their cross-creek rivals one season ago, though, as Brady Hatton hit a home run in the top of the seventh inning after the ball hit off Mitch Koester’s glove and over the fence to put the Bulldogs in front. They went on to win the game in the next half-inning.
This time around, it was the Wooden Shoes who received that magic.
Henry Thompson started the seventh with a triple.
“Coach [Justin Fleener] had a meeting with us and said, ‘Crowd the plate a little bit,'” Thompson, a senior, said. “I did my best and we all trusted each other and had confidence in each other and I ended up having a good hit.”
Gavin Addis and Aidan Niemerg then drew back-to-back walks to load the bases.
Fearday then hit Dawson Hoene to push one run across and make it 4-2.
That pitch also ended Fearday’s outing. He finished allowing four hits, five runs (three earned) and five walks to six strikeouts in six innings. Fearday threw 106 pitches, 64 for strikes.
“He kind of got a little sped up,” St. A head coach Tony Kreke said. “At the end of the day, he’s an 18-year-old who’s a really good pitcher. I’m proud of him. That inning can’t define what he’s done for our program.”
Aiden Lauritzen relieved Fearday. He got Davin Worman to hit a grounder to Fearday, manning second, who tossed the ball to Alex Mayer at shortstop for the forceout but not in time to get Worman at first.
With Worman beating the throw, another run crossed, and all of a sudden, a once three-run lead was shaved to one with one out.
Lauritzen then got Mick Niebrugge to strike out for the second out of the frame.
Jason Kreke followed by hitting a grounder to Sam Link at third. Link couldn’t quite control the ball, though, and Kreke beat the throw, allowing the tying run to cross.
During that play, Worman hustled his way to third.
“The hustle from first to third was huge,” Fleener said. “If he doesn’t do that, he’s not on third base.”
The very next offering from Lauritzen proved to be the decider, as Austin Borries hit a grounder to Mayer. The ball was misplayed and Worman crossed home plate, screaming, before the dugout spilled out onto the field and attacked Borries.
The Shoes had just done the unthinkable.
Against an elite-level pitcher, down three runs, T-Town was able to show its resiliency and walk away a winner.
“The last inning, we had some luck on our side, so I was going up there, trying to get a pitch to hit and put it in play and hope for the best,” Borries said. “I got a hanging curveball and got jammed a little bit, but I put it in play, the shortstop bobbled it, and the run came across, and we won the game.”
Worman said he “blacked out” after crossing home plate.
He had no idea what had just happened.
“I don’t even know what to think,” he said. “I just blacked out there for a second. It’s so surreal. It’s an awesome feeling.”
Before the bottom half of the seventh, the Bulldogs got the run support they needed, as Lauritzen cranked a two-run home run to right field to give St. A the three-run advantage.
Borries exited the game after the homer.
The Lindenwood baseball recruit pitched six innings and allowed seven hits, four runs (three earned) and two walks to five strikeouts. He threw 103 pitches, 63 for strikes.
“I made some good pitches, but there were some pitches I’d like to have back,” Borries said.
Caleb Deters came in and didn’t allow any further damage. He got Henry Brent to pop out and Link and Mayer to strike out.
“I had to throw strikes,” Deters said. “I couldn’t let them on and was doing whatever Jason was calling behind the plate because I have all of my trust in him.”
Borries said of Deters, “It’s obviously a new look. He was able to come in and locate really well and get them off-balance with that slider that he has.”
Fleener added, “I think he’s able to control the zone for the most part. He has good movement on his pitches and he’s able to locate well. He battles out there.”
The Shoes led 1-0 after the first inning.
Borries got Will Fearday to strike out and Brady Hatton to pop out to short. Brock Fearday singled. He then struck out Lauritzen to end the inning.
Dawson Hoene grounded out to third to open the bottom of the frame.
Worman then singled before stealing second base.
Niebrugge grounded out to short, pushing Worman to third. Jason Kreke walked.
Borries hit an RBI single, plating Worman, to make the score.
Carter Hoene was then hit by a pitch before Brock Fearday struck out Henry Thompson to retire the side.
The Bulldogs returned the favor in the top of the second, scoring twice.
Brent popped out to Addis in foul territory.
Link singled. Mayer then struck out.
Charlie Spour then barrelled a ball to center, allowing Link to score. T-Town did make a costly error, though, as the second baseman misplayed the ball, allowing Spour to slide head-first into home plate for the go-ahead run.
Niemerg drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the second. Brock Fearday then got Dawson Hoene to ground into a fielder’s choice and Worman to line out to center.
Brock Fearday then hit a leadoff single in the third. Borries matched him, retiring the next three hitters and end the inning.
Jason Kreke laid down a bunt in the bottom of the third, after Niebrugge walked, but Brock Fearday fired a shot to Brent at second for the force.
Borries then struck out and Bryce Niebrugge, who courtesy ran for Jason Kreke, was caught stealing second for the final out.
St. A had runners on the corners and two outs in the top of the fourth.
Spour hit a duck-snort into right field. He later advanced to third on an error at third.
Will Fearday was then hit by a pitch before Hatton flew out to center for the third out.
Carter Hoene struck out to open the bottom of the fourth. Thompson singled before Teagan Pals, who pinch-hit for Addis, hit a grounder to short and was doubled up.
Brock Fearday was hit by a pitch in the fifth. Lauritzen then reached on an error before Brent bunted into a double play.
Link singled after that. Borries then got Mayer to line out to center.
From there, scoring chances were minimal until the end of the contest.
Both teams got their leadoff men on in the bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth, but nothing to show for it.
Brock Fearday worked a scoreless bottom of the sixth.
He then singled to start the top of the seventh before Lauritzen’s round-tripper.
Fleener said that, though it was the Bulldogs on the other side, the win didn’t mean any more to him than it would against any other team.
“It makes it sweet that we won,” he said. “I know there’s a rivalry between [the two schools]. Coach Kreke has a great program. From my point of view, sitting in that coach’s box against that group of seniors, I think he has to be very proud of what he has put together. I hear a lot of dugouts sometimes be high school dugouts. I’ve never heard an ill word come from any of those boys — got a lot of respect for the program and the young men we’ve had to compete against.
“Does it make it sweeter that it’s St. Anthony? I enjoy anybody we’d end up playing to get past this point.”
Doing it on their home field, however, was an experience this senior core won’t ever forget.
One such senior was Carter Hoene.
“It feels amazing,” Carter said. “When I first came into high school, I just wanted to be the best I could be and help the team out. Getting a sectional championship and bringing it back to T-Town on your home field means a lot.”
St. Anthony finishes the season with a 22-8 record.
Tony Kreke said that he worried his team may get complacent heading into the year, but that was not the case.
“After a championship season, sometimes you can be very complacent,” he said. “That was one of the things I feared as a coach. Once they got tested a little bit early, they bounced back, and from there, we turned it on.”
Tony shared an elongated moment with his team after the game.
“We didn’t talk much baseball. It was the human side of things,” he said. “You’re going to be judged by how you respond to adversity and how you respond today is going to determine a lot about yourself.”
Tony announced to his team earlier in the year that this would be his last season as the head coach of the program. He is taking a position at Teutopolis High School in the fall.
“They could have quit on me,” Tony said. “I said, ‘I’m not going to quit on you. You guys are my guys.'”
Tony finishes his career with the Bulldogs with a 132-41-1 record and three straight regional championships, one sectional championship, one super-sectional championship and one state championship.
The Shoes advance to Monday’s super-sectional at Abe Martin Field on the campus of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale against DuQuoin. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“I like going to Carbondale,” Fleener said. “In 2021, I went down and watched Freeburg win a super-sectional and South Central win a super-sectional that year. In 2022, I was lucky enough to watch my son’s North Clay Cardinals win a super-sectional. The last time I was able to be a part of a super-sectional team there was in 2003.”