EFFINGHAM — Everything seemed to be going St. Anthony’s direction on Monday afternoon.
The Bulldogs were ahead by three runs heading into the sixth inning, eyeing a sixth-straight win.
You can never count a great baseball team out, though.
And this North Clay team is certainly that.
The Cardinals stormed back in the sixth and seventh innings to claim an 8-6 victory. North Clay (25-3) has not lost since April 14.
“We had a lot of quality at-bats. We were fighting for our lives,” head coach John Frech said. “We need this for a postseason run. These guys need to know that even though we’re down, we’re not out of it.”
Neither team scored in the first inning.
The Cardinals drew a two-out walk in the first before Carder Walden struck out.
Rogan Allen was hit by a pitch for St. Anthony (15-6) with one out. Blake Verdeyen then struck out and Aiden Lauritzen grounded into a fielder’s choice to retire the side.
North Clay got on the board in the second inning.
Cody Zimdars doubled to start the frame.
Trenton Ingram then popped out and Trevan Sidwell grounded out, advancing Zimdars to third.
Zimdars then scored on a wild pitch.
Ben Czyzewski then reached on an error before a force out at second ended the inning.
Ben McDonald hit a single in the bottom of the second and Curtis Tingley drew a walk, all with one out.
Xander Beals then grounded into a double play to end the Bulldogs’ hopes of tying the contest.
Cayden Craig hit a solo home run in the top of the third.
Carder Walden then hit a two-out single before Zimdars flew out to left.
St. Anthony scored four runs in the bottom of the third.
Henry Brent singled and Allen doubled.
Verdeyen then hit an RBI double, scoring one run.
Lauritzen was then intentionally walked. Charlie Spour then reached on an error, scoring two runs, to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead.
McDonald then grounded into a force out, allowing another run to score.
The Cardinals cut the lead to one run in the top of the fourth. The Bulldogs answered with two more in the fifth.
Ian Jones hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth to make it a two-run game.
Ingram started the seventh with a walk.
Sidwell then drew a walk before Czyzewski reached on a single to load the bases.
Cooper Lewis then hit a three-run double to give North Clay a 7-6 advantage.
Jack Compton followed with a walk. Jones then hit a sacrifice fly to increase the lead to two runs.
Zimdars allowed the first two batters to reach in the bottom of the seventh.
He then struck out the next three batters in order to end the game.
“Cody did an amazing job there at the end,” Frech said. “I think he got a little nervous, but he eventually found his way back.”
Zimdars allowed three hits, one run and one walk to five strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings.
Sidwell started and allowed seven hits, five runs (four earned) and two walks to one strikeout in 4 1/3 innings.
Cyzewski had two hits and one run scored. Craig had one hit (one home run), one RBI and one run scored. Walden and Ingram each had one hit. Zimdars had one hit (one double) and one run scored. Lewis had one hit (one double), three RBI and two runs scored. Jones had two RBI. Brodie Adair had two runs scored and Collin Schnepper had one run scored.
“When you give up 11 walks, you’re not going to win. We’ve been skating on thin ice the last few games,” Bulldogs head coach Blake Malatestinic said. “If you don’t have anyone that can come in and really stop the bleeding [it’s going to be hard to win].”
Allen had two hits (one double) and two runs scored. Spour had two hits, two RBI and one run scored. McDonald had two hits and one RBI. Brent had one hit and one run scored. Verdeyen had one hit, one RBI and one run scored. Tingley had one hit and one RBI. Beals had one hit and Lauritzen had one run scored.
Beals started and allowed six hits, three runs and two walks to one strikeout over three innings. He returned to the mound after a lengthy absence due to an injury.
“We had some really good news for him,” Malatestinic said. “The more he’s been checking off the boxes, the more we’ve been anticipating him pitching.”
Spour, Connor Storm and Verdeyen followed Beals. Spour allowed one run and six walks to three strikeouts in two innings; Storm allowed two runs and two walks in one inning and Verdeyen allowed one hit, two unearned runs and one walk in one inning.