2A: St. Joseph-Ogden and Teutopolis Advance To The State Title Game

June 2, 2017

By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

GAME 1: St. Joseph-Ogden 5, Chicago Christian 2

The Spartans of St. Joseph-Ogden knocked off No. 22 Chicago Christian, 5-2 in eight innings, punching their ticket to the Class 2A state title game tomorrow. The loss was Chicago Christian’s second of the season.

The game was a clean and crisp pitcher’s duel until two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the seventh inning. Colton Hale, the St. Joseph-Ogden (27-7) starter, was leading 2-1 and had thrown a gem of a game. The Illinois-Springfield commit was looking to close out the complete game victory but had hit his pitch number limit and was forced to leave the mound.

Chicago Christian (39-2) took advantage. The next batter, John Vander Wall walked and Jon Griffin came in to pinch run. Then on a 3-2 count Josh Hill hit a high fly ball down the right-field line. The Spartan right fielder came a long way to track it down and battling the sun and high sky, could not come up with the catch. The ball was ruled to be touched in fair territory and Griffin came all the way around from first base to score the game-tying run for Chicago Christian. The Spartans were able to escape the inning without any further damage and force extra innings.

A lot of teams would have been shell shocked with the transgressions of the bottom of the seventh but not St. Joseph-Ogden. The Spartans are a veteran group who played one of the more memorable games of 2016 in the Class 2A state title game. In that game, the Spartans clawed their way back from a 6-1 deficit entering the fifth inning, facing one of the top arms in the state, before eventually falling in extra innings to Reed-Custer.

The Spartans wasted no time in the top of the eighth. They collected four hits, a walk and three doubles by Austin Cain, Brant Hoveln and Marty Wright. Before all was said and done, St. Joseph-Ogden had put up three runs and held a 5-2 lead entering the bottom of the eighth.

After a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eighth inning, coach Josh Haley turned to Cain out of the bullpen. Cain proceeded to get the next three outs advancing the Spartans to their second consecutive Championship game.

Dan Vos, a Trinity Christian commit, threw well in a losing effort for Chicago Christian. The southpaw struck out 13 in 7.2 innings, sitting anywhere from 84-88 mph throughout and consistently throwing his breaking ball for a strike.

Hale’s final line was 6.2 innings, four hits, one run, two walks and eight strikeouts. Hale sat 85-88 mph throughout and touched 89 once. Hale was sitting 86-88 mph in his seventh and final inning.

Cain, Eli Place and Jesse Schlueter each had three hits in the win.

GAME 2: Teutopolis 11, Orion 0 (5 innings)

PEORIA, IL - Teutopolis was relentless from the get-go, ultimately taking down Orion 11-0 in five innings. The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes scored five runs in the first, two in the second, one in the fourth and three more in the fifth to earn the right to play for a Class 2A state title tomorrow.

In the five-run first inning, the Wooden Shoes sent 11 batters to the plate. Jason Kenter hit an RBI double and Lane Belleville added a run-scoring single. Belleville, Maryville commit, had the offensive game of the tournament so far. The right-handed hitter went 4-for-4, with four RBI, three runs scored and was a triple away from the cycle. Belleville’s biggest hit was a two-run homerun in his last at-bat. The blast, which was a no-doubter, left the park in a hurry and put the Wooden Shoes up 11-0 in the top of the fifth inning.

Teutopolis (30-6) starter, Brock Bueker, cruised in his five-inning victory. The senior right-handed threw a five-inning shutout, scattering two hits and striking out eight.

Offensively, other than Belleville, the Wooden Shoes were led by Jason Kenter. Kenter went 3-for-4 a double, RBI and two runs scored.

Daimon Zurcher and Noah Anderon had the lone hits on the day for Orion.

Teutopolis plays St. Joseph-Ogden at 5pm on Saturday with the Class 2A state title on the line.

Orion (21-13) will play Chicago Christian at 3:00 pm on Saturday in the third place game.