Reported by Jack Witthaus

 

In a close battle out in Hazelwood, SLUH junior Andrew Quinn proved to be the difference maker, hurling seven strong innings in the Jr. Bills 2-0 victory over the Wildcats.

            Quinn struck out seven, gave up three hits, and walked none.

            “The highlight was the masterful job by Quinn,” Jr. Bills head coach Steve Nicollerat said. “He changed speeds well and had good location around the plate. He made it tough (for Hazelwood West).”

            Quinn’s opposition, fellow junior Jared Fosdick hurled six innings, striking out five and walking three. Fosdick mixed speeds well and stymied SLUH hitters with an effective breaking ball. 

            “He’s been like that all year,” head coach Matt McClellan said. “He came out and kept us in the game. Our bats just went silent today. But Jared (Fosdick) did a great job.”

            SLUH’s bats, however, pulled through. In the third inning, senior L.J. Hernandez stroked a base hit with one out. Senior Havard-commit Mitch Klug reached after getting hit by a pitch. Then, senior Willie Floros kept the rally alive with a walk.

            The rally appeared dead, however, when Fosdick kept his poise and punched out senior Andrew Pitts on a full count. But the Jr. Bills hung tough, and junior Kaleb King drove home Hernandez on a walk. Hernandez led the Jr. Bills with a two-for-four performance.

            SLUH scored again in the sixth in a two-out rally. Pitts belted a double, and was quickly replaced on the base path by junior pinch runner Joey Fisher. King drove home Fisher on a monstrous double that careened off the right field wall below the Wildcat’s scoreboard.

            On the flip side, Hazelwood West fell cold against the Jr. Bills, reaching second base only once in the fifth. With two outs, senior Joe Gagliardi and Fosdick stepped up in the clutch with singles. Junior No. 9 hitter Aaron Lohman halted the advance after striking out looking.

            “It was a great baseball game with a lot on the line,” McClellan said. “A few things didn’t go our way and that was the difference when you get this late in the season. You got to take care of the little things, and there’s a few little things that we didn’t do and (SLUH) did.”

            One thing was the SLUH defense, which held the Wildcats in check. In the fifth inning, senior Matt Leinberger was robbed of a base hit when King made a sliding grab in left field. Again, the Jr. Bills got the uniforms dirty in the sixth when Hernandez made a diving effort at second to nail the unfortunate Leinberger again.

            “Everyone was playing a big part in the game today (on defense) and that helped us out a lot,” Quinn said.

            After the close victory, the Jr. Bills, who have never won a State championship, excitedly huddled near the dugout.

            “We’re pumped,” Quinn said. “I was saying to the guys before the game, ‘I want to play again this week.’ Now that we know we get to go home and play another day, that’s really big for us.”