No. 1 Harrisburg caps weekend with O'Fallon Classic title
May 8, 2010
By Sean Duncan
O’FALLON – No doubt about it, Reid Roper wanted the ball. Never mind that hours earlier the
Roper wanted the ball, and who was coach Jay Thompson or anyone else for that matter to get in the way?
So when Wentzville Holt loaded up the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning of Saturday night’s championship game, Thompson summoned Roper from shortstop to work his magic he has done so often over the years for the Bulldogs. After walking in a run, Roper dialed up his fastball and rolled a game-ending double play to give No. 1 Harrisburg a hard-earned 7-5 victory and the O’Fallon Baseball Classic championship at Blazier Field.
“Oh yeah, I wanted to pitch,” said Roper, who is signed to play at the
On its way to the championship,
“This meant a lot to us,” said Roper, who threw a five-hitter in the morning semifinal game behind an 86-88 mph fastball that climbed to 90 in the seventh inning. “I think we passed the test. We didn’t swing the bats well all weekend, but we just found ways to win.”
Roper swung the bat just fine against Holt, too. The 6-foot left-handed hitter went 2-for-4 with a moonshot solo homer in the second inning. The Bulldogs opened the game by scoring three runs with two outs. Southern Illinois-bound outfielder Kollin Dowdy (2-for-4) started it with a single, and came around to score on Dawson Montfort’s double. After catcher Noah King was hit by a pitch, freshman Ryne Roper (2-for-3), Reid’s not-so-little brother, ripped a two-run double.
The Bulldogs and starting pitcher, junior left-hander Isaac Behme, were cruising along with a 5-2 cushion until the fourth inning. That’s when Holt’s powerful 6-foot-3, 240-pound third baseman Justin Hellman launched a two-run homer, his third of the tournament, to make it 5-4.
Sophomore right-hander Tyler McGowan started the fifth for the Bulldogs, but was quickly relieved in favor of Ryne Roper when Holt put runners on first and second with one out. Ryne Roper promptly got out of the jam by rolling an inning-ending double play, a grounder to Reid Roper, who ranged to his right, stepped on second base and fired a laser to nip the runner at first.
The freshman Roper was certainly impressive with his lively 83-85 mph fastball and command of the strike zone. Ryne Roper struck out the first batter in the seventh, but Holt rallied with a single, a questionable walk, and an infield single.
Enter older brother.
“[Reid] told me in the dugout before the inning that he felt great, and if we got in trouble, he wanted to pitch,” said Thompson.
Roper looked as though he was throwing harder than he did during the course of his semifinal victory. Game over.
The Bulldogs were nearly flawless in the field all weekend, committing only one error – and even that play the ball was lost in the sun.
“This was a big deal for us,” said Thompson. “This was something we prepared for and wanted to make a good showing. We played against two very outstanding teams today.”
Sophomore first baseman Dylan Skinner hit a two-run homer for Holt, which had five hits in the game.
In the third place game, Normal West rebounded to defeat O’Fallon 6-4. Michael Collins led a balanced offensive attack for the Wildcats (21-6) with two hits, two runs and an RBI. Sophomore third baseman Wes Sery also had two hits for Normal West. O’Fallon (15-11) lost both its Saturday games by a combined three runs. The Panthers were led by senior Miles Quintal, who went 3-for-4 with a double.
After getting 10-runned by Holt in the opening round,
(Big kudos to O’Fallon coach Jason Portz and his staff for running a first-class, highly competitive event. The Prep Baseball Report was proud to be part of it.)