TEUTOPOLIS — It took 10 pitches for the St. Anthony baseball team to build a sizeable cushion.
Will Fearday laced a double to right on the fourth pitch he saw. Aiden Lauritzen hit a single on the second offering of his at-bat. Brady Hatton hit an RBI single on the third pitch he saw and Brock Fearday hit a three-run home run to left and in the blink of an eye it was 4-0 against rival Teutopolis on Tuesday afternoon at Teutopolis High School Baseball Field.
“I think the pressure, for us, is lifted,” said St. Anthony head coach Tony Kreke after his team’s 11-5 win. “Any time you can score big early, I think we can do some things offensively now where maybe you’re a bit more riskier.”
Henry Brent then drew a walk before Gavin Addis got Alex Mayer and Charley Spour to strike out and Xander Beals to fly out to left.
The Wooden Shoes did have a chance to answer, though.
In the bottom half of the first, T-Town loaded the stations. Davin Worman hit a single. Austin Borries hit one and Jason Kreke was hit by a pitch.
Bulldogs starter Brock Fearday worked around that trouble, though, getting Carter Hoene to pop out to first and leave the stations full.
“I thought our guys tried to right the ship there,” Shoes head coach Justin Fleener said. “We answered back and put three runners on, loaded the bases in the first inning and we didn’t get that big hit.”
Addis yielded a one-out triple to Will Fearday in the top of the second.
He got Lauritzen to strike out and Hatton to fly out and end the threat.
Brock Fearday responded by striking out the side in order in the bottom of the second. He fanned Henry Thompson, Addis and Aidan Niemerg.
The Bulldogs scored four more runs in the top of the third.
Brock Fearday started the inning with a double.
He then scored after Brent traded stations with him.
Mayer reached first after an error. Spour then hit a home run to left field, extending the advantage to eight runs.
“He’s putting together some good at-bats for us,” said Kreke of Spour. “Nice at-bats in that seven-hole. Extends that lineup out a little bit.”
Spour finished with one hit, one run and three RBI.
Will Fearday had four hits and two runs. Brock Fearday had three hits, two runs and three RBI. Hatton had two hits, one run and two RBI. Brent had two hits, one run and one RBI.
Lauritzen had one hit and one run. Mayer had one hit, one run and one RBI. Beals had one hit and Tim Seiler scored one run.
Brock Fearday allowed eight hits, three runs and three walks to 12 strikeouts in five innings.
“I just asked him, ‘Did you feel sharp as the game went on?'” Kreke said. “He said, ‘Maybe. Maybe not as much.’ It’s almost like we’re trying to get our legs underneath us. It was a long basketball season and we’re trying to work him in. Today was really the first start he went to the max.”
Joseph Tegeler followed in the sixth and allowed three hits and two runs to two strikeouts in two innings.
Borries had three hits and one RBI for T-Town.
Dawson Hoene had two hits and two runs. Worman had two hits and three RBI. Carter Hoene had two hits, two runs and one RBI. Mick Niebrugge and Jason Kreke had one hit and Addis scored one run.
Addis allowed eight hits, eight runs (seven earned) and one walk to three strikeouts in two innings. Caleb Deters and Worman followed. Deters allowed one hit to two strikeouts in one inning. Worman allowed six hits, three runs and three walks to two strikeouts in four innings.