St. Vincent scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning to break a 1-1 tie and held on to beat the Perryville Pirates 3-2 on April 1 in the first game back at City Park’s Veterans Memorial Field since the March 14 tornado.
St. Vincent senior Nick Buchheit started on the mound for the Indians (4-2) and earned the victory after 7 innings, giving up 2 earned runs on 4 hits, with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks.
Perryville’s Waylon Huber took the loss, pitching 5 innings in relief and giving up 3 earned runs on 6 hits with 6 strikeouts and 2 walks. Starter Troy O’Keefe had 5 strikeouts in 2 innings of work.
In the top of the fifth, the score was tied 1-1 when Connor House and Cain Clifton drew walks. Gus Unterreiner, batting last in the lineup, hit a 1-out bunt single to third, leaving the bases loaded.
Back at the top of the lineup, Andrew Hotop hit a grounder to third, scoring House and giving the Indians a 2-1 lead with 1 out.
Andrew Schumer hit a sacrifice fly to send Clifton across and give the Pirates (2-2) a two-run deficit.
Perryville responded in the bottom of the inning, as Gideon Steuve reached on a leadoff single, then stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored on a groundout from designated hitter Eli Hemingway to make the score 3-2.
O’Keefe struck out two of the next three batters, ending the Pirates’ brief rally.
Unterreiner led the Indians at the plate, finishing 2-for-3, while Andrew Hotop, Schumer, Gavin Hotop and Roth had one hit each. Andrew Hotop, Schumer and Roth each had an RBI.
For Perryville, Steuve finished 2-for-3 with 1 run scored, while Peeler (1-for-4) and Hemingway (0-for-3) each had 1 RBI.
The Pirates took an early lead in the bottom of the first after Peeler hit a leadoff triple to right field, then scored on a sacrifice fly from O’Keefe.
In the top of the second, Roth doubled down the right field line on an 0-2 count, allowing Gavin Hotop to score from second and even the score.
St. Vincent is scheduled to travel to Saxony Lutheran (3-4) on Tuesday, while Perryville is scheduled to host Festus (4-3-1) on Wednesday.
East Prairie 9, Saxony Lutheran 5
JACKSON — East Prairie (5-9) scored 6 runs on 2 hits in the top of the sixth inning to lock up a 9-5 victory over Saxony Lutheran on April 1.
Trailing 5-3, East Prairie caught a break when a Crusader error allowed two runs to score, then Winfield White hit a sacrifice fly, Ty Wallace hit an RBI single, and Jack Pearson drew a bases-loaded walk.
Noah Johnson earned the win for East Prairie, holding the Crusaders (3-4) scoreless on 4 hits over 5 innings, with 12 strikeouts and 2 walks. Cole Roth took the loss for Saxony after 5 1/3 innings of work, giving 6 runs (2 earned) on 8 hits, with 6 strikeouts and 3 walks.
The Crusaders finished with 5 runs on 9 hits, as Zach Roth, Korby Engert, and Baylor Wilson each finished with 2. Isaac Koenig, Korby Engert, Walker Short, and Baylor Wilson each had one RBI.
St. Vincent 10, Crystal City 4
St. Vincent scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to turn a 5-4 lead into a 10-4 rout over Crystal City on March 31 in Perryville.
After taking a 3-1 lead in the first inning, the Indians added runs in the second and fourth innings to make it 5-4, then closed things out in the sixth with 5 runs on 5 hits as Gus Unterreiner hit an RBI single, Andrew Schumer hit a 2-RBI, Gavin Hotop added another RBI single, and Hotop stole home to make it 10-4.
Jacob Seabaugh started on the mound for St. Vincent, giving up 4 runs (2 earned) on 2 hits over 4 innings, striking out 6 and walking 3. Crystal City’s Kaiden Thomas gave up 6 hits and 8 runs (7 earned) over 5 innings, striking out 2 and walking 5. Nick Buchheit and Schumer each threw shutout innings for St. Vincent in relief.
St, Pius X 7, Saxony Lutheran 4
FESTUS — Saxony Lutheran heals an early lead through three innings on the road March 31, but gave up three runs in the bottom of the fourth as St. Pius X rallied with four runs on three singles from Noah Smith, Gunnar Hosay, and Cooper Horvath, then added two more in sixth to set the final margin.
Saxony Lutheran scored two runs on an error in the first inning, then added two more in the third on a single from Kai McDowell.
Zach Roth, Brayden Moore, and McDowell each had one hit for Saxony, and McDowell, who finished 1-for-3, had 2 RBI.
Korby Engert took the loss on the mind for Saxony, giving up 7 runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings with 5 strikeouts and 3 walks. Cayden Payne earned the win for St. Pius X, giving up 4 runs, 2 earned, on 2 hits two hits over 3 innings, with 1 strikeout and 5 walks.
