The St. Vincent Indians will enter the Class 2 District 4 Tournament looking to turn a challenging regular season into postseason momentum.
St. Vincent is grouped in a district that includes Chaffee, Bloomfield, Puxico, Meadow Heights and Grandview (Hillsboro).
The Indians again played an aggressive schedule throughout the spring, facing opponents from larger classifications and several traditional baseball powers. St. Vincent’s regular-season slate included games against Sikeston, Saxony Lutheran, Ste. Genevieve, Perryville, Scott City, Valle Catholic and St. Pius X.
While the Indians experienced some ups and downs during the regular season, they also collected several key wins and continued to develop younger players entering postseason play.
St. Vincent has relied heavily on athleticism and speed throughout the season, while the pitching staff gained valuable experience against some of southeast Missouri’s top offenses.
The Indians also showed improvement late in the season with wins over Kingston, Fredericktown and Central (Park Hills).
Chaffee enters the district as one of the favorites after another strong regular season, while Bloomfield and Puxico also remain among the district’s top contenders.
Still, tournament baseball often comes down to pitching and defense, two areas where St. Vincent hopes to make postseason noise.
The Indians advanced to district play after spending much of the spring preparing for close, competitive games against experienced opponents.
Class 2 District 4 tournament play is scheduled for May 16-19.
St. Vincent 4, Leopold 0
St. Vincent used a combined shutout effort from Andrew Schumer, Quinton Whistler and Levi Schilling to earn a 4-0 victory over Leopold on May 11 at Veterans Memorial Field in Perryville.
Schumer earned the win after allowing just 1 hit and striking out 6 over 4 innings. Whistler tossed 2 scoreless innings with 1 strikeout, while Schilling worked a scoreless 7th inning as the Indians limited Leopold to 3 hits.
St. Vincent finished with 4 runs on 3 hits and took advantage of 4 walks and 3 Leopold errors.
Andrew Schumer led the Indians offensively, going 2-for-2 with 2 RBI and a double. Andrew Hotop doubled and drove in a run, while Gus Unterreiner added a triple and scored once. Gavin Hotop scored twice and stole a base.
Leopold pitcher Riley Engelen allowed 1 run on 1 hit over 3 innings while striking out 3. Holden Burger surrendered 3 runs on 2 hits in 2 2/3 innings of relief.
St. Vincent 13-13,
Crystal City 2-3
PERRYVILLE — St. Vincent’s offense stayed hot during a home doubleheader sweep of Crystal City at Veterans Memorial Field, as the Indians earned 13-2 and 13-3 victories on May 7-8.
The Indians pounded out 16 hits and used aggressive baserunning to complete the sweep, stealing 19 bases over the 2 games.
In the opener on May 7, St. Vincent scored 6 runs in the 6th inning to pull away for a 13-2 victory.
Andrew Hotop led the Indians at the plate, finishing 3-for-3 with 4 runs scored and an RBI. Gus Unterreiner went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored, while Quinton Whistler drove in 4 runs.
Cain Clifton earned the win after allowing 2 runs, 1 earned, on 5 hits over 5 innings while striking out 4.
St. Vincent finished with 12 hits, including doubles from Andrew Hotop, Gus Unterreiner, Austin Unterreiner and Cain Clifton. Austin Unterreiner scored twice and doubled, while Gavin Hotop added a hit and RBI.
The Indians also stole 7 bases, led by Quinton Whistler with 2 steals.
Crystal City managed 5 hits in the loss. Ricardo Pastrana drove in both runs for the Hornets, while Kolton Adams suffered the loss after allowing 13 runs, 10 earned, on 12 hits in 5 innings.
St. Vincent completed the sweep on May 8 with a 13-3 win in the nightcap.
The Indians scored 3 runs in the 1st inning, added 4 more in the 3rd and closed the game with 4 runs in the 5th.
Despite recording only 4 hits, St. Vincent took advantage of 9 walks, 4 Crystal City errors and 12 stolen bases.
Austin Unterreiner scored 4 runs and stole 2 bases, while Gavin Hotop went 1-for-3 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. Avery Brown doubled and drove in 2 runs, and Cain Clifton added a hit and 2 RBI.
Levi Schilling doubled and drove in a run, while Gus Unterreiner had an RBI.
Brown earned the win after allowing 3 runs, 1 earned, on 4 hits over 5 innings with 4 strikeouts.
Quinton Whistler stole 4 bases for the Indians, while Austin Unterreiner and Gavin Hotop each stole 2.
