Alton Pitcher Riley Phillips Has Strong Outing Against Edwardsville, Looks for Strong Year End Finish

EDWARDSVILLE – Alton senior pitcher and infielder Riley Phillips threw a very strong game for the Redbirds on Friday afternoon, not allowing a hit until the fifth inning while striking out eight in four-and-two-thirds innings in Alton’s 6-5 loss to Edwardsville at Tom Pile Field.

Phillips and Alton battled and competed in the game all the way until the end, which has been a trademark of the Redbirds this season.

“Yeah, I did,” Phillips said in an interview that followed the game. “It felt good to get out there and compete, and go four-and-two-thirds, but overall, I walked too many batters, and I did good enough to keep our team in the game, but wish I could have kept a little less runners on base with the walks.”

As an infielder, Phillips has been swinging a hot bat as of late, getting key hits at important times to help the Redbirds win games.

“I’ve seen the ball really good, I’m just trying to get the barrel to the ball,” Phillips said, “see what happens. With the ball in play, good things happen, and that’s what’s been happening recently.”

Phillips also believes that his pitching game is starting to come together, and good results are beginning to show.

“It’s coming together,” Phillips said. “At the beginning of the season, I was missing a few parts of my pitching game, but it’s starting to come together, and the results are showing.”

With the calendar about to turn into May, and the season’s stretch run coming, along with the start of the IHSA Class 4A playoffs, Phillips feels that the Redbirds can make some noise come the start of the postseason.

“Our team’s right in there,” Phillips said. “We’re losing tough games, but we’re in it every single game, and I feel like we’ve got a shot to go far this year, so that’s one of our team goals we’re working for, trying to get to postseason and go to regionals, win regionals, and so on. So, I think we’ve got a chance there.”

As for goals for himself, Phillips keeps things simple and positive.

“Just stay ahead of my pitching game, keep throwing strikes,” Phillips said, “having good outings like this, do whatever I can to help the team.”Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.

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