Bowen Pitches, Drives in Two Runs as New Athens Defeats Alton 3-2 In District 22 Baseball Game
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EDWARDSVILLE – It was quite a pitching duel between New Athens Post 246 hurler Brant Bowen and Alton American Legion Post 126's Griffin Bianco Monday night at Roy E. Field at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.
Bowen pitched very well on Monday night against Alton Post 126 in an American Legion District 22 game, giving up two runs on four hits, striking out five, and also driving in what proved to be the winning runs on a two-run, two-out single in the third to give the 76ers a 3-2 win over Alton at Roy E. Lee Field at SIU-Edwardsville.
Legionnaire starter Griffin Bianco pitched a very good game as well, allowing the three runs on five hits while striking out two, but Bowen was able to keep Alton off balance most of the night with his change-up.
“New Athens pitcher had a real good change-up,” said Post 126 manager Doug Booten, “he kept us off-balance. It seemed like we were battling from behind in the count just about every at-bat after the first inning, and tip your hat to him. He’s good.”
The Legionnaires did keep battling throughout the game, pulling to within 3-2 in the sixth, but couldn’t get over the hump.
“Yeah, we did,” Booten said. “We fought back there, and put a run up in the sixth, and then, they brought in their closer, and he threw pretty hard. Got our first two guys on K’s there in the seventh, then Cullen (McBride) got a hit, and (Ethan) Kopsie just missed that pitch, but we played well. You think you only give up three runs in seven innings, we ought to be in the game, and we were. Should score more than we did, but again, he pitched well. But one good thing tonight is we played real good defense, and we’ve been working on that. So, we’re going to keep building off this.”
After retiring the side on order in the top of the first, Alton went to work in the bottom of the inning, starting with a lead-off walk to Owen Stendeback, who was sacrificed to second on a good bunt by Gage Booten. One out later, Kopsie reached on an error, allowing Stendeback to score from second, giving the Legionnaires a 1-0 lead. Kopsie advanced to second on a wild pitch, but a grounder to first ended the inning.
The opening run was an example of what Post 126 tries to do: Play good, aggressive baseball, and take advantage of the opposition’s mistakes.
“Yeah, but unfortunately, that was the only mistake they made,” Booten said with a smile and laugh. “But we tend to do that. We get the lead guy on, move him over with the bunt, and see if they can try to defend it. They tried to be aggressive there, and made a mistake, and got us a run.”
It didn’t take the 76ers long to get the run back, and they did in the top of the second, starting with a Bowen lead-off double to the gap in left-center. Bowen was sacrificed to third by Jake Parot, but was thrown out when Travis Bergkoetter grounded back to the box, where Bianco got Bowen in a run-down between third and home, with Bowen eventually being tagged out, but Bergkoetter eventually made it to second. Levi Daab singled home Bergkoetter to tie the game at 1-1, and a pop-out to first ended the inning.
New Athens took the lead in the third, starting with back-to-back two-out singles by Owen Whitworth and Joe Range, with Whitworth going to third on Range’s hit, and Range stealing second to put both runners in scoring position. Bowen singled home both runs to give New Athens a 3-1 lead, the inning ending on a strikeout.
Alton had a chance to tie things up in the bottom of the inning, starting with a lead-off single by Jacob Weidner, loading the bases two outs later on a walk to McBride and Kopsie being hit by a pitch, but a strikeout ended the inning.
After that, Bowen kept the Legionnaires at bay in the fourth and fifth innings, allowing only a walk and a single, while Bianco also pitched well, allowing only a fifth-inning single. Ryan Best then came in to pitch in the sixth, and also threw well, allowing a sixth-inning walk.
Alton closed the gap in the bottom of the sixth, scoring with one out. Preston Schepers singled and went to third when a pick-off attempt went into right field for an error. Schepers scored on an RBI single by Adam Stilts, but a strikeout and ground out to third ended the inning.
New Athens had a chance to extend the lead in the seventh, with a one-out walk to Dylan Nenner, going to second one out later on a walk to Whitworth. Range then hit a grounder to short that was fumbled for an error, but Nenner strayed too far off third and was thrown out to end the inning. Range came in from third base in the seventh, got two strikeouts to start, and gave up a walk to McBride before a pop-out to the shortstop ended the game, with New Athens taking the 3-2 win.
Alton falls to 6-5 overall on the summer season and has another district game at home on Tuesday when the Legionnaires face East St. Louis in an 8 p.m. start. Booten is looking ahead to the game, and knows that his team will bounce back.
“Yeah, exactly,” Booten said. “We’ve got to look ahead, one game at a time. We’ve got East St. Louis tomorrow. Hopefully, we play as good as we did tonight, we should come away with a win tomorrow night.”
And Monday’s game is indicative of how well the competition is in District 22, where every game is a battle.
“Man, the competition's good,” Booten said. “I said that at the beginning of the year, and it’s proven for sure. Just a well-fought ball game.”Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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Dan Brannan also contributed to this story
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