Eagles Rally Past Bulldogs And Around Coach Immekus

In an evening filled with emotion, the Eagles (9-7) soared to the top and swooped up a crucial victory. They had the final bite over the Bulldogs (5-7), defeating their conference rivals 4-1. 

Sullivan not only rallied to beat St. Clair but also to help their former assistant coach, Brian Immekus, in his fight against cancer. 

Sullivan’s baseball and soccer teams gave back to someone who had left his footprint on both programs. With two games happening simultaneously, funds were raised for Immekus through the concession stands, t-shirt and wristband sales and the 50/50 drawing.

Head Coach Ian Whitson thanked Immekus for helping build the baseball program to where it is today. “Brian has been here with me the entire time that I’ve been here, and he’s really been a moral compass for me,” Whitson shared. “He’s always the one reminding us that we’re here, you know, focusing on kids and not so much focusing on individual records and individual accolades. He’s always kids-centric, and you couldn’t ask for a better guy than Brian Immekus. 

“So, you know, we’re excited that we can go ahead and help he and his family out here in this time of need. And just keep him in your thoughts and prayers; you know he’s going to go ahead and keep fighting the good fight... and pull this one out.”

As Sullivan is halfway through their season, Whitson plans to continue working with his team on playing cleaner baseball. He stated, “We got to make sure that we clean it up there on defense a little bit. You know, we had a couple defensive miscues that didn’t really burn us this game, but they will in the future.”

Whitson continued, saying, “We also got to find a way to put the ball in play hard whenever we have runners in scoring position. That’s kind of been an issue that we’ve had... is really being able to find that key hit there. So, if we put the ball in play—hard on the ground or hard line drive—we’re going to go ahead and give ourselves an opportunity. But if we’re skying balls up, if we’re just strikeout-looking, that’s not going to be helpful.”

The Eagles soared ahead against St. Clair in the bottom of the first. Mitchell Garner launched a line drive to center field, and Raiden Redd drew first blood for Sullivan.

The Bulldogs later tied the scoreboard on a bases-loaded walk, but the Eagles refused to back down from the ropes. 

During the fifth inning, Redd popped a fly ball, allowing Landen Doza to make the go-ahead run. Mahlon Foster then walked home, and Josiah Tanner cashed in Brody Gawer’s grounder for the 4-1 win. 

Whitson awarded Anden Carey the Most Valuable Player Belt for his dominant performance as a catcher. The senior is proud to see his teammates continue to pull out wins, no matter what situation they find themselves in. He remarked, “We’ve had a lot of games recently. Everybody’s tired; everybody’s kind of sore. I mean, we had a couple of days off, but we definitely [have] had confidence all the way through. We just came back, never gave up [and] kept going.”

Nate McReynolds was the first to take the mound against St. Clair. He hurled three strikeouts while giving up six walks, an earned run and a hit.

Foster came in for relief during the top of the third. He later struck out two batters and allowed a walk.

Redd then shut the door on the Bulldogs as Sullivan’s final pitcher. He led the Eagles with two runs at the plate, while logging a hit and a walk.

Garner was a force at bat with an RBI, a hit and a walk.

Doza landed a hit and crossed the dish.

B. Gawer drove a runner home on his RBI.

Foster broke loose with an RBI and a walk.

Drake Gawer picked up a hit and a walk.

Tanner punched it home for the final nail in the coffin.

Three days before facing the Bulldogs, Sullivan trounced St. James (1-9) 21-8 on the road. The Eagles had scored their highest run total in a single game since 2008.