Five-Run Fourth Lifts St. Charles Over Post 18
Sullivan lost for just the second time in Ninth District play June 18 when St. Charles scored five runs in the fourth inning and beat Post 18 7-4.
The freshmen finished 11-2 in league games and secured at least one home game in the Ninth District tournament.
Joshua Wiese started and struggled with walks, issuing five free passes. He allowed four hits and six runs (five earned). Wiese also struck out four in 3-2/3 innings.
Garrett Juergens took over the final 2-1/3 innings. He struck out six, allowed two hits, one walk and one unearned run.
St. Charles’ Grant Mullinnax survived Sullivan chipping away and prevented the big inning, which has eluded most of Post 18’s opponents this season.
Mullinnax went 4-1/3 innings, struck out seven, allowed four runs (one earned) and walked just one. Noah Meyer closed the door on Post 18 with 2-2/3 shutout innings. Sullivan had just one hit.
The game started like many before, with Juergens leading off with a hit and stealing second. Wiese walked. A double steal moved the runners into scoring position. Joshua Earney’s groundout drove in Juergens for a 1-0 lead. Noah Bryan lined out, hit too hard to get Wiese home from third.
St. Charles tied the game in the bottom half of the inning. Chase Tennyson reached on an error by Wiese. He stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Evan Abel walked and Meyer grounded out to score Tennyson.
The walks hurt again in the bottom of the second. Wiese walked Reece Rothfuss and John Alsup. Sean McRaven’s infield single loaded the bases. Tennyson hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Rothfuss and giving St. Charles a 2-1 lead. Post 312 loaded the bases again on an infield single by James Garbe, but he got out of trouble with a groundout.
Post 18 came back to take the lead in the third. Juergens reached on an error with one out and stole second. He advanced to third on a groundout by Wiese. Earney drove him in with a double to center, then scored on Bryan’s RBI single.
Wiese ran into trouble again in the fourth. Wiese struck out Alsup, which would have been the second out, but a dropped third strike allowed him to reach first. McRaven followed up with a single and Tennyson tied the game with a base hit to center. Garbe and Abel drew walks to load the bases.
Juergens came in to relieve Wiese. Meyer greeted him by hitting a fly ball to right and reaching on an error, giving St. Charles a 4-3 lead. Kyle Majesky doubled to right, scoring two more and giving Post 312 a 6-3 lead. A wild pitch scored Meyer and punctuated the inning.
Post 18 tried to rally back. Juergens led off the fifth with a single and stolen base. He stole third with Earney batting, then came around on an error by Rothfuss behind the plate.
Sullivan brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh. Cooper Beckett led off with a single and Juergens reached on an error, but Meyer struck out Colton Ward, got Earney to pop out and Bryan to hit into a fielder’s choice.