EDWARDSVILLE – Drake Luebbert had three hits and scored four runs on the day, while Thijson Heard drove in a pair of runs, and freshman Matthew Redden struck out four as Metro-East Lutheran’s baseball team won its season opener 14-3 over Dupo in six innings at Martin Luther Field.
The Knights scored twice in the first and second innings, then scored five runs each in the fifth and sixth to take the opening win over the Tigers. Although there are still some things to work on, Metro-East coach Reed Harmon was overall pleased with how things went on Opening Day.
“I feel great,” Harmon said. “First game of the year, obviously, we have five or six things that we need to improve upon. as you would expect in the first game of the year. I thought we came out a bit slow to start, but I’m really, really proud of how we finishing, hitting wise. And then, defense, we were exceptional all game. We had one mental mistake, which was a throwing error. Outside that, I’m very happy with how we played defensively. We really honed it in. I’m excited for the pitchers to attack a bit more tomorrow against Nokomis.”
The Knights are now 1-0 to start the season, which is exactly where the team wants to be.
“Yeah, I would rather start 1-0 than 0-1,” Harmon said. “But we have to make sure we win the right way. Yes, there are things we need to improve upon, but I’m very happy with the way we played in all facets of the game, for the first one. So, happy to go 1-0.”
With the game against the Redskins on Tuesday, Harmon wants to keep building upon how things got started against the Tigers and keep building momentum. Luebbert and Heard had big plays offensively, and he was very happy with their efforts.
“I haven’t looked at the stats yet, but one through nine, I think everyone got a hit,” Harmon said. “Your entire lineup has to be contributing for 14 runs, so, I’m really, really happy with how we did, and the top three Thijson, Drake, and Gage (Trendley) contributed very well. And then Sammy (Huber), in the four-hole, ran us off very, very excellently.”
Overall, it was a very good start to the season for Metro-East, and Harmon couldn’t be any happier with the results.
“I’m happy with it,” Harmon said. “Like I said, we still have things to improve on. It’s a long season, but I’m very, very happy with this group. I’m excited to see how far we can improve.”
The Knights struck first in the opening inning, as both Luebbert and Heard drew walks, and Trendley was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Huber singled home Luebbert, and s sacrifice fly to left by Owen Halusen drove in Heard to make it 2-0. In the second, the Knights doubled the lead to 4-0, when Lucas Abbott was hit by a pitch, and Luebbert reached on an error. Heard was hit by a pitch to load the bases again, with Trendley drawing a walk to force in Abbott to make it 3-0. Huber had a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Luebbert and putting the Knights up 4-0.
The Tigers halved the lead to 4-2 in the top of the fifth, when Thinh Staggs was hit by a pitch, but was forced on a grounder by Caiden Crowder. Jacob Stanek walked, and both runners were sacrificed over by Deegan Prater. Both Crowder and Stanek scored on a double to the left-center field fence by Brady Porter, who took third on an error by the left fielder, but Teegan Hargrove was called out on strikes to end the inning.
The Knights then struck for five in the bottom of the inning, starting with a walk to Redden, who went to second when Abe Oberhauser reached on an error. A ground out by Abbot advanced the runners, with Luebbert singling home Redden. Heard then had the big blow, a two-run double to the fence in right-center that scored Oberhauser and Luebbert, who had stolen second, with Huber doubling home Heard to make it 8-2. Halusen reached on an error, scoring Huber to make it 9-2. but Jacob Kober flew to center, and Redden was caught looking on a called third strike to end the inning.
The Tigers made it 9-3 in the top of the sixth, when Crowder drew a walk to start the inning, and was singled home by Prater two outs later, and in the bottom of the inning, Metro-East put the game to bed with another five-run outburst, starting with a walk to Oberhauser, and one out later, Luebbert singled, Heard doubled home another run, Trendley walked, a fielder’s choice and error scored two more runs, and Halusen ended the game with a two-run double that terminated the game, due to the 10-run rule.
The Tigers open 0-1 and face Bunker Hill on Thursday in their home opener, then play at Christian Academy of Greater St. Louis on Friday, and host Staunton Mar. 26, with all games starting at 4:30 p.m. The Knights are 1-0, and host Nokomis on Tuesday, play at Staunton on Thursday, both games starting at 4:30 p.m., then host Cahokia Saturday morning in a single game, starting at 10 a.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
