EDWARDSVILLE – Senior Auggie Johnes hit a grand slam home run over the center field fence in the bottom of the second inning, a part of a seven-run frame by Edwardsville, as Joe Chiarodo only allowed a run on two hits in a 13-1 win over Collinsville at Tom Pile Field on Tuesday afternoon.
The Tigers scored four runs in the first, seven in the second, and two more in the fourth in their return home from a USA Baseball tournament played in Cary, N.C. Edwardsville swung their bats consistently and aggressively, and head coach Tim Funkhouser was very pleased with the results and approach.
“I feel good about the way our guys have been practicing,’ Funkhouser said, “and it was good to see it come to fruition in games. I thought our guys were really patient at the plate. But then, also aggressive on balls over the plate, and I thought we showed a lot of maturity within that, put some good swings on some pitches to hit. I thought Joe really competed on the mound, and we’re able to make plays behind him.”
Although Edwardsville went 0-4 in their North Carolina swing, the Tigers still had some great experiences in the tournament, and also learned much against their competition.
“Yeah, there were some great experiences there,” Funkhouser said, “We didn’t play as well as we wanted, and then, we also played some really good teams. That makes it tougher on you anyway, but a lot of things to learn from. The overall experience, USA Baseball, the way they do that tournament, is phenomenal. And the coaches you get to meet, the players you get to see, and play, you just pick up a lot of different things, and you just understand how many good players there are in this country, and how guys kind of take it to another level.
“So I think we picked up a lot of things, I think we did some things well within it, we just didn’t do as many as we would have liked, and we also realize that some of those teams are a little farther along in their season. For instance, the Miami team (Columbus) that we lost the first game to, they played three postseason games last week, and we’re not even halfway through our season, as far as our schedule’s concerned.
“We’re glad to get back to Tom Pile Field,” Funkhouser also said. “It’s been four weeks since we actually played a game here, so it’s good to get settled back into home, and even just have practices here as well.”
The home cooking is definitely a good thing for the Tigers, Funkhouser explained.
“It’s a good environment,” Funkhouser said, “I think routine’s important to us, we always try to find a way to get our work in. We do want to continue to stack the experiences we have, both in games and in practices.”
The Tigers were able to put together very good at-bats against the Kahoks, and it’s something that Edwardsville is very good at as well.
“They put some good at-bats together,” said Collinsville coach Bret Swip. “They take tough at-bats. You’ve got to be effective in the zone as a pitcher, our first two pitchers, we weren’t able to locate, and ultimately, could not be able to locate. They’re going to take long, strong at-bats, and that’s what they did.”
Swip is concentrating on one thing for his team:
“We’ve just got to get better every day,” Swip said. “We’re focusing on making sure that we’re playing some of our best ball towards the end of the year, and that means you’ve got to work. Baseball is an up-and-down game, and we’ve got some players who haven’t played at the varsity level. So, they’re a little younger, and we’re helping them through it, and it’s going to be a long season. So, we’re just trying to make sure we’re ready at the end of the year.”
Collinsville has had some good performances this season, but Swip is concentrating on team play this season.
“We’ve been focusing on team offense,” Swip said. “That’s been our goal this year, trying to be less about one person, a little more about taking hare at-bats, and moving runners. Early in the year, we were doing that pretty good. Now that we’ve gotten into conference, we’ve kind of gotten away from it. Of course, the conference is tough. They’ve got scouting reports on you, and the games are a little bit more difficult. So, we’ve just got to get back to playing team offense.”
The Tigers started their game in the bottom of the first, when Lucas Krebs singled and stole second, coming in on a RBI single by Chiarodo. Max Waltenberger then hit a two-run homer over the left field fence to increase the Edwardsville lead to 3-0, and one out later, Grayson Rathgeb then tripled to right center, and scored on a RBI single by Tyler Powell to make it 4-0.
The Kahoks got a run back in the top of the second, went to second when Will Swip grounded back to the box, and scored on a RBI double by Ben Tillman. The Tigers counted with their seven-run second, starting with three consecutive singles by Hunter Baugh, Krebs, and Chiarodo to load the bases. Waltenberger drew a bases-loaded walk to force in Baugh, then Johnes unleashed his grand slam over the center field fence to make it 9-0. Rathgeb then walked, and Tyler Powell hit a two-run shot that just went over the fence in right-center to make it 11-.0 after two.
In the fourth, Andrew Brown, hitting for Johnes, led off with a walk, went to second on a fly out, and scored on Powell’s RBI single. Powell went to second on an error by the center fielder, then scored on a RBI single by Zane Maxwell. Meanwhile, Chiarodo, the last 10 Kahoks in order to seal the win for the 13-1 win for the Tigers, the game was terminated by the 10-run rule.
Powell led the way with three hits and three RBIs, including his homer, while Chiarodo helped himself with two hits and a RBI, Krebs had a pair of hits, Johnes’ grand slam was his only hit and Rbis on the day, Waltenberger had a hit and three RBIs, Nick Chiarodo had a hit and RBI, and both Rathgeb and Logan Porter had a hit each. Joe Chiarodo struck out seven in his complete game on the mound.
Tillman had a hit and the Kahoks’ only RBI, while Carter Harrington had the only other hit. Lucas Owen started on the mound and was charged with the loss, going one inning-plus, allowing seven runs, all earned, on nine hits, walking none and striking out none, while Cal Swartz also went one inning-plus, giving up four earned runs on two hits, walking two, and Swip pitched the final two innings, allowing two unearned runs on two hits, walking one and fanning one.
Collinsville is now 5-11, and plays host to Breese Mater Dei Catholic Wednesday at Woodland Park, goes against Edwardsville at home in the second game of their two-game set Thursday, and continues its home stand Friday against Waterloo, all games starting at 4:30 p.m.
Edwardsville goes to 8-6, and plays at Collinsville Thursday, hosts Columbia on Friday, and hosts Alton next Tuesday in the first of a two-game series, teen plays the return game at Alton May 1, with all games starting at 4:30 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
