ALTON – The last time the Edwardsville Tigers faced off against O’Fallon’s Connor Blue on the mound, they jumped on him, scoring three earned runs on three hits in a 7-0 win two weeks ago.
The Panthers and Tigers split their regular-season Southwestern Conference meetings. O’Fallon won 3-2 in eight innings just two days prior. Edwardsville went on to win the SWC at 10-2, and O’Fallon finished 6-6.
Both teams figured they’d meet later down the line in the postseason, and that was the case Thursday afternoon at Alton High School.
Edwardsville was the home team in an IHSA Class 4A sectional semifinal and would lose a tight-knit 2-1 ball game to the Panthers.
The Tigers got their rematch against Blue, and this time, he went the distance.
O’Fallon’s ace pitched a near-complete game, retiring 20 batters with 13 strikeouts and one earned run on three hits.
“Connor Blue’s been a really good pitcher for a long time,” Edwardsville head coach Tim Funkhouser said. “He made pitches, he made a lot of things difficult on us today. He caught us looking at times, and that’s a credit to his stuff and his competitiveness, so you tip your cap to him because he did really well.”
“Connor was unbelievable today,” first-year O’Fallon head coach Dave Causey said. “He was unbelievable last Wednesday and unbelievable today. That’s the most he’s ever pitched for us. He wanted the ball in his hand. He hated coming out of that ball game.”
The only reason Blue exited Thursday’s game was due to the IHSA postseason pitch limit. The limit is 115 pitches, but the pitcher is allowed to finish a batter if he goes over.
So, trying to defend a 2-1 lead late in the game, he went out onto the mound for the seventh, sitting at 104 pitches.
He picked up back-to-back strikeouts against the bottom of Edwardsville’s order and then walked Jack Kirgan. That was Blue’s last action as he ended the game with 118 pitches.
“We knew they were going to be a little passive; we knew they were going to take a lot of pitches, and they worked counts very well. They looked uncomfortable at times, but we had a plan going in, and he executed,” Causey said on Blue.
Sam McCollum came in and got out number 21, striking out Nick Chiarodo.
Edwardsville’s starter, Hunter Baugh, had a good start to Thursday’s game. He went three-up, three-down in the top of the first before Blue struck out two of four batters in the bottom.
Asher Cantu and Dane Hrasky hit back-to-back singles to start the second. Those runners would steal to second and third, and during Carson Bauer’s at-bat, pinch runner Luka Freidenburg scored on an error from the catcher, Max Waltenberger, to make it 1-0.
The Tigers wouldn’t tie the game until the bottom of the fifth. Kirgan took a leadoff walk and was moved to second thanks to a sacrifice bunt from Nick Chiarodo. Another sacrifice play, this time in the form of a flyout to centerfield from Lucas Krebs, scored Kirgan to tie the game at 1-1.
But to Edwardsville’s chagrin, the Panthers took the lead right back.
Brayden Robertson reached on an error to start the sixth. Blue then hit into a fielder’s choice, and Robertson was out at second.
Pinch runner Trey Hrasky took over for Blue and quickly stole second and got to third on a wild pitch. Anthony Perez delivered the go-ahead RBI single, scoring Hrasky to regain the lead again at 2-1.
Blue went three-up, three-down in the bottom of the sixth, giving Edwardsville only one more shot.
“We always seem to wait until the later innings to make something happen,” Causey said. “I was happy that we jumped out early, even though it was a manufactured run and an error on their part, but we get into tight games late in the ballgame, and I have all the confidence in the world in them.”
Joe Chiarodo pitched the final two innings for Edwardsville, giving up one run, unearned, with two Ks and a walk.
O’Fallon only outhit Edwardsville 6-3, but made the Tigers feel uncomfortable the whole way.
“We like to try and make things happen,” Causey said. “We were bunt and running, we were hit and running, we were trying to sacrifice bunt, just anything to put runners in motion. We felt like we could run on them today, and that proved to be a difference maker.”
The loss ends a three-year streak of going to the state tournament for Edwardsville. The Tigers have made it to the final-four five of the last eight seasons now, with three state titles.
“It’s interesting because a lot of teams would be giddy about winning a regional championship,” Funkhouser said. “And our guys are disappointed, obviously, everyone’s disappointed when the season ends.”
It’s Edwardsville’s earliest exit since 2021, when the Tigers ironically fell to O’Fallon in the sectional semifinals. The Panthers went on to take third at state that season.
Since the pandemic, Edwardsville has a 9-5 record against O’Fallon. It’s quickly becoming the fiercest rivalry in the SWC.
“This is my first time as a head coach with it, and it’s awesome,” Causey said on the rivalry. “It’s like that all across the entire Southwestern Conference, but this one is special.”
Edwardsville ends the season at 26-11 while O’Fallon improves to 26-10 and moves on to the Bloomington (Illinois Wesleyan University) Sectional Championship on Saturday, June 7 at 11 a.m. The Panthers will take on Normal Community (34-4).
