BELLEVILLE – It may be unwise for teams to overlook the Metro East Bears, especially heading into the American Legion baseball postseason.
The Bears started out gradually, scoring twice in the second and once in the sixth
before exploding for six runs in the top of the seventh as they defeated Southern Illinois Batter’s Box 9-1 at Citizens Park/Whitey Herzog Field Friday evening after downing Kirkwood, Mo., 20-0 in four-and-a-half innings at Edwardsville’s Hoppe Park Thursday evening.
The Bears, who will go into next week’s Illinois District 22 playoffs as the second seed and will host Belleville at 7 p.m. Tuesday at SIU-Edwardsville’s Roy Lee Field, improved to 14-4 on the season with the back-to-back wins; they added on a 7 p.m. Sunday contest against Lemay, Mo., from south St. Louis County, at Hoppe Park to close out the regular season.
“I think they’ve been playing a more solid game offensively and defensively (since a 4-3 loss to the Hilgards),” said Bears manager Ken Schaake. “We’ve had some better at-bats, more consistent at-bats, and I go back to the Jerseyville game (where the Bears won last week) where we were facing (Jerseyville’s Drake) Kanallakan and he got 10 strikeouts or whatever it was, but he had to work for those strikeouts. They weren’t three pitches and out and we hit the ball pretty well there.
“I think the kids are a little more focused and we keep talking a little bit more about the playoffs and doing things the right way and what it takes to advance and never to give up because it’s a nine-inning game (in the postseason).”
Batter’s Box kept the Bears off-balance at the start before they could get untracked. “The first three or four pitchers they threw out there were left-handed pitchers,” Schaake said. “They had us off-balance; unfortunately, we don’t see a lot of left-handers. They were throwing strikes and making plays; they were a solid team.”
The Bears got out in front in the second when Drake Hampton singled and stole second, then went to third on a Chance Foss single to put runners at the corners. The two then attempted a double steal and Hampton scored on it before Cole Hansel hit into a double play, but Foss scored to put the Bears up 2-0; they added another run in the sixth when Jake Garella walked and stole second before Steven Patten singled in Garella to for a 3-0 Metro East lead. A pair of walks loaded the bases, but Southern Illinois managed to get out of the inning without more runs being scored.
The Bears put up six runs in the top of the seventh to put the game away, with Maverick McSparin with a one-out single and Collin Clayton an infield single to put runners at the corners getting things started. Garella drove in a run with a RBI double and Drake Hampton brought in two runs with a single, with Patten, Hansel and Jacob Kanallakan each having RBI singles to complete the scoring.
Against Kirkwood Thursday night, McSparin and Foss teamed up for a no-hitter in the Bears’ big win, McSparin getting three hits and Clayton, Drake Hampton, Patten and Tate Wargo each getting two hits in the win. The Bears broke the game open with a nine-run third and put up eight more in the fourth to get the win.
Brandon Hampton got the win Friday for Metro East, going three innings and striking out two while conceding two hits; Devin Colley went two innings with a strikeout and Garella finished up, fanning two and conceding an earned run on two hits. Drake Hampton was 3-for-4 for the Bears with a double and two RBIs while Patten was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, Hansel was 2-for-3 with a RBI and Garella was 2-for-3 with a double and RBI; Clayton and Foss were both 1-for-4, Kanallakan was 1-for-3 with a RBI and McSparin was 1-for-2.
Against Kirkwood, Foss got the win, going three innings and striking out four while McSparin struck out three. Clayton was 2-for-3 with a RBI for the Bears, with Drake Hampton 2-for-4 with a homer and RBI, Patten 2-for-3 with a RBI, McSparin 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs, Wargo 2-for-3 with a RBI, Garella 1-for-3 with a RBI, Foss 1-for-3 with a double and RBI, Hansel 1-for-1 with a double and two RBIs and Cole Cimarolli also had a RBI.
