St. Charles Advances With Help of Early Offense Over P-E-M

It came right down to the end, but the #4 seeded St. Charles Saints defeated the #5 seeded Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs 6-4 in Section 1AA East subsection baseball playoff action.

It started early for the Saints, as they plated two runs in the second. Mark Dittrich drove in a run on an RBI single, and another run scored on the play via an error. The Saints scored three more in the fourth, and two of them came off the bat of Dittrich to make the score 5-0.

The Saints got an insurance run in the fifth, and boy did they need it.

The Bulldogs got their offense going in the sixth, and it started with a single off the bat of Reed DeFrang. Joe Irish followed with a double, and then a sacrifice fly to left field by Joe Miller got the Bulldogs on the board. Matt Ebin drove in another run with a double, and a RBI double by Dalton Breza and then the Bulldogs were only trailing by three.

In the seventh, the Bulldogs threatened again. Barron Holtz led things off with a single, and then a single by DeFrang put runners on the corner. Irish was up next, who had already hit two doubles, but he grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. It scored a run, but the momentum was gone for the Bulldogs. The Saints secured the final out and a 6-4 victory.

Luke Wesley got the start for the Saints, he went 5 2/3 innings to pick up the win. He allowed three runs and struck out three. Dalton Selke finished the game to pick up the save. He struck out one in his 1 1/3 inning of work.

Mason Suckow got the start for P-E-M. He lasted 3 1/3 innings, as he got into trouble in the fourth. He allowed six runs, struck out three.  Holtz pitched 2/3 of an inning, while Jordan Zabel finished the game.

The Saints advance to take on the Caledonia Warriors on Saturday in Lake City.

KFIL Player of the Game (St. Charles) - Mark Dittrich - 2x4 with 3 RBI

KFIL Player of the Game (P-E-M) -  Joe Irish - 2x4 with 2 Doubles and a run scored