Mount Pulaski Hilltoppers baseball falls to Illini Bluffs 11-7

[April 20, 2018] 

The Mount Pulaski Hilltoppers were on the road to Glasford Thursday afternoon to take on Illini Bluffs.

Tanner Farris started the game for Mount Pulaski. The Tigers tagged Farris for two runs in the bottom of the first inning for a 2-0 lead but the Hilltoppers evened the score in the top of the second inning. Austin Killion's RBI double scored Brandon Kretzinger, who had reached base on a walk, then Killion came around to score the second run on a wild pitch and a catcher's error.

The Hilltoppers took a 3-2 lead in the top of the third inning when Drew Martin walked and a sacrifice by Todd Kelly advanced Martin to second base. Martin would come around to score on consecutive errors in the inning by Illini Bluffs.

The Tigers got that run back in the bottom of the third inning and the game was tied at 3-3.

Mount Pulaski was able to get a run across in the top of the fifth inning. Logan DeRight singled and reached second base on an error by the shortstop. Ben Fricke then hit a hard base hit to left field that advanced DeRight to third. DeRight scored for the Hilltoppers on a sacrifice fly by Farris.

Unfortunately the 4-3 Hilltoppers lead was short-lived. The Tigers had a huge fifth inning and scored seven runs against the Hilltoppers. The Tigers chased Farris from the game and DeRight took the mound. Before the madness was over, Martin would replace DeRight on the mound and induce a popup for the final out of the inning. After the dust settled, Illini Bluffs held a 10-4 lead over Mount Pulaski.

In the top of the seventh inning, Mount Pulaski did manage to score three runs after a walk to Kelly and a base hit by DeRight, Fricke and Kretzinger had RBI singles to drive in those guys. Fricke would score the third run of the inning on a passed ball. Illini Bluffs would record a strikeout of Dustin Combs to end the game. The final score was 11-7.

Following the loss, Mount Pulaski Coach Joel Washko said, "We really played pretty solid baseball for four-and-a-half innings today, but had a rough bottom of the fifth inning with a few miscues that really cost us. We did some really good things though and were competitive against a good team minus one bad half inning. Hopefully we learn from it and are ready to bounce back on Saturday."

Ben Fricke and Logan DeRight led Mount Pulaski at the plate. Both players went 3-for-4. Fricke batted in a run and scored a run while DeRight scored two runs. Fricke is now batting .615 with 3 home runs and 12 RBIs. He is 16-for-26 at the plate. He is a junior. He leads the area in hitting. He is on fire. Don't touch him, you will get burnt. Fricke has worked very hard on his game in the off-season the past couple years and it really shows. His hard work is paying off. With no seniors on the Hilltoppers team, this young bunch of athletes will be so much more fun to watch as they continue to grow and mature. They are already extremely fun to watch on the baseball field.

Sophomore Brandon Kretzinger also had another fine day at the plate. He was 1-for-2 with two walks and drove in a run for the Hilltoppers. Austin Killion was 1-for-3 with an RBI double. Grant Davis also added a hit for the Hilltoppers.

Each team had nine hits on the day and committed five errors. Each coach would definitely like to see that last stat go down to zero.

Tanner Farris took the loss for Mount Pulaski. He gave up seven runs on five hits, only four of those runs were earned. He recorded five strikeouts for the Hilltoppers. DeRight, Martin and Davis all pitched in relief.

Mount Pulaski did record a win this week on a forfeit victory Tuesday by Illini Central.

Batting

Lineup	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
Drew Martin	3	1	0	0	1	0
Todd Kelly	2	1	0	0	1	0
Logan DeRight	4	2	3	0	0	1
Ben Fricke	4	1	3	1	0	0
Tanner Farris	3	0	0	1	0	0
Grant Davis	4	0	1	0	0	1
Brandon Kretzinger	2	1	1	1	2	1
Austin Killion	3	1	1	1	0	1
Dawson Combs	1	0	0	0	0	1
Ian Schneider	3	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	29	7	9	4	4	5

Batting2B: Austin Killion
TB: Grant Davis, Logan DeRight 3, Ben Fricke 3, Austin Killion 2, Brandon Kretzinger
RBI: Tanner Farris, Ben Fricke, Austin Killion, Brandon Kretzinger
SAC: Todd Kelly
SF: Tanner Farris
ROE: Austin Killion
TotalsTeam QAB: 20 (57.14%)
Grant Davis, Logan DeRight 4, Tanner Farris 2, Ben Fricke 2, Todd Kelly 4, Austin Killion, Brandon Kretzinger 3, Drew Martin 2, Ian Schneider

Team LOB: 7FieldingE: Grant Davis 2, Ian Schneider 3

Pitching

Pitching	IP	#P	S%	H	R	ER	SO	BB	HR
Tanner Farris	4	78	0.577	5	7	4	5	3	0
Logan DeRight	0	22	0.5	3	3	0	0	1	0
Drew Martin	1	25	0.48	1	1	1	1	1	0
Grant Davis	0	6	0.333	0	0	0	0	1	0
Totals	6	131	0.534	9	11	5	6	6	0

PitchingL: Tanner Farris
HBP: Tanner Farris
WP: Tanner Farris
Pitches-Strikes: Grant Davis 6-2, Logan DeRight 22-11, Tanner Farris 78-45, Drew Martin 25-12
Groundouts-Flyouts: Grant Davis 1-0, Logan DeRight 0-1, Tanner Farris 3-3, Drew Martin 0-1
First pitch strikes-Batters faced: Grant Davis 2-2, Logan DeRight 3-6, Tanner Farris 14-24, Drew Martin 1-6

The Hilltoppers will host Springfield Lanphier on Saturday for a doubleheader beginning at 10 a.m. at Veteran's Park.

[Teena Lowery]