High School Boys Baseball at Busch Stadium 2022
Lincoln Railsplitters defeat Alton Marquette Catholic 8-5 at Busch Stadium
- Freshmen steal spotlight on defense
 

[May 23, 2022] Friday night the Railsplitters got the opportunity to play under the lights at Busch Stadium in St. Louis and once again it was an amazing experience for players, coaches and the fans.

The Railsplitters defeated the Alton Marquette Catholic Explorers 8-5 and now have a 2-0 record at Busch Stadium under the leadership of Coach August Casson. Last season on May 30, 2021 the Railsplitters defeated Mount Vernon 6-2 in an afternoon game at Busch Stadium.

On Friday night, 40 Lincoln baseball players took part in the unique experience at the home of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Sam Gleason got the start on the mound for the Railsplitters and with Lincoln once again being the home team, it was Gleason and friends taking the field at 6 p.m.

Lincoln’s defense got three quick outs to start the game. Drew Eimer caught the first fly ball in right field to retire the Explorers lead-off hitter. A ground ball to the shortstop, Trent Koehler, made for the second out of the inning. The no. 3 hitter, Darrius Weaver, flew out to Eimer for the third out.

The Railsplitters sent Sean Raffa up to bat first in the bottom of the inning. Raffa had a hard hit ball to third and he hustled down the first base line and beat out the throw for a hit. With the no. 2 hitter, Daulton Miller, in the batter’s box, Raffa swiped second base. Miller would eventually take a walk down to first base and a couple ducks were on the pond for Lincoln’s no. 3 hitter, Andrew Graue. Graue hit a rocket shot to right field for a base hit, scoring Raffa with the Railsplitters first run of the game.

Lincoln’s cleanup hitter, Alex Hoffert, then walked to load the bases for Jake Baker.

Baker smacked the ball to short for an infield single and in the meantime, Miller raced home to make the score 2-0.

Jaden Klopp would come up to the plate and ground out for the Railsplitters first out, but the runners advanced and Graue even came around to score on the throw and make the score 3-0. This chased the Marquette starting pitcher from the mound.

The new pitcher for the Explorers came in the game and his first pitch hit Drew Eimer, who trotted down to first base. The bases were loaded for left-handed hitting Trent Koehler. This time a wild pitch advanced the runners, with Hoffert scoring for Lincoln.

The Explorers pitching woes continued with a walk to Koehler. Jacob Langley got a chance to bat with the bases loaded. Langley would strike out for the second out. Jaden Leadley stepped into the batter’s box and he had a base hit to left field to score Baker. Eimer was the third out at home trying to score. After one inning, the Railsplitters had a 5-0 lead.
 

Jaron Woods took the mound for Lincoln in the top of the second inning.

The clean-up hitter for Marquette quickly got a base hit off Woods. Nothing would come of the runner, as Woods retired the next three guys. A fly out to Baker in left field was out no. 1. A ground out to short was out no. 2. And finally a ground out to third and a nice leaping catch by the first baseman, Hoffert, who quickly applied a tag as the runner raced to the bag making the play very close, was out no. 3.

The Railsplitters bottom of the second inning was pretty quick but not without excitement. Elijah Pollice started the inning by flying out to left field and he received a thunderous applause for the crack of the bat and the height of the ball, even though it didn’t have the distance and fell right into the left fielder’s glove. Brenden Wurth grounded out to short for the second out and then Gleason flew out to the shortstop for the third out of the inning.

The top of the third inning was a fun inning for the Lincoln defense. It was the “inning of the bros.” Three sets of brothers took the field for Lincoln and each set featured a senior and a freshman.

Trent Koehler was set up at shortstop while his younger brother, Kyle, took over the hot corner at third.

Andrew Graue manned first base and played catch with his younger brother, Parker, over at second base before the Explorers batted.

And in the outfield, it was Daulton Miller in centerfield and his younger brother, Brady, in left field.

Jaden Klopp was on the mound for Lincoln and he single-handedly recorded the first out on a pop out. The next two Explorers reached base, one was hit by a pitch and the other walked.

This set the stage for a cool moment. The next batter hit a one-hop smash to Parker Graue at second and Graue handled the play just like Tommy Edman. Graue even had the nice toss to Trent Koehler for the force out at second and, of course, Koehler fired the ball over to first to the other Graue brother, Andrew, and just like that the double play was complete to end the inning.
 

Nice job, Railsplitters!

Aidan Nemeth was due up first for Lincoln in the bottom of the third inning. Nemeth grounded out to second. Woods then struck out for the second out. Raffa came up and hit a line drive to right field for his second hit of the game. Raffa stole second again with Daulton Miller in the batter’s box. Miller grounded out to short to end the inning.

Tate Johnston was on the mound for Lincoln in the top of the fourth inning. His work in the inning went by rather quickly. A grounder to Trent Koehler was scooped up and he fired over to first for out no. 1. Langley caught a pop up for out no. 2. After the Explorers got a base hit to left, the next guy was retired on a ground out to second.

Lincoln headed to the bottom of the fourth inning still on top 5-0.

Andrew Graue walked to start the inning. After Hoffert grounded out to third, Baker walked. Klopp flew out to left for the second out, leaving the run scoring opportunity up to Eimer.

Eimer walked to load the bases for Trent Koehler. Koehler drew a walk and the Lincoln lead increased to 6-0. With Langley up, the Explorers pitcher threw a wild pitch and Baker hustled home to make the score 7-0. Langley’s ground out to third ended the inning.

Dylan Ferguson was the Railsplitters pitcher in the top of the fifth inning. He made the inning’s work look easy with some great defense behind him. A grounder was hard hit to third and Wyatt Mammen scooped it up cleanly and fired to Jarrett Evers at first base for the first out. Ferguson struck out the next batter. Pollice then made a nice catch in right field that drew a loud cheer from the Railsplitters dugout. The senior broke out into a big grin as he jogged towards the Cardinals dugout.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Railsplitters added an insurance run. After a lead-off walk to Leadley, Pollice flew out to center. Wurth then came up to bat and ripped a base hit up the middle. His sweet line drive put runners at first and second for Gleason.

Gleason hit the ball to short and was out at first, but the runners advanced to second and third on the play.

Raffa came up again and delivered for Lincoln. His third single of the game was a solid hit to right field and it drove in Leadley, making the score 8-0.

The inning ended when Miller flew out in foul territory down the right field line.

After a solid day at the plate, Raffa took the mound in the top of the sixth inning for Lincoln. Raffa was tagged for a lead-off double in the gap between right and center by Sean Mitchell. After an out on a fly ball to center, the next Explorers batter reached base on a hit to short. With runners at second and third for Marquette, a ground out to Brady Miller at second base scored the Explorers first run.

Raffa ended the inning on a strikeout and Lincoln held an 8-1 advantage.

The bottom of the sixth was a quick inning for Lincoln, as the ball never left the infield. Andrew Graue lined out to the second baseman. Hoffert then flew out to the second baseman. Baker flew out to the third baseman.

Now the top of the seventh inning was exciting for both teams. The Explorers would score three times in the inning, finally getting some loud applause out of their dugout.

With Langley on the mound for Lincoln, he walked the first batter. The next batter singled for the Explorers. A wild pitch moved the runners up a base for freshman Kannon Kamp. Kamp hit a two-run single to center and that breathed new life into the Explorers. Bogarts then came up and hit an RBI double to deep left field that actually one-hopped the wall.

With the score now 8-4, the Explorers were a threat again after a base hit to center put runners at the corners.

This next play was without a doubt THE PLAY OF THE GAME!

Drew Hayes, a freshman, was playing centerfield for the Railsplitters. He caught a fly ball and immediately fired towards home plate, as the runner had tagged up at third.

Hayes’ throw to Dawson McConnell, also a freshman, was right on target. McConnell tagged the base runner for the out at home and the crowd erupted. As the replay showed across the JumboTron at Busch Stadium, everyone stood and cheered. It was a moment no one will ever forget for sure.

The Railsplitters escaped the inning without further damage as Evers fielded a ground ball at first and stepped on the bag for the last out of the inning.

Lincoln continued to hold an 8-4 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Klopp struck out to start the inning. Eimer then grounded out to the pitcher. Koehler then punched a base hit to left-center with his good arm. Koehler was left stranded at first on the strikeout of Langley to end the inning.

Noah Rachall was on the mound in the eighth inning for the Railsplitters.

Rachall struck out the first batter he faced. Nolan Spiewak then got a hit just over the first baseman’s head in shallow right field. With Rachall hitting the next guy, there was trouble brewing with runners on first and second. Rachall took care of the situation, handling a pop out for the second out and then recording another strike out for the third out.

With the 8:30 p.m. time limit quickly approaching, the Railsplitters were up to bat in the bottom of the eighth inning. They were quickly retired here as Leadley grounded out, Pollice flew out to left and Wurth slugged one out to center but it was caught by the centerfielder for the final Railsplitters out.

There was just enough time to start the ninth inning and the Railsplitters sent Jake Baker to the mound to finish things.

Baker’s debut on the mound at Busch Stadium was certainly better than that of Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina. Those guys each gave up multiple hits that included two home runs and they each allowed four runs to score in their recent outings. Baker only allowed one run on one hit.

After getting the first batter out on a strikeout, the next guy hit a single to center. Sam Soloman made a nice catch in right field to record the second out for Lincoln. There were more hollers from the dugout when Soloman, a freshman, made the nice grab in the outfield.

The Explorers would score a run in the ninth inning on a base hit to left-center, but the Railsplitters were able to end the game when the next batter hit the ball to the shortstop, Brady Miller, and Miller’s throw across the diamond to Ashton Corley at first allowed Lincoln to celebrate an 8-5 win over Alton Marquette Catholic.

The Railsplitters had eight hits in the game.

Raffa was 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Raffa also stole two bases.

Andrew Graue, Jake Baker, Jaden Leadley, Brenden Wurth and Trent Koehler also had hits for Lincoln.

The Explorers had 12 hits in the game.

Neither team committed an error.

This game was an exhibition game, so it does not count towards either team's record, but it is worth noting the Explorers carried a 20-11 record into the game while the Railsplitters currently have a 15-13 record.

Lincoln will begin play in the Class 3A Regional this week at Morton.

On Wednesday, May 25, 2022 the Railsplitters will play East Peoria at 6 p.m.

Teena Lowery