Mount Pulaski advances to the Sectional Championship
- Hilltoppers eliminate St. Thomas More by a final score of 9-5

[June 14, 2021]  There are a lot of reasons why Mount Pulaski won the first game of Sectionals on Wednesday afternoon against the St. Thomas More Sabers of Champaign.

Undoubtedly, at the top of the list was the pitching performance of Evan Cooper. Cooper threw the complete game, earning the win. In seven innings of work, he allowed five runs on nine hits. Only two of the runs were earned. He struck out three and walked four.

Then offensively the Hilltoppers put up two big innings to gain control of the game. Jackson Fricke, Drew Martin and Gavin Smith each had multi-hits to lead the Hilltoppers.

Add to the mix some great defense, some level-headed base running, a bench full of ballplayers ready to step up when called upon and an experienced coaching staff led by Joel Washko and assisted by Troy Burgard and Jared Washko, and you have a winning situation all the way around.

To top it all off, a huge crowd turned out to support the Hilltoppers and in the end they were treated to a great baseball game on a warm and sunny Spring day.

The Sabers opened the game with a leadoff double by Dawson Magrini. Magrini stole third and scored on a ground out by Ryan Hendrickson. The Sabers led 1-0 early.

Mount Pulaski tied the game in the bottom of the first inning when Jackson Fricke singled to center with two outs to score Evan Cooper, who had walked earlier in the inning.

The Sabers scored a run in the top of the second inning on a single, a walk and a Hilltopper error. The Sabers held a 2-1 lead until the bottom of the third inning.

Singles by Drew Martin and Fricke started the offensive onslaught in the third inning. With two outs, Grant Davis reached base safely and the bases were loaded for Gavin Smith. Smith smashed a double on a 2-2 count and cleared the bases of Hilltoppers. Garrett Fitzpatrick followed Smith in the lineup and he sent a single to left, scoring Smith. The Hilltoppers plated four runs and took a 5-2 lead over the Sabers.

The Sabers were not about to give up and they came right back in the top of the fourth inning to score two more runs. Blake Staab added an RBI single and he later scored on a passed ball. Mount Pulaski was still on top 5-4.

The Hilltoppers busted out for four more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. An RBI double by Fricke scored the courtesy runner, Clay Aylesworth. The Hilltoppers then scored two runs on an error by the Sabers. Grant Davis hit a grounder to third and the third baseman threw wild to first, allowing both Martin and Luke Farris to score. Gavin Smith then singled to center to score Davis. The Hilltoppers took a 9-4 lead over the Sabers.

In the top of the fifth, the Sabers started the inning with a walk and a double. With two outs, a run scored on a passed ball. The inning ended with Gavin Smith chasing down a fly ball for the third out.

The Sabers started the seventh inning with a single but the Hilltoppers were quick to crush a scoring opportunity with a double play. Two pitches later, Martin fielded a ground ball at short, fired to first for the final out and the Hilltoppers began to celebrate a 9-5 win.

Once again, Mount Pulaski coach Joel Washko had every reason to be proud of the Hilltoppers, particularly the pitching performance of Evan Cooper.

“Evan’s performance was pretty gutsy today,” said Washko. “They swung the bats on him and they got to him a little early but he hung in there. What we were able to do was stay out of them getting a big inning. They were able to get one or two but they never had a bigger inning than that. I think that was really important. Evan was able to pitch out of big jams, minimizing the damage and letting our offense do the work. Defensively, again towards the end, we came up big, making some plays for him. We had a couple big innings at the plate and that was the difference. We had some guys with a great day at the plate. Jackson (Fricke) was 4-for-4 and had a big day. Gavin Smith swung the bat really well today and had a big bases-clearing double. That was huge because that put the momentum on our side and we were able to keep it from that point on, for the most part. We had some big hits today. I am really proud of these guys.”

Mount Pulaski improves to 19-1 on the season.

The Hilltoppers will play Milford for the Sectional title on Friday at 4:30 p.m. at Veteran’s Park in Mount Pulaski.

[Teena Lowery]