Clutch hitting leads Metro East past Swansea/Fairview Heights in legion playoffs

On a night of clutch two-out hits, the Metro-East Bears’ Caleb Buhs had perhaps the biggest of all Wednesday at the District 22 American Senior Legion playoffs.

Just minutes after Swansea/Fairview Heights closed to within 4-2, Buhs lined a two-run triple in the seventh inning as the top-seeded Bears went on for a 6-2 win at Hopkins Field at Gordon Moore Park.

Coming off a 4-2 12-inning win over Belleville on Tuesday, the Giants finally got on the board in the top of the seventh inning with a pair of runs off Bears starting and winning pitcher Jacob St. Peters.

But the Bears and Buhs quickly responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning. Buh’ triple, which came off reliever Jeff Carriger, sailed down the right-field line as the Bears all but put the game away.

Of the Bears six runs, five came on two-out hits.

“They (Metro East) got the hits when they needed too and we had the bases loaded twice and didn’t get the job done. That was the difference in the ballgame right there,’’ Giants manager Craig Steiner said. “Getting two-out big hits is something we’ve struggled with all year. We got one last night (Tuesday), when when we beat Belleville, but we didn’t get it tonight.’’

The win lifts the top-seeded Bears (20-6) into the title game on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Hopkins Field. Swansea/Fairview Heights (17-11) must now win three games in three days to take the District 22 title.

The Giants will take on the winner of the Belleville-Highland losers’ bracket game on Thursday, with the winner of that game needing to beat the Bears twice to take the title.

The Bears, who were aided by seven Highland errors in a 10-1 opening-game win Tuesday, were robbed of a run in the bottom of the first inning on a dazzling play by Giants shortstop Brady Schanuel.

With one out, Jordan Hovey had a double but Giants starting pitcher Blake Deatharage retired Aaron Jackson for the second out of the inning. Cleanup hitter Matt Zielonko then hit a hard liner in the hole that Schanuel dove for and smothered. Although Schanuel had no play, Hovey was held at third.

Deatharage got out of the inning by retiring Nick Paulda on a routine fly ball to right.

Unfortunately for Swansea/Fairview Heights, the missed scoring opportunity by the Bears would be their only one of the night.

The Bears took the lead for good in the second inning when Connor Melton walked with two outs and went to second base on a single by Anthony Kindle. Melton scored on a single by Drake Hampton.

The Bears opened up some breathing room against Deatharage and the Giants with a three-run fourth inning,

Singles by Caleb Buhs and Kindle along with a walk to Melton loaded the bases with nobody out. Deatharage then got Hampton to ground into a double play, with Buhs scoring to make it 2-0.

But Hovey then followed with an RBI double and Aaron Jackson, who was the winning pitcher Tuesday, blasted a triple to score the third run and end the night for Deatharage, who was taken out in favor of Jeff Caringer to start the fifth inning.

The triple was the third in two games for Jasckson.

The Giants closed to within 4-2 in the to of the seventh off St. Peters, who had allowed only three hit to that point.

Jackson Penrod led off with a single, which Dillon Ritter followed by hitting what appeared to be an easy fly ball toward Bears center fielder Mat Zielonko, who slipped on the wet grass and the ball dropped for a double.

Chris Dye then drove in Penrod with a RBI ground out. Ritter scored when St. Peters uncorked a wild pitch, making it 4-2.

Loew then took over on the mound and escaped the inning without further damage.

The Giants comeback was cut short when Buhs, headed to Southwestern Illinois College, tripled in two runs, making it 6-2.

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This story was originally published July 15, 2015 at 11:11 PM with the headline "Clutch hitting leads Metro East past Swansea/Fairview Heights in legion playoffs."