Thoma powers Mon-Clair to All-Star victory

It took the Mon-Clair League all-stars nine hard-fought innings to put away the best of the Clinton County League in their annual amateur baseball battle on Saturday at GCS Ballpark.

It took Valmeyer slugger Ben Thoma a lot less time to win his second all-star most valuable player award in four years.

Thoma broke a 4-all tie with a two-run single in the seventh inning then helped set up an insurance run in the ninth with another single as the Mon-Clair League continued its domination of the annual mid-summer showdown with a 7-5 win.

Winners of seven of nine battles with the CCL since 2006, the Mon-Clair League trailed 4-2 entering the sixth inning but tied it at 4 on an RBI single by Logan Mueth (Columbia) and a sacrifice fly from Matt Huelsmann (Edwardsville).

Facing Carlyle hurler Darius Box, the 26-year-old Thoma hit a soft line drive which dropped into short left, driving in two runs and giving the Mon-Clair the lead for good at 6-4.

Kyle Eversgerd (Trenton) cut the CCL’s deficit to 6-5 in the bottom of the eighth with his second run-scoring single. But Dan Munoz (Belleville), the Mon-Clair League’s all-star MVP a year ago, added an RBI single in the ninth.

When Kit Crooks of the St. Louis Spikes retired the side in the bottom of the ninth, the Mon-Clair League had its eighth win in 10 games since 2006.

In 2012, Thoma, one of the Mon-Clair League’s top offensive threats, went 4-for-4 with three doubles and a three-run home run to pace an 8-3 Mon-Clair League All-Star win. His two singles Saturday may not have been as flashy, but they were just what his team needed.

“I didn’t have the game I had when we won here a couple of years ago, but I’ll take two more RBIs and another win,’’ Thoma said. “Both pitches were fastballs and I was able to make good contact on both of them. It felt good to be able to help my team.

“It’s always good to be able to play in an all-star game. It’s nice to be able to talk baseball with players you’ve competed with and against for many years.’’

The Mon-Clair League has dominated the all-star game since the two leagues began playing in 2006, winning seven of nine times. The Clinton County won its only game in 2011, beating the Mon-Clair League 10-4.

But against Logan Zachary (Carlyle), Austin Starkweather (Germantown) and Phil Kunz (Trenton), the Mon-Clair League mustered only two hits over the first four innings. The CCL took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on a single by John Pilackas (Beckemeyer), a walk to Joel Boeschen (Bartelso) and a double play by Kolton King (Beckemeyer).

Tony Kossina (Millstadt) finally got the Mon-Clair squad on the scoreboard in the fifth when his RBI double tied it at 1.

But in the sixth inning, things started to turn in favor of Mon-Clair.

With one out and a man on first base, CCL manager Tom Ritzheimer was forced to go to his bullpen when Bob Guithies (Aviston) hurt his pitching arm.

Centralia’s Brandon McNeely entered the game and gave up a run-scoring sacrifice fly to veteran Craig Ohlau (Waterloo) as the Mon-Clair League took a 2-1 lead.

“He (Guithies) said he felt something pop in his elbow. There is no sense in taking any chances with that, so we took him out,’’ Ritzheimer said. “We had planned to go with each of our pitchers for an inning each, and while that meant one or two pitchers had to go a little longer, I don’t think it had a say in the final outcome.

“I thought it was a very well played game by both teams. Good pitching and there were a few very good defensive plays by both teams. It just came down to a couple of big innings and they (Mon-Clair League) had one more then we did.”

The CCL’s big inning came in the bottom of the sixth when three straight singles loaded the bases with one out.

Chosen as the CCL’s all-star MVP, Eversgerd then lined a two-run single to give his team a 3-2 lead. Lucas Infante (Germantown) made it 4-2 with a sacrifice fly.

But the Mon-Clair League tallied four times in the top of the seventh to take the lead for good. Nate Jones (Fairview Heights) was the winning pitcher.

This story was originally published July 18, 2015 at 9:45 PM with the headline "Thoma powers Mon-Clair to All-Star victory."