Hilgards move on with win over Giants

Errors were key to the Belleville Hilgards’ 6-0 victory against the Swansea/Fairview Heights Giants on Thursday night in an elimination game in the American Legion District 22 playoffs.

After cruising through the first four innings against Belleville, Giants' starting pitcher Miles Brunk made a mental blunder, allowing the Hilgards to score its first and eventual winning run.

After giving up a lead-off double to Johnny Dozier, Brunk seemed to be getting out of trouble when the Hilgards’ Sam Haudrich hit a soft grounder back to the pitcher with one out.

Trying to catch Dozier trying to score, Brunk attempted to throw home, but tossed the ball well wide of his catcher, allowing Dozier to score.

"Whenever you can get that first run, it kind of takes a lot of weight off your shoulders, especially in a 0-0 game," Belleville manager Zach Rakowski said. "It helps Austin relax, too."

The run in the fifth inning was just the start for the Hilgards, who plated two more runs in the sixth, with some help from another Giants' error.

With two on, Luke Glaeser singled to score Austin Keen, making it 2-0. But after an errant throw into the outfield by Swansea/Fairview, the Hilgards took a three-run lead, with Dozier scoring.

In the seventh, Belleville needed just two hits to double its lead.

With the bases loaded, Keen grounded a ball to the second baseman, who threw home too late to get Matt Klosterman Two batters later, Glaeser singled home two runs, pushing the Hilgards’ advantage to 6-0.

"We kept with a good approach at the plate," Rakowski said. "We were able to put some pressure on them there and break through."

Keen, the starting pitcher for Belleville, was impressive with a complete-game shutout. He scattered eight hits while striking out eight.

"We started pretty slow, and they had a lot of opportunities early, but Austin was able to wiggle out of some jams he got himself into," Rakowski said. "They (Swansea/Fairview) did a really good job of jumping on his fastball early. Then he started to mix in some of his other pitches."

After getting a lead, Keen pitched especially well, pitching to just one batter over the minimum.

"He was kind of on cruise control," Rakowski said. "He was gettting ahead of the guys, which he wasn't doing early, and did a really good job mixing in his slider."

With the victory, the Hilgards advances to play the Metro-East Bears in a winners’ bracket contest. Metro-East is 2-0 in the tournament.

"We know they are going to play well. They've won their first two in this," Rakowski said. "They (Metro East) are trying to do the same thing we are, advance. We know it will be a good game, and we'll have to play hard."

The loss was the Giants second of the tournament, eliminating them. They finished their season with a 17-12 record.

This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 10:57 PM with the headline "Hilgards move on with win over Giants."