Keegan McCarty, Adam Frerichs and Drew Coursey delivered a pair of RBI each to lead the St. Joseph-Ogden baseball team in a 9-4 victory over Westville on Thursday, March 29. The win improves the Spartans' record to a modest 6 wins with 4 losses.
Replaced by Caleb Johnson, frosh hurler Joe Acton faced seven batters before being retired after two innings. Johnson battled ferociously during his tenure on the hill, however a sloppy defensive effort from the guys behind him allowed the Tigers to quickly tally three runs in the top of fourth frame.
Drew Coursey throws a pitch in the top of the seventh inning in SJO's home game against Westville. The Spartans unleash a 4-run rally in the bottom of the fifth inning to win, 9-4. Coursey struck out two of the 11 batters he faced to earn the win on the mound. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)
"I thought we were pretty sloppy today," Spartan head coach Josh Haley said focusing on the errors in that inning. "We didn't run the bases very good and was over-swinging at the plate. As far as what we need to do to get better we didn't do very well today."
SJO answered Westville's rally meekly with a go-ahead run in the bottom the frame to break the 4-all tie.
Haley then dialed Drew Coursey's number to climb the hill.
Bringing the heat with laser intensity on every pitch, Coursey effectively shut down Westville's offensive momentum for a scoreless fifth inning.
The junior struck out two of the ll batters he faced on his way to earn the win.
Following Coursey's lead, the Spartans refocused their efforts posting a four-run rally in the bottom of the inning to sealed the victory.
"We had three pitchers that did a nice job throwing strikes," Haley said. "At the end of the day, they took care of business in the win column."
McCarty, who led the Spartans with 3 hits, was all business for the Spartans. He scored twice and junior Sam Wesley added three runs of own on a pair of hits.
The Tigers were led by junior Cyrus Doughtery, who hit a solo home run and finished the game with two hits. Dalton Rolinitis was credited with two hits, one a home run and three RBI.
"With our schedule there are no days off," Haley added. "You gotta take care of business in the small areas and that's where I thought we were a little sloppy."
Even after a less than stellar day, Haley's confidence in the SJO pitching corps and this season legion of talented players is unflappable.
"We have four arms that can give us a chance to win every time they are out there. We just have to try and continue to get better."
Box Score
Westville 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 4 7 1
SJO . . . . 3 0 1 1 4 0 X 9 8 1
Replaced by Caleb Johnson, frosh hurler Joe Acton faced seven batters before being retired after two innings. Johnson battled ferociously during his tenure on the hill, however a sloppy defensive effort from the guys behind him allowed the Tigers to quickly tally three runs in the top of fourth frame.
"I thought we were pretty sloppy today," Spartan head coach Josh Haley said focusing on the errors in that inning. "We didn't run the bases very good and was over-swinging at the plate. As far as what we need to do to get better we didn't do very well today."
SJO answered Westville's rally meekly with a go-ahead run in the bottom the frame to break the 4-all tie.
Haley then dialed Drew Coursey's number to climb the hill.
Bringing the heat with laser intensity on every pitch, Coursey effectively shut down Westville's offensive momentum for a scoreless fifth inning.
The junior struck out two of the ll batters he faced on his way to earn the win.
Following Coursey's lead, the Spartans refocused their efforts posting a four-run rally in the bottom of the inning to sealed the victory.
"We had three pitchers that did a nice job throwing strikes," Haley said. "At the end of the day, they took care of business in the win column."
McCarty, who led the Spartans with 3 hits, was all business for the Spartans. He scored twice and junior Sam Wesley added three runs of own on a pair of hits.
The Tigers were led by junior Cyrus Doughtery, who hit a solo home run and finished the game with two hits. Dalton Rolinitis was credited with two hits, one a home run and three RBI.
"With our schedule there are no days off," Haley added. "You gotta take care of business in the small areas and that's where I thought we were a little sloppy."
Even after a less than stellar day, Haley's confidence in the SJO pitching corps and this season legion of talented players is unflappable.
"We have four arms that can give us a chance to win every time they are out there. We just have to try and continue to get better."
Box Score
Westville 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 4 7 1
SJO . . . . 3 0 1 1 4 0 X 9 8 1
Having never played a down of varsity football until this season, outside linebackerDrew Coursey has made a significant contribution to St. Joseph-Ogden's early 3-0 record. With his help, the Spartans look to extend their current win streak to four games and move one step closer to playoff eligibility tomorrow night at Unity. Coursey, who is not only growing more comfortable playing in the trenches physically, is building his football IQ exponentially.
The Spartans improve overall to 19-6 on Tuesday thanks largely to a huge scoring effort by Chance Izard.
The senior, who spend 30-1/2 minutes on the floor for SJO, dropped a magnificent 29 points behind a 52% shotmaking effort against the Eagles in the Illini Prairie matchup.
Ty Pence logged another double digit output, his fifth in SJO's last six games, to finish the evening with 14 points. Like Izard, he did not miss a shot from the free throw line. The frosh star made all four of his attempt.
Izard made all five of his shots and fellow senior Drew Coursey closed out the game with perfect free throw shooting going 2-for-2.
Under the rim, Conner Hodge and Jordan Kelly led the Spartans with five rebounds apiece.
The Eagles scoring effort was led by Kamryn Rome, who mustered 14 points as his team dropped to 2-4 in the conference and 5-19 with season coming to a quick conclusion in a few weeks.
Rantoul's Lorenz Lee added another eight points to his team's effort and Colin Wilkerson contributed another seven. Bryant Shaw led all rebounders with seven boards.
Spartans are back in action this Friday night at home to face Illinois Valley Central for senior night. It will be an oh-so-gooey, sweetheart of a deal for Izard and the other nine seniors on Valentine's Day with a win over the Grey Ghosts. The 'W' will all but guarantee outright ownership the 2020 conference title.
Tip-off for the varsity game at the high school is slated for 7pm.
Seventy-six St. Joseph-Ogden High School seniors earned honor roll recognition in the final quarter of the year. Of that number, 50 students were awarded earned High Honor Roll status.
Students who earn a grade point average of 3.25 or higher on the school's 4.0 scale are recognized as Honor Roll students. Those whose GPA soared above 3.74 are receive High Honor Roll recognition.
Click on individual names to discover more Sentinel articles about each Honor Roll student.
