Tigers do it all against Lancers
Strope hurls six no hit shutout innings
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| John Swistak Jr. photo Edwardsville senior Michael Strope struck out six, hit three batters and allowed no hits in six shutout innings in Tuesday's win at Belleville East. |
So were the rest of his teammates in the Tigers 10-0 victory at Belleville East. Strope struck out six and gave up no hits in six innings as the Tigers pounded out 10 hits including four doubles and a triple.
"To get a conference win like today and to have Michael throw as well as he did," EHS coach Tim Funkhouser said, "you can't ask for much more than that."The Tigers plated six in the second inning and another four in the seventh.
"We didn't play very well," East coach Todd Blomberg said. "Give all the credit to Edwardsville. They made us look like a JV team to be honest. We didn't play very well today. They really hit the ball well, they played defense well, they pitched well. They pretty much outclassed us in all three parts of the game. It's one of those games you tip your hat to them."
Strope hit three batters and one Lancer reached on an error in his six innings and 82 pitches of work.
"He had good command of his pitches and really went at the hitters," Funkhouser said. "I thought he was outstanding."
Despite having the no-hitter in tact, Strope yielded to Gregg Culp who allowed two singles in the seventh.
"We could have probably left him out there to go at it the next inning but then it takes a toll on his arm," Funkhouser said. "It's always good to have individual accomplishments like that (a no-hitter) but with the weather they (the pitchers) haven't been stretched out much past 75. It's a long season. We're going to have a lot of games where we're going to need him."
Strope said he understood being taken out and he couldn't remember the last time he flirted with a no-no as he said it may have been in grade school.
"There's a long season ahead so I'm just doing what (pitching) coach (Mike) Waldo says, he's done this a long time so he knows what he's doing," Strope said. "The curve was sharp and I was locating with the fastball and just locating doing what I've been practicing and not trying to overthink."
The Tigers took control of the game in the second inning which started innocently enough for East starter Nick Menn. He struck out Jimmy Smith, allowed a double to Andrew Sertich and got Dane Opel to ground out. But then the next seven Tigers reached safely.
Zach Frey singled home Sertich. Elliot Frey walked and Blake Conreaux followed ripping a two-run triple. Menn then walked Todd Baumgartner and Dominic Patterozzi before hitting Ted Messer to drive in a run. Smith then drove home Baumgartner and Patterozzi with a two-run single.
"I wasn't happy with our pitching early," Blomberg said. "Through the first four innings we had eight walks or hit batters. That's eight extra baserunners with a good team. They hit the ball real hard."
Austin Onsett and Alex Bassett kept the Tigers at bay until the seventh when Messer singled in front of back-to-back-to-back doubles by Smith, Sertich and Dane Opel. Many of the Tigers' extra-base hits were blasted into the opposite-field gaps.
"We showed some good approaches at the plate," Funkhouser said. "Early on Elliot Frey battled with two strikes. Sertich did that (hit to the opposite field) really well and that expanded both of those guys avenues because they had been more to pull. I think that shows their growth as hitters. Today we saw how we're making some strides and some individuals really flourished within the game."
The Tigers also played sound defensively and Conreaux made a dazzling sliding catch down the left-field line in foul territory in the fifth.
"I let the fielders work for me," Strope said. "They did an excellent job making plays in the outfield. Everybody did a great job."
The Tigers improved to 9-2 overall and 5-1 in the Southwestern Conference while East fell to 7-4, 2-3.
E-mail:jcavato@yourjournal.com
