Steeleville Senior American Legion beat Sparta 4-2
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[On Tuesday, July 22, Steeleville battled Orient, a team they lost to twice during the regular season. Early offense and good pitching led them to a 7-3 victory. Starting pitcher Danny Zobel limited Orient to only an infield single through the first six innings. Meanwhile the offense scored 7 runs during that time. In the second Steeleville struck for 3 runs. Danny Zobel opened the inning with a single to center and Jacob Mayer followed with a walk. One out later Peter Zobel singled to right to give Steeleville a 1-0 lead. Casey Bollman hit into a force play at second, but then he stole second base to put runners at second and third with 2 outs. Eric Gramenz then lined a single to right field, driving home both runners for a 3-0 lead. Steeleville added two more runs in the fourth when Peter Zobel scored on a balk and a Ross Cook single drove home Gramenz. Mayer doubled to left center in the fifth to drive home Danny Zobel who had singled. Gramenz scored in the sixth on a wild pitch and Steeleville had built a 7-0 lead. Orient got to Danny Zobel in the seventh as 3 of the first 4 batters singled. A walk, fielders choice and another single plated 3 runs. Kevin Knop then came on in relief and ended the innng with a fly out.
Knop pitched the final two innings allowing just two walks, shutting down Orient, and picking up the save. Danny Zobel picked up the win with 6 and 2/3 innings of pitching, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits. Peter Zobel went 3-4 in the game with an rbi, Danny Zobel and Eric Gramenz each went 2-4 and Gramenz had 2 rbis, and Jacob Mayer, Matt Hubert, Mark Hostert, and Ross Cook each had a hit. The win aloowed Steeleville to stay alive in the double elimination tourney as they advanced to play Carbondale.
Against Carbondale the offense came alive as Steeleville scored 14 runs in the first six innings on their way to a 16-8 win. Steeleville scored 4 runs in the second, third, and fifth innings to take a commanding 14-4 lead after six innings of play. Frank Barthol pitched the first 6 and 1/3 innings and Eric Gramenz threw the final 2 and2/3 innings. The offensive explosion was led by Ross Cook who went 4-6 at the plate with a single, 2 doubles, and a triple as he drove home 5 runners. Peter Zobel also went 4-6 at the plate with 3 rbis. Jacob Mayer was 3-5, scoring 2 runs and driving home 1. Danny Zobel and Eric Gramnez each picked up 2 hits and Matt Hubert, Casey Bollman, and Bryan Welge each had a hit.
On Thursday, July 24, Steeleville had a rematch against Sparta with the winner assured of advancing to the Division Tournament and having a chance to place for first place against Murphysboro in the District Tourney. The game was close throughout, but Steeleville came up with the big hits and timely pitching to walk away with a 6-4 win. Steeleville scored the first run of the game in the third inning. Bryan Welge singled to right with one out and came all the way home on Ross Cook's double to right center. Steeleville added another run in the fourth when Mark Hostert scored on Jacob Mayer's sacrifice fly ot right. Hostert had reached on an error, moved to second on Matt Huberts single, and both runners moved up on Danny Zobel's sacrifice bunt.
Sparta scored single runs in the fifth and sixth to tie the game at 2. Sparta got a one out single in the fifth. The runner stole second and advanced to third when the throw went into center. He then scored on a sacrifice fly. Two hits in the sixth allowed Saprta to tie the game up. In the bottom of the sixth Steeleville got two big 2 out hits to retake the lead. With nobody on and two down, Matt Hubert doubled over the center fielders head to ignite the rally. Danny Zobel followed with a triple to deep right center, giving Steeleville the lead back at 3-2. Zobel then scored on a wild pitch for a 4-2 advantage. Sparta got a solo home run in the seventh to cut the lead to 4-3.
Steeleville widened the lead in the bottom of the seventh thanks to Ross Cooks hustle and an Sparta error. Peter Zobel opened the inning with a walk and Bryan Welge delivered a one out single. With two outs the runners moved up to second and third on a wild pitch. Cook then hit a soft grounder towards second and sprinted down the line. The fielder had to rush his throw to try to get Cook and ended up bouncing it past the first baseman allowing both runners to score. Steeleville took the 6-3 lead into the top of the eighth. Mark Hostert came on in relief to start the eighth. Jason Becker gave Steeleville a great effort on the mound in the first 7 innings. Becker allowed 3 runs, only 1 earned, gave up 9 hits, walked nobody, and struck out 9.
Hostert's first pitch in relief was hit over the fence in left for a home run, cutting the lead to 6-4. Hostert then settled down retiring the next six Sparta batters in order, striking out 3, to close out the game. Becker picked up the win and Hostert the save. Danny Zobel went 3-3 at the plate, scoring a run and driving home another. Ross Cook was 2-4 with 2 RBI's, Matt Hubert went 2-4 and Bryan Welge was 2-3.
With the win Steeleville then had to take on Murphysboro for the tournament championship. Since Murphysboro was undefeated Steeleville would have had to beat them twice to claim the championship. The game started 45 minutes after Steeleville had defeated Sparta. Steeleville, playing their 6th game in 7 days, and fighting back through the losers bracket, came out a little flat and fell in defeat 10-0. An error to start the second inning allowed Murphysboro to score 3 runs for a quick lead. Murphysboro added another run in the third and 2 more in the fourth to build a commanding 6-0 lead Steelville could never amount a comeback in the loss.
Steeleville advances to the 5th Division touornament and begins play on Tuesday, July 29, taking on Carrier Mills at 10am.