Steeleville JV splits doubleheader
<span style="font-weight: 400;">STEELEVILLE -- It was a tale of two games for the Steeleville junior varsity.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Warriors scored 10 runs and banged out 11 hits in the opener, but struggled to find their touch in the nightcap in splitting a 10-3, 6-2 doubleheader with Freeburg on Saturday.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Steeleville freshman Jordan Wilson finished 4-for-7 on the day with three doubles and four RBIs, including a 4-for-4 performance in the opener.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Dylan Hill contributed a 3-for-4 effort with three RBIs, and A.J. Stearns also drove in two runs for the Warriors.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">"I'm glad that the kids got to play," said Steeleville coach John Sutton. "There's a lot of kids who haven't had a chance to play.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">"For some of them, it's the first game they've been in. I, as a coach, was happy to see a lot of the good things that happened for kids who are, maybe, on the edge of getting some playing time at varsity."</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Steeleville scored the majority of its runs in the first two innings in the opener. After Freeburg took a 2-0 lead in its half of the first, the Warriors jumped on Freeburg starting pitcher Jake Issacs for four runs on four hits in the bottom half of the inning.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Steeleville then added three runs in the second and another in the fifth for an 8-2 lead. Freeburg scratched a run across in the sixth on a RBI single by Ethan Gregorich.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Warriors then put the game out of reach with two runs in the bottom half of the inning.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">It was a different story in the second game. Steeleville freshman Austin Hagel got the start and pitched three scoreless innings - allowing one hit in the process - until running into trouble in the fourth.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Hagel gave up back-to-back walks to Payton Benkendorf and Gregorich to start the inning and a balk moved them each over a base. Tyler Stafko grounded into a 4-2 fielder's choice that scored one run, and Gregorich later scored on a passed ball for a 2-0 Freeburg advantage.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">"There were kids playing positions today that they probably haven't played," Sutton said. "But I see some of those positions in the future that might be some places they're going to be and I got a chance to see if they could do it in a game, not just a practice."</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Steeleville responded in the bottom half of the inning, getting a leadoff double by freshman Jacob Sutton and a RBI groundout by Wilson two batters later to cut Freeburg's lead in half.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">It would take only a half-inning for the Midgets to counter, scoring three runs on Steeleville reliever Bradley Mevert on a RBI double by Gregorich and a two-run single by Stafko for a 5-1 Freeburg lead.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Steeleville scored its final run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Eli Wittenborn and Freeburg pushed its sixth run across in the top of the seventh.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">"Pitchers, I was glad to see some of the kids that haven't had a chance to pitch," Sutton said. "All of them. Jordan Wilson, Jake threw in the first game, Mel (Mulholland) threw an inning.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">"It was good to see those guys pitch a little bit and see what they can do. I don't know if they're going to be at the varsity level, but Mel is going to have to pitch some at the varsity level for us."</span>