EDWARDSVILLE - Father McGivney Catholic graduate Jackson Rodgers pitched six shutout innings, while both Javi Alvarez and Cole Schrank each drove in two runs as the Alton River Dragons took an 11-2 win over the Terre Haute, Ind., REX in a Prospect League baseball game Friday night at Roy E. Lee Field in the Simmons Baseball Complex at SIU-Edwardsville.
Rodgers, who is currently playing for Western Illinois, was masterful and pitched his six shutout innings to gain the win, allowing only three hits, while walking two and striking out one.
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Colin Club pitched the seventh inning, giving up two runs on a hit, walking one and fanning one, Aidan Adams retired the side in order in the eighth, and David Hedley pitched on the ninth, allowing only two walks, to preserve the River Dragons' win.
The win improves Alton to 7-10 in the second half of the league's split season, remaining in fourth place in the South Division of the Western Conference, a half-game behind the third place Cape Catfish of Care Girardeau, Mo., and two-and-a-half games ahead of the fifth place Thrillville Thrillbillies of Marion, whom the River Dragons play on Saturday on the road. Alton also trails the first place O'Fallon, Mo., Hoots by two games and the second place Jackson, Tenn., Rockabillys by a game-and-a-half.
The River Dragons scored the first 10 runs of the game, starting in the first on a Dane Stevenson groundout that scored Cooper Howell to put Alton up 1-0. Schrank got his first RBI of the game when he drove home Justin Santoyo on a single to double the lead at 2-0. In the home half of the third, an Alvarez groundout to second scored Justin Santoyo to give Alton a 3-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the fourth, the River Dragons began to blow things open with three runs, starting with a Howell RBI single that scored Xian'en Zeng, then a groundout to third by Eli Hill scored R.J. LaRocco, Jr., to make it 5-0, and a Santoyo single plated Howell to put Alton on top 6-0. The River Dragons scored once in the fifth, when Zeng popped out to the first baseman in foul ground that turned into a sacrifce fly when Alvarez tagged and scored to make it 7-0
In the bottom of the sixth, Howell scored on a wild pitch, advancing runner to second and third, and Alvarez reached on an error by the second baseman, allowing Hill to score to make in 9-0, A Schrank sacrifice fly to center scored Santoyo to improve the Alton lead to10-0.
The REX got on the board in the top o the seventh, on an Oscar Pegg groundout to third scored Cooper Jauz, then Gabriel Arroyo scored on a wild pitch to cut the Alton lead to 10-2. LaRocco got one of the runs back on an eighth inning sacrifice fly to left that scored Matt Brown to make the final 11-2 after Terre Haute was retired in the ninth.
Schrank led the way for Alton with two hits and two RBIs, while both Howell and Santoyo had two hits and a RBI each, Stevenson and LaRocco both had a hit and RBI apiece, Alvarez drove in a pair of runs, and Zeng also had a RBI.
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