BASEBALL: Shoes walk off with Super-Sectional crown

Du Quoin produced a dramatic comeback rally in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game, but in the end, Teutopolis' loaded lineup was just too much. The Wooden Shoes snuck out of GCS Park in Sauget on Tuesday with a 6-5 win on John Kreke's walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh, sending them to Peoria this weekend for the IHSA Class 2A Baseball State Finals with their fourth Super-Sectional trophy in the past six seasons.

The Indians kept the Shoes' bats relatively quiet through four innings, but the sleeping giant awoke in the bottom of the fifth with four runs to bring the T-Town dugout to life, then a diving catch by Brock Mette in left field cut short Du Quoin's comeback in the top of the seventh and gave Teutopolis some momentum heading into the bottom half of the deciding frame.

"They've got some hitters up and down their lineup," said DHS head coach Tim Craft. "We had some opportunities, scored three runs in the first inning, had several opportunities in several innings, just couldn't come through with the big hit."

Like they'd done in their previous five victories, Du Quoin drew first blood. Ethan Keller and Jacob Valier both singled to start the top of the first inning in front of walks to A.J. Smith and Levi Brening to make it 1-0.

After Brock Bullar grounded into a fielder's choice for an out at the plate, Braden Lee was hit by a pitch - for the 28th time this season - to bring in A.J. Smith. Ryne O'Rourke came up next and connected for an RBI single, chasing Kyle Smith from the mound and giving Du Quoin a 3-0 lead before Teutopolis even came to the dish.

Valier retired the first two Shoes in the bottom of the first before Jordan Thoele doubled, then Austin Hartke got T-Town on the board with an RBI base hit, cutting the lead to 3-1.

Each team would have at least one base runner in each of the next three innings, but failed to score. The stranded runners would cost the Indians more than the Shoes, as DHS left eight men on base for the day to Teutopolis' six.

Seeing the top of the lineup for the third time, Valier got into trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning. Nine-hitter Tommy Flach singled to start a chain of five straight T-Town hits including two-run singles by Louis Niemerg and Hartke, and suddenly Valier's day on the mound was done while the Wooden Shoes had grabbed a 5-3 lead.

The Indians had a little bit of magic left in them, though. Bullar walked to start the top of the seventh before Lee was, again, hit by a pitch. That ended Devin Smith's turn on the mound for Teutopolis without allowing a single hit, but with six walks and two hit batters.

"It was just a different look," Craft said of D. Smith. "He was so over the top and throwing downhill. His curve ball was pretty good, too. He would get ahead with his fastball, then it was curveball, curveball. He did a good job of keeping us off-balance there for a few innings."

Niemerg, who started for the Shoes in their Sectional final win on Monday, was then called upon to close out the Super-Sectional for T-Town. He fanned O'Rourke, but after a passed ball moved both runners up, Ashton Smith caused Du Quoin's dugout and fan section to erupt with a two-run single to tie the game.

"Ashton's had a good year for us," Craft said. "He's come through with big hits all year, especially in the second half of the season."

Niemerg struck out Hopkins for the second out, then Keller hit a well-struck ball to left field which, for a moment, looked like it might get down and bring in the go-ahead run. But Mette dove to his right and made a tremendous catch, sending the game to the bottom of the seventh all knotted up at 5-5.

"The kid made a great play in left field," said Craft. "If it gets down, it rolls to the corner and we've probably got a runner at third and some of our big hitters coming up. He made a great play at a great time."

Dalton Day, who kept the Indians in the game by stopping the bleeding in the fifth inning and getting a 1-2-3 sixth, hit Thoele to start the bottom of the seventh, putting the winning run on first base. Hartke bunted him over, allowing Kreke to be the hero with a base hit in the right-center field gap.

"The kids really buckled down and came through in the seventh inning and got even and gave us a chance to still possibly come back and win the game, but we just weren't able to hold on," Craft said.

"Dalton came in and settled the game down, and got through some of their big hitters. He gave us a chance to win the game, we just couldn't get that big hit when we had runners in scoring position. We competed, the kids played their buts off, we just weren't able to come through."

Du Quoin had only four hits on the day from Keller (1-4, R), Valier (1-2, 2 BB), O'Rourke (1-4, RBI) and Ashton Smith (1-3, 2 RBI, BB). All but Ashton Smith's came in the first inning. Valier's pitching numbers included four innings thrown, five earned runs allowed on nine hits with a strikeout. Day tossed two and a third innings and gave up one run on two hits and a hit batter.

The Indians end their season with a record of 26-11 and championships in the Nashville Sectional and Du Quoin Regional. They had won thirteen games heading into Tuesday's Super-Sectional, matching the thirteen-game winning streak put together during the thrill-ride season of 2011 when they finished third at the State Finals.

"I can't say enough about our kids," Craft said. "They kind of buckled down at a point in time when our season could have gone either way. They settled down and started playing good baseball, playing for one another rather than worrying about individual stuff. It's been a great group to coach for several years. I'm going to miss a lot of them."

For Teutopolis (31-5-1), D. Smith (2-4, R), Niemerg (1-4, R, 2 RBI), Thoele (2-3, 2 2B, HBP), Hartke (2-3, 3 RBI, SAC), Kreke (2-4, RBI), Mette (1-3) and Flach (1-3) had hits. K. Smith retired one batter and allowed three earned runs on three hits, two walks and a hit batter. Niemerg got the victory despite giving up the game-tying hit.