Ballwin-Area Talent Compete in Elite Summer Tourney

LAKE ST. LOUIS–It was a bittersweet opener for the Rawlings Prospects and Rawlings Redbirds' Red and White summer baseball teams at Founder’s Park this weekend.

The three elite club baseball squads, whose rosters are made up of players from Rockwood and Parkway schools as well as area private schools, each won a game and lost a game Friday on Day 1 of the Greater Midwest Baseball Missouri-Illinois Bi-State Championships at Founder’s Park and the BMAC. The tourney heads into its final leg early Sunday.

The Prospects, considered one of the tournament favorites heading in, lost the first game of the day, 9-2, to the Stallions Baseball Club, but won their second game, 13-1, over Warriors Gold of South County.

“We didn’t seem to have that passion to play from the word go, and that made a big difference in that first game,” Prospects head coach Dave Wheeler said. “(The Stallions) are a pretty good team, and they made the most of their opportunities. This second game though, we came out ready to play, and got some pitches to hit.”

In that first game against the Stallions, the Prospects didn’t play particularly bad, they just weren’t sharp. And that led to a number of misplays that helped the Stallions build a big lead.

The Stallions led 2-0 early, but the Prospects were able to rally in the third inning, thanks to a two-run single by Lafayette senior-to-be Ryan Alwell.

But two Stallions runs in the fourth, and four more in the fifth, doomed the Prospects to a loss in their opening game.

Game two was almost like batting practice for the Prospects, who took advantage of a clearly overmatched Warriors Gold pitching staff.

The Prospects scored seven times in the first inning, then added five more in the second followed by a single run in the third, which ended the game per tournament rules. A 12-run lead after three innings enforces the "mercy rule."

At the end of the day, the Prospects found out they had advanced to the winner’s bracket of the tournament as a No. 7 seed. Their game against No. 2 seed Warriors Blue was played on Saturday night.

The two Rawlings Redbirds teams also won one and lost one on Friday.

The Redbirds Red also played at the BMAC, and won its first game, 11-1, over Illini Baseball.

In their second game though, Redbirds Red lost to Granite City Baseball, 5-0.

The Redbirds White also won their first game of the day, erupting for a 13-3 win over the Rawlings Tigers, a team of players from South County.

Later in the day though, Redbirds White suffered a lackluster 6-2 to the Southern Illinois Bullets., another team from South County.

“In that first game, we just hit the ball,” Redbirds White head coach Garrett Bauer said. “And in that second game, we just didn’t. And it’s kinda been like that all year, where we’ll play great in the first game (of a tournament), then later in the day, after a long break, we won’t play (so well).”

And that was exactly how the day went for Redbirds White.

In game one, Marquette junior-to-be Matt Hink led the offense with three hits, three RBI, and two runs scored as White easily pounded the Rawlings Tigers.

In game two, Hink continued his hot-hitting with two more hits and two runs scored, but it just wasn’t enough against the Captains.

Pitcher Chris Angelo, a junior-to-be at Lafayette next year, got the win in game one, while Parkway Central’s Michael Rothman suffered the loss in game two.

Saturday’s semifinal winners will advance to the GMB state championship game, which will be play on Sunday, at 12:30 p.m., at Shaw Park in Clayton.

Here’s a look at the full schedule breakdown for Sunday:

Sunday, June 26

At Shaw Park

8:30 a.m. – Consolation Championship: Winner Game 10  vs.  Winner Game 11

10:30 a.m. – Game 13: Winner Game 2  vs.  Winner Game 5

12:30 p.m. – Championship Game: Winner Game 4  vs.  Winner Game 13