Francis Howell Central Beats St. Charles, 19-14

Admittedly, Francis Howell Central junior outfielder Zach Isham is not a home run hitter.    

But on Monday, Isham blasted the first home run of his high school career and drove in four runs to lead the Spartans to a 19-14 victory over St. Charles in a nonleague slugfest at Blanchette Park.    

Francis Howell Central, whose 10-game winning streak was snapped last week, used a balanced offensive explosion to get back on track. The Spartans improved to 16-5 overall heading into a Tuesday showdown with Gateway Athletic Conference South Division rival Francis Howell North.    

St. Charles, which lost its fourth in a row, fell to 6-13.    

Isham, who went 3 for 5, led the onslaught. But he received plenty of help from his high-powered teammates. Junior Austin Boden added three hits--including his first homer of the season--and four RBIs. Senior Dylan Schindler and junior Jayden Lumpa had three RBIs each. All starters reached base safely by the fifth inning.    

But Isham came up with the biggest blows of the game. He drilled a long shot over the left-field wall in the sixth inning to give his team a 14-10 lead. In the third, he smacked a two-run single to lead to break a 5-5 tie and give the Spartans the lead for good.    

"It felt good, real good," said Isham of the home run. "I just got into it and put a good swing on it."    

"He doesn't usually have power like that," Francis Howell Central coach Ray Howard said. "This was good to see."   

The Spartans earned a season-high 19 runs. They fashioned a pair of four-run innings and two, 5-run outbursts in the two-hour 31-minute contest. They banged out 15 hits, scored in five of the seven innings, and never went down in order.   

"It's a good thing we had offense, because we gave up a lot of runs," Howard said. "It was a matter of being disciplined at the plate and swinging at the right pitches."   

Francis Howell Central scored four times in the third to break a 5-5 tie and take the lead for good. St. Charles fought back to within 9-8 before the Spartans answered with four more in the fifth to go up 13-8. A five-spot in the sixth pumped the lead to 18-10. Again, the Pirates battled back to get to within 18-14 before running out of gas.   

St. Charles leadoff hitter Matt Glanzer went 4 for 5 with a home run and four RBIs. Austin Olendorff and Connor Brett drove in three runs each for the Pirates.    Central appeared to break the game open with a five-run uprising in the second. Boden got the ball rolling with his home run to tie the game 1-1. Isham then added a go-ahead hit. Lumpa followed with a bases-loaded drive to bring in two more runs.   

The Pirates muscled up to tie the game on Brett's two-run double in the bottom of the second. Undeterred, Central regained control thanks to key hits from Isham, Josh Wade and Bryan Webb.   

"We feel pretty comfortable with our lineup," said Isham. "You have your days when you are on, and you have your days when you are off. Today, we were on."   

Still, it took a nine-run outburst covering the fourth and fifth innings to give the Spartans the victory. Schindler's two-run hit in the fifth pushed the lead to 11-8.  St. Charles responded with a two-run homer by Glanzer.   

"We just outlasted them," said Howard. "We got it done with our bats."   

St. Charles coach Charlie Meeker said before the game that his club was in a slump. But the Pirates woke up, at least offensively, with a game-high 16 hits.    Central lefthander Scott Huessmann was the winning pitcher.   

St. Charles will travel to Fort Zumwalt South on Tuesday.