Francis Howell North Nabs Big Win at Baseball Classic

O’FALLON — High school baseball fans from all over St. Charles County were treated to a unique and thrilling event Friday and Saturday at T.R. Hughes Ballpark, as 13 of the 15 Gateway Athletic Conference teams (plus Clayton High) participated in the GAC Baseball Classic at the home of the River City Rascals.

“It’s just fun to be able to do this for the kids,” Francis Howell Central head baseball coach Ray Howard said. “Us coaches would rather play at home, but the kids love this. They want to play here. And it really is a fun event for everybody involved.”

The 2011 GAC Baseball Classic was a seven-game event featuring some of the best prep baseball teams in the area. The schedule called for three games on Friday, and four more on Saturday

On Saturday, Francis Howell North, which was ranked 10th in last week’s local prep baseball poll, took on upstart Fort Zumwalt West, in a matchup of teams that were both looking for the first GAC win of the season.

Howell North was impressive from the start, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, thanks to singles by Brett Ryberg and Matt Wilson, and a tape-measure home run by junior Braxton Martinez.

The long blast, which sailed deep into the left-field bleachers, was Martinez’s fifth homer of the young season, and raised his already area-best RBI total up to 32.

“I tell you what, he crushed that ball,” Howell North head baseball coach Bob Dunahue said. “I scouted (Albert) Pujols when he played at Fort Osage, and there’s a lot of similarities (between he and Martinez). Pujols is a little bigger, but Braxton can flat out rake.”

Martinez also started the game on the mound for Howell North, and was in position to earn his first win of the season, when he left the game with a 7-3 lead after 4 1/2 innings.

And it seemed a sure bet that Martinez would easily earn that win, when his battery-mate Wilson launched a three-run homer of his own in the top of the seventh that made the score 10-3.

But the fun was only beginning it turned out, as Zumwalt West scored seven times in the bottom of the seventh to send the game to extra innings. The key blow in the Jaguars’ rally was a grand slam homer by sophomore catcher Kyle Case.

The game-tying run though, scored on a bad-hop groundball that Howell North’s Martinez couldn’t hang on too. If he had, it would’ve been the last out, and the Knights would’ve won.

Instead, the game moved to an eighth inning, where Martinez eventually scored the game-winning run on a line-drive basehit by teammate Tyler Ehlmann, which led to a three-run inning for the Knights, and an entertaining 13-10 win over the Jaguars.

The victory was the 400th all-time win for the Howell North baseball program, and also Dunahue’s 400th, as he’s been the only head coach the Knights have known.

“It’s just longevity,” Dunahue said. “This is our 24th year. But what I’m most proud of is we’ve had 168 kids through our program that have gone on to play collegiately. That’s 168 families that their kids got their education paid for through baseball. And that’s huge.”

Howell North will next be in action on Tuesday, April 19, when the Knights will host Parkway West in a non-conference contest at 4:15 p.m.

The final matchup of the 2011 GAC Baseball Classic was a showdown between archrivals Francis Howell and Francis Howell Central.

The Vikings came into Saturday night’s contest ranked No. 1 in the area, and hadn’t lost a game this season to any St. Louis area team.

But that was before they faced the fired up Howell Central Spartans (11-3).

And like Howell North did in the previous contest, Howell Central didn’t waste any time getting on top of top-ranked Howell.

Leadoff man Dylan Schindler sent a deep blast off the 40-foot high wall in right field, and sped around for a double before Howell’s Justin Rhodes could retrieve the ball and get it back into the infield.

Schindler advanced to third on a passed ball, then scored on a two-out single by junior designated hitter Dean Ballenger.

The power-hitting Howell Central cleanup man also provided one of the most thrilling moments of the weekend, when he sent a deep drive into the left-centerfield gap.

Ballenger’s blast seemed destined for the bleachers but instead banged off the wall, narrowly missing going over the fence for a home run.

Ballenger must’ve been the only person in the park who knew the ball wasn’t going out, because he ran hard right out of the batter’s box and hustled his way all the way to third for a triple.

Spartan fans gave Ballenger a standing ovation for his hustle, and then gave him another one moments later, when he scored on a Howell passed ball.

“Dean’s a good ballplayer,” Howard said. “He gave us a lot of energy tonight. That kid has really matured, and he’s turning into one heck of a ballplayer.”

But the star of the night, and possibly the entire event was Howell Central starting pitcher Alex Erb.

The lefty tossed an absolute gem of a ballgame in the 4-1 win over No. 1 Howell.

Erb earned the complete game victory by going all seven innings, and allowing just one run, on five hits, with seven strikeouts, and no walks.

Erb had the Viking hitters off-balance all night, and at one point struck out four straight, for his team-leading fourth win of the season.

“Alex has definitely taken himself to that next level,” Howard said. “He showed us all something here tonight, and I couldn’t be more proud.”

Francis Howell is now 13-2 on the season, and 1-1 in GAC South play. Howell Central is now tied for first place in the GAC South with a 2-0 mark, and boasts a 12-3 record overall this season.

Both teams will be back in action on Tuesday, April 19.

The Vikings will be taking on Wentzville Timberland High at C&H Park, while Howell Central will visit Wentzville Holt High for another important GAC South showdown.

Both those games are slated for 4:15 p.m. starts.