St. Charles High Grad Helps Team Stay Near Top Of Legion Ball Standings

-- As a college freshman at Truman State University this past year, 2011 grad Austin Olendorff, who earned a scholarship there as pitcher for the Bulldogs baseball team, spent most of the year learning the ropes as an NCAA Division II student-athlete.

And as much he enjoyed the experience as a Bulldog baseball player, Olendorff's first season at Truman did have its downside — he never got to hit in a game.

"All I did was pitch, and I didn't get to hit," Olendorff, a 6-foot-1, 200-pounder righthander said.

So in his mind, one of the great perks to playing for the St. Charles Post 312 American Legion team again this summer, was he'd get to swing the bat again.

And the edge at the plate was evident Thursday night, as Olendorff delivered in a big way for Post 312, with two doubles and three RBIs in a 5-2 over District 9 rival West O'Fallon.

"Austin really came through big for us tonight," Post 312 head coach Kurt Denningman said. "Both times were big situations and he just came through like we needed him to."

Olendorff's big night helped St. Charles move to 8-1 overall this summer, and 4-1 in league play, just one-half game behind first-place Washington (MO), which handed Post 312 its first loss Wednesday night.

"We didn't really play that bad," Denningman said. "We just had one real bad inning, and against a good team like that, one bad inning is enough."

On Wednesday though, St. Charles didn't have any bad innings, and in fact, earned themselves a victory by putting together several fantastic innings in a row.

Post 312 scored first, but found themselves down 2-1, after West O'Fallon rallied for a couple of runs in the third, thanks to a bases loaded single by Ft. Zumwalt West senior-to-be Kyle Case.

But St. Charles rallied to regain the lead in the fourth, when Olendorff tied the score with his first double of the night, then scored the go-ahead run on a line-shot double to left by recent Duchesne grad Sam Chambers.

"I thought that was a routine fly ball and I looked up and the left fielder was turned around, and I thought 'holy cow, it's over his head'," Denninman said. "That was big for Sam, because he's been struggling. He was off to a huge start, batting .650-something at this time last week. Then he cooled off a bit. We need to get him going again."

The next inning was when Olendorff delivered the big blow though, driving home two crucial insurance runs with another double that gave Post 312 its 5-2 edge.

From there starting pitcher Spencer Pugh and reliever Sam Melliere, both recent high school grads from Orchard Farm and respectively, shut down West O'Fallon to cinch the win.

Pugh (3-0) went 5 2/3 innings, allowing just the two runs on six hits, to get the win, while Melliere threw a scoreless final 3 1/3 innings to get the save.

Melliere was particularly dominant in his first mound appearance of the summer.

"He's been asking me 'when am I gonna pitch?'" Denningman said. "When I handed him the ball there, I said 'well, this is what you wanted. Bases loaded, two outs, go-ahead run at the plate.' That was a great job by Sam."

After a well-deserved day off on Friday, St. Charles will be back in action on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, with doubleheaders on both days.

On Saturday, St. Charles will host a twinbill at Blanchette Park against Jerseyville (IL) beginning at noon. Then on Sunday, Post 312 will play a 10 a.m. league game at C&H Park against the Central Spartans, before closing a the weekend with another game that night at Fireman's Park against Wentzville.

"I'm a little worried we might run out of pitching," Denningman said. "But we've got guys that need work. They're going to get it this weekend for sure."