The Mattoon High School baseball team edged St. Anthony 1-0 in 8 innings Tuesday afternoon. Pitching and defense ruled the day on both sides. Tucker Rappe went the distance on the mound for Mattoon. Rappe allowed no runs on 9 hits while striking out 4 and walking none. Adam Levitt of St. Anthony matched Rappe zero-for-zero through 7 scoreless innings.
In the bottom of the 8th, Mattoon’s Trey Skocy led off with a single to left field. Rayme Hamilton successfully sacrificed Skocy to second base. Colton Shoot followed with a double to right-center, narrowly eluding the diving center fielder Brandon Puckett. Skocy advanced to third on the play. After an intentional walk to Peyton Morrow loaded the bases, the Green Wave’s Will Courtney hit into a 1-2 fielder’s choice. He narrowly beat the return throw to first, extending the inning to Garrette Branson. The Mattoon sophomore catcher hit a sharp grounder up the middle. The ball struck Levitt on the mound and ricocheted beyond the reach of Ethan Greene at shortstop. Shoot came across with the game-winning run, and the Green Wave had a 1-0 victory.
St. Anthony out hit Mattoon 9-6, but the Bulldogs stranded 11 runners on base. The Green Wave left 4 men on base and were the victim of two nicely turned double plays by St. Anthony (4-3 and 6-4-3). Nick Poorman led the Mattoon offense with a 2-3 day at the plate. Ethan Greene and Adam Levitt had two hits each for St. Anthony.
The game was heard on 101.3 WMCI and is available on demand, courtesy of the Fellowship Center.
Our next Mattoon baseball broadcast is Tuesday, April 12th vs. Mt. Zion. We will have coverage of the Lady Wave softball game this Friday, April 8th vs. Shelbyville.
