Hide Article Text (OCR)
Page D4 • Monday, April 23, 2001SWC BASEBALL NOTESRedbirds ride string of eight straight wins into SWC stretch runBy GREG SHASHACKAssistant sports editorThe Alton Redbirds begin the second half of the Southwestern Conference season Tuesday at Belleville West as the league’s hottest teamThe Redbirds will take aneight-game winning streak toWest, which joins Alton and Edwardsville atop the SWC standings at 5-2 Belleville East, Granite City andO’Fallon — all 3-3 in league play — are also in the hunt for what promises to be a hotly contested race for the crown Now it will really tighten up and be a dogfight, Alton coach Michael Bellm said after the Redbirds* 6-4 victory over O’Fallon on Thursday. “The second half will be a realbattle.The key to the Redbirds’current surge has been the return of junior first baseman Pat Gibson, who is hitting 650 (13-for-20 in seven games since serving a 12-game suspension The left-handing hitting Gibson already has 12 RBIs, with eight doubles andtwo home runs.He fills the No 3 slot in a lineup triggered by leadoff hitter Jeremy Bond, a junior second baseman hitting 456 with 13 RBIs and 27 runs scored Cleanup hitter Zach Wooley, a senior catcher, is batting 413 with eight doubles and 17 RBIs, and center fielder Thomas Richards checks in with a .460 average and a team-leading 21 RBIs.Alton, 14-5 overall, has also benefited from solid pitching led by Jim Bertoletti. After beating Edwardsville 4-3 aow it will really tighten up and be aAlton coach Michael BellmOn SWC raceplay in the seventh.With runners on second and third with two outs and the Redbirds clinging to a 6-4 lead, Kellen Kettwich grounded to shortstop Stephen Nash. Nash’s throw pulled Gibson off the bag at first and Kettwich was called safe.After base umpire Don Marburger met with plate umpire Joe Silkwood, Silkwood ruled Gibson’s sweeping tag had touched Kettwich before he reached the bag, wiping the Panthers’ fifth run off the board and ending the game.That left O’Fallon coach Art Voellinger visibly upset with Silkwood, though Alton coach Bellm insists Silkwood got it right.I definitely thought he was out, Bellm said. I had a great angle at it and it was clear as day to me that he came off the bag, but hetagged him right under the numbers before he hit the bag.That did little to appease Voellinger, whose young team— they finished the game with six sophomores in the lineup — fell to 10-3 with the loss.“I’ve got to go to bedtonight not worrying aboutSportsFor Tha Telegraph/JAMES RITTERAlton junior Jim Bertoletti has posted back-to-back conference wins over Edwardsville andKa/1i • __ ^ Ji a ^ A d 4 U/a 4 A d D a #4 K i ■* ri ni,
Newspaper Details
Alton Telegraph
Alton, Illinois, US
Mon, Apr 23, 2001
Page 26
Full Page
Clipped by
Joe R.
NA, 13 May 2022
Other Publications Near Alton, Illinois
Alton Evening Telegraph
Alton Observer
Labor World
Alton Weekly Telegraph
Alton Telegraph and Democratic review
