Falling 3-1 to St. Elizabeth back on Monday, March 25 on the road, Tyler Shalbot’s Vienna Eagles got another shot at the Class 1, state-ranked Hornets in the championship game Saturday at the Calvary Lutheran Baseball Tournament in Jefferson City.

Out hitting St. Elizabeth 6-4, Vienna only managed a fourth-inning run on a balk before falling to the Hornets by a final score of 2-1.

Playing as the visiting team, the Eagles had the first shot at breaking the scoreless tie in the top of the first inning.

Logan Agan recorded a one-out single before being retired at second base when Gavin Stricklan reached on a fielder’s choice. A ground out eventually ended the inning leaving Stricklan stranded.

St. Elizabeth turned two hits and a Vienna error into a run and a 1-0 lead through one inning of championship-game baseball.

Following scoreless frames in the second and third innings, Vienna used a two-out rally to get on the board in the top of the fourth inning.

Seeing the first two batters strike out ahead of him, McCrae Fuller walked before advancing to third on a Dylan Buschmann single.

During Trenton Rowden’s second at bat of the game, a balk by St. Elizabeth’s pitcher allowed Fuller to score and Buschmann to advance to second.

Seeing the inning end on a strikeout, Vienna went into the bottom of the fourth inning tied at 1-1 with St. Elizabeth.

It did not stay tied for very long.

St. Elizabeth turned two hits and a walk into what ultimately turned out to be the game-winning run in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Vienna gave themselves a shot to answer in the top of the sixth.

Fuller and Buschmann both singled with one out before a double play ended the inning.

Unable to produce a base runner in the top of the seventh, Vienna finished as the tournament runner-up.

“Saturday, we went up against a very good St. Elizabeth team and Sutton Hauck threw a gem,” Eagle head baseball coach Tyler Shalbot said. “We lost by one and the game came down to who made fewer mistakes.”

Playing back-to-back games Friday in the tournament, Vienna allowed just one run in their 11-0 win over Belle and their 11-1 victory over New Bloomfield.

Agan, Fuller and Spencer Wieberg each had two hits against the Wildcats pacing Vienna’s offense.

In their shutout of Belle to open the tournament, Rowden had three hits in three at bats along with four RBIs. Buschmann also had a multi-hit game with two to go along with a pair of RBIs.

Prior to the tournament last Thursday, Vienna let an early 1-0 lead disappear at Cuba before falling to the host Wildcats 4-2.

Monday night, the Eagles bounced back with a 9-0 shutout of Newburg at Vienna City Park.

Vienna hosted Eugene last night (Tuesday) and a recap will be in next week’s Advocate.