Baseballs were flying out of Belle City Park Monday night.
Unfortunately for Belle’s Tigers, they only had one home run while the visiting St. Elizabeth Hornets had three late-inning home …
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Baseballs were flying out of Belle City Park Monday night.
Unfortunately for Belle’s Tigers, they only had one home run while the visiting St. Elizabeth Hornets had three late-inning home runs to hand the host Tigers a 6-1 loss.
Locked in a scoreless pitcher’s dual for the first two innings were Belle’s Levi Fortner and St. Elizabeth’s Nolan Heckemeyer.
Able to pitch around a hit batter and a single in the bottom of the first, Fortner sat down the next six Hornet batters keeping St. Elizabeth off the scoreboard.
Belle managed a one-out single from Lane Feeler and a two-out walk by Fortner in the bottom of the first inning before both were left stranded on the base paths.
Inning number two for the Tigers also saw Dylan Light and Jace Gieck draw walks before being left stranded.
Working around a one-out walk and an error in the top of the third inning, Fortner got a chance to help his cause in the bottom of the third.
Feeler singled for the second time in as many at-bats before Jat Ridenhour grounded into a double play emptying the bases for Fortner.
In a two-strike hole, Fortner helped his cause on the next pitch depositing it over the left-field fence for a solo home run and an early 1-0 lead for Belle over the Class 1, fourth-ranked Hornets according to the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association (MHSBCA).
Pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the fourth inning, Fortner gave his Tiger offense a chance to add to their 1-0 lead.
Light drew a lead-off walk before a Colten Robinson single moved him to second base.
After hitting into their second double play of the game, Gieck reached on a dropped third strike before Robinson was picked off third base to end the fourth inning.
Three St. Elizabeth home runs over the next two innings helped them escape Belle with a win.
Last Tuesday at home against St. James, Belle had a 1-0 lead through four innings before St. James put four on the board in the top of the fifth inning handing the host Tigers a 5-3 loss in spite of single tally marks in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings from Belle.
Belle’s next action will be Friday, April 26 at Viburnum at 5 p.m.
