Hoots Lose First Road Contest of 2023

Long knocks in three runs

Seeking their first win of the 2023 season, the O’Fallon Hoots (0-3) traveled to Alton, Ill., Saturday night to face the River Dragons (3-0) in a rematch of Thursday night’s Alton victory. O’Fallon was unable to get their revenge, as the River Dragons won the match 5-4 thanks to a walk-off. 

Inside the Box Score

• Michael Long led all players in RBIs with three. He went two-for-three at the plate while also scoring a run. 
• John Stallcup also provided an RBI for the Hoots with his one hit of the night.
• Pierce Hartmann went four innings deep in his first start of the season. He allowed just two earned runs while racking up three strikeouts.
• Barrett Lohman threw three scoreless innings in relief to go with his four strikeouts. 

How it Happened

• O’Fallon started the scoring in the second inning. Nick Harms reached first on a walk before stealing second. A wild pitch from River Dragon J.T. Miller allowed Harms to get to third, before a sacrifice fly from Long scored Harms and gave the Hoots a 1-0 lead. 
• Alton responded in the third inning. Diego Murrillo led off with a single, and an Eli Young single advanced Murrillo all the way to third. The next batter, Dominic Decker, also singled, knocking in Murrillo to knot up the game 1-1. 
• The lead would go back to O’Fallon in the next half-inning. Chase Beattie was hit by a pitch from Miller, which would be Miller’s last pitch of the night. Now facing Alex Rodriguez, Jack Meyer hit a single to right field. After Harms flew out, Long knocked a single to center field, allowing Beattie to score from second and giving the Hoots a 2-1 lead. 
• It would be a short lived lead though. Brayden Caskey led off the bottom of the fourth with a double before stealing third. With one out and a man 90 feet from home, Victor Heredia flew out to center field, allowing Caskey to score and tie the game back up at two runs apiece. 
• Long continued his stellar night in the seventh inning. A leadoff walk to Harms was all Long needed, who doubled in the next at-bat to drive Harms in for a 3-2 lead. Long moved over to third on a wild pitch, and Stallcup flew out to right to score the O’Fallon first baseman and increase the Hoots’s lead to 4-2. 
• The River Dragons got those two runs back in the eighth. With one out, Decker drew a walk from Caiden Otte, then reached second on an Erik Broekemeier single. Eli Hoerner came into the game to pinch run for Broekemeier. Then, a Tyler Imbach double scored both Hoerner and Decker, tying the game at four heading into the final inning of play. 
• In the bottom of the ninth, Murrillo walked to lead-off for Alton. RJ LaRocco then singled to right field, which is all Murrillo needed to cross home and win the game for the River Dragons, 5-4.

Up Next

Play resumes for O’Fallon Sunday, June 4, when they travel to Springfield, Ill., to take on the Horseshoes. First pitch is set for 5 p.m., and coverage can be found at ofallonhoots.com, as well as the team’s Twitter (@ofallonbaseball) and Instagram (ofallonhoots).