Alton, IL– The O’Fallon Hoots continued their strong second half with an 11-1 win over the Alton River Dragons on Saturday night. Gavin Kinworthy pitched a complete game to secure the 7-inning mercy rule victory.
Top Performers:
Gavin Kinworthy- 7.0 IP, 7 Ks, 1 R/ER, 7 Ks
John Connors- 1-5, 1 2B, 2 RBIs
Sam Paule- 2-4, 1 RBI, 3 Rs
How It Happened:
O’Fallon’s offense once again got going early, as the first two baserunners reached on a single and a hit batsman. John Connors chased both of them home when he ripped an RBI double to the left center field gap, giving the Hoots an early 2-0 lead.
Alton responded in the bottom of the first, as Caynen Patterson led off with a deep home run to left field, his second home run of the season, making it 2-1.
That would be all the closer that Alton got, however. Gavin Kinworthy was excellent, scattering seven hits across seven innings, striking out seven along the way.
From there, it was up to the Hoots to give Kinworthy some insurance, which they did in spades. In the second, Sam Paule drove in Jaiden Glency with a single after Glency had doubled. After a couple more hit batsman loaded the bases, Paule would score on a passed ball to make the score 4-1.
The Hoots in general took advantage of wild pitching from the River Dragons. In the fourth, they scored three runs when Nick Bonczkowski walked with the bases loaded, followed by Nick Alagna and Griffin Brown being hit by a pitch. The Hoots were hit by a pitch six times in total on Saturday. Bonczkowski himself would score on a passed ball later in the inning as O’Fallon took an 8-1 lead.
They finished their scoring off in the sixth, taking advantage of more sloppy play by Alton. Nick Alagna scored on a wild pitch. Later, Griffin Brown scored on an error by the Alton shortstop on a Tyler Macon hit. The next batter, Tyler Macon stole second, which allowed the man on third, Jaiden Glency, to head home on the throw. That brought the final score to 11-1. Gavin Kinworthy made it stand, striking out the side in the seventh to give O’Fallon the mercy rule victory.
The Hoots head to Cape Girardeau to face the Catfish next, renewing the Show-Me Rivalry and looking to end their now 12-game winning streak.
