Skid Continues for Hoots in Alton

Harms tallies three RBIs

The O’Fallon Hoots (16-18, 1-6) made the short trek to face the Alton River Dragons (13-22, 4-5) on Tuesday night. Despite falling in an early hole, the River Dragons proved victorious, downing O’Fallon 7-5.

Inside the Box Score

• Nic Harms led the offense with three RBIs, all coming on his first inning home run.
• Jack Meyer was the other Hoot besides Harms to collect an RBI.
• Braden Barnard threw two innings of hitless baseball in relief.

How it Happened

• The Hoots opened the game in a big way. After the first three batters of the game all reached base, a wild pitch allowed Tyson Ludwig to score and give his squad the early 1-0 lead. Nick Harms then bolstered the lead with a three-run homer, putting the Hoots up 4-0 after one inning. 
• Alton got a few runs back in the bottom of the first. Dominic Decker took advantage of an O’Fallon pickoff, crossing home while Victor Heredia was thrown out at first. The River Dragons would then load the bases, and a Diego Murillo fielder’s choice drove in RJ LaRocco, cutting the Hoots’s lead down to 4-2. 
• LaRocco would have more to say in the bottom of the third. With Heredia just 90 feet from home, LaRocco powered a ball over the left field wall, tying the game at four. Later, with Murillo at first, Tyler Imbach doubled to score another Alton run, giving his team a 5-4 lead.
• O’Fallon struck again in the fifth to tie it. With Ludwig on second and Tucker Platt at first, Jack Meyer hit into a fielder’s choice, but an error from Chase Bloomer gave Ludwig enough time to round third, score, and knot the game up, 5-5. 
• It would be a short lived tie. In the bottom of the fifth, Murillo hit a sacrifice fly into center field to score Evan Evola, giving Alton the lead once more, 6-5. 
• Another River Dragon sacrifice fly, this time from Heredia in the seventh inning to score Eli Hoerner, padded the Alton lead to 7-5. This was all the support River Dragon pitchers needed, who kept O’Fallon scoreless through the end of the game to secure the Alton win.

Up Next

The Hoots conclude their three-game road trip Wednesday, July 12, with a 6:35 p.m. CST matchup at the Thrillville Thrillbillies. Coverage for the contest can be found at ofallonhoots.com, as well as the team’s Twitter (@ofallonbaseball) and Instagram (ofallonhoots).