Tony Helfrich might want to play more games at Borgia’s school field.
That’s because the Borgia junior held Hermann to three hits Monday in a 6-0 shutout win.
Borgia (13-7) also played Saturday at Rotary Recreational Complex - Ronsick Field, falling to O’Fallon Christian, 6-2.
Hermann
Facing another potential district opponent, the Knights managed to beat Hermann for the second time this season, 6-0.
“Beating another district opponent is huge for us,” Borgia Head Coach Rob Struckhoff said. “Hermann’s been playing well lately and we knew we’d have our hands full. It was a great win for us.”
The first meeting was in the third-place game of the consolation bracket of the Four Rivers Classic. Borgia made it two wins in a row over the Bearcats Monday at Borgia.
Helfrich gave up only three hits in the game while striking out seven batters.
“Tony Helfrich was the story of this game,” Struckhoff said. “He worked fast and really did a great job hitting his spots. He kept Hermann off-balance the entire game. He only threw 74 pitches which might be a record for us in a seven-inning complete game. He really used his infield defense well. Of Hermann’s 21 outs, seven were strikeouts and 12 were groundouts. You’ll win a lot of games with that combination.”
Offensively, Jack Kopmann led the way with three hits and three RBIs.
“Jack Kopmann was the hitting and defensive star,” Struckhoff said. “He had three hits and three RBIs and cleanly fielded eight balls. That’s having a day. Brendan Feldmann posted two doubles while also walking and scoring a run.
“Brendan Feldmann also continued his solid hitting with two doubles,” Struckhoff said.
Trent Leimkuehler, Grant Eckelkamp, Brendan Kleekamp and Austin Rettke also had hits for the Knights.
Leimkuehler added a stolen base. Eckelkamp scored and stole a base. Kleekamp scored, drove in a run and stole a base. Rettke doubled, scored and drove in two runs.
Sam Deschenes walked, stole a base and scored. Alex Jasper also scored a run.
Jake Schannuth took the loss for Hermann, allowing six runs on nine hits and two walks. He struck out seven.
Hermann’s statisticians credited their team with four hits with Brett Eckelkamp, Ben Held, Justin Wurtz and Craig Winkelmann being given singles.
Christian
Hosting O’Fallon Christian in the Dubourg Tournament, the Knights fell Saturday afternoon, 6-2.
“This was a game of missed opportunities for us,” Struckhoff said. “We put 11 men on base, but could only muster one hit with a man in scoring position. Three times during the game we had a runner on second with nobody out and couldn’t even move him to third base. We’ve been through this before, though. We’ve shown the ability to score runs, so I’m not worried.”
Struckhoff indicated Christian came through with runners on the base.
“Christian had the exact opposite luck we had,” Struckhoff said. “They scored all six runs in the third. Other than that inning, they only had one base runner the rest of the game. Baseball is funny that way.”
The Knights used two pitchers in the game. Feldmann lasted four innings, allowing six runs on seven hits while striking out three.
“Brendan Feldmann started and pitched well in three of his four innings,” Struckhoff said. “However, they got to him in the third. We had to pull him after four innings due to an illness.”
Leimkuehler, honored before the game for a MSHSAA record 28-game hitting streak which ended this season, pitched the last three innings while allowing two hits. He struck out four.
“Trent finished up and pitched very well,” Struckhoff said.
Struckhoff praised Borgia’s defense.
“Our defense played errorless baseball once again, which was good to see,” Struckhoff said.
Matt Jones and Noah Borgerding each had two hits in the game.
Borgerding added a double and an RBI.
Borgia’s other hits came from Leimkuehler and Rettke.
Leimkuehler also scored. Rettke doubled and walked.
Alex Jasper scored the other run while Kleekamp walked and had an RBI.
Others with walks were Eckelkamp, Kopmann and Helfrich.
