Rams Outplay the Bombers, Win 3-2

With district play around the corner, and teams playing to build momentum or for a good seed in the tournament, Ladue helped their cause with a 3-2 home win over John Burroughs on Wednesday.

The Rams made the one-point margin hold up through the last three innings with good relief pitching and fielding. Senior captain, Mitch Montaldo took over in the fourth for starter,  sophomore, Gabe Grand. Sophomore, Lex Kaplan closed in the seventh, putting down the last three Bombers. The win puts the Rams at 14-3 and leaves the Bombers at 12-6 for the season.

Both teams have had busy schedules recently.

"Our relief pitchers really came in," Ladue coach Rob Garrett said. "We've had a big stretch of a lot of games here, and we've had to use everybody, and they came in and did a nice job for us."

Burroughs senior, Karlos Bledsoe hit a sacrifice fly to score junior, Nathan Adams in the top of the first. Ladue junior, Jason Sandler singled in their half, followed by three walks in a row thrown by Burroughs starter, Amos Shinkle. The third one scored Sandler, making it 2-1, Ladue, after two.

"The  walks will generally come back and bite you in this game. It hurt us," Burroughs coach Andy Katzman said.

Sandler crossed home for the second time in the game in the third inning, breaking the tie, on a ball that got by Burroughs catcher, junior, Sam Helfer.

"You just can't make mistakes against a good club like that," Katzman said. "Every mistake is magnified...You can get away with it with a team of lesser quality, but...these guys are a good club, and when you make mistakes they're generally going to come back and bite you."

Hefler did his part offensively, knocking a fastball over the left field fence for a solo home run. Katzman said the pitch was "right in his wheelhouse."

"It's not the longest fence in the world," Hefler said. "It's definitely a fun thing to do for sure.  We know a lot of these kids, so it's always nice...wish we could have come out on top."

Hefler said the Bombers had played six games in five days, including a loss at Busch Stadium by two and an "old-fashioned spanking by MICDS, so we're trying to come back and rebound."

Katzman said Hefler's homer got them back in the game, but they just couldn't do much after that.

"We did some good things out there, just not quite enough. Just didn't get the hit in the critical situation. It's about putting hits together, and not having a couple guys get hits, followed by a couple guys striking out, doesn't do us much good."

Garrett said they did hit the ball well, even though quite a few were hit right at Bombers. "Sometimes they don't fall in, but I was pretty pleased at how we swung the bats. We got to get a little more consistent, but really, pitching and defense held out for us today."

Ladue plays at Francis Howell Central on Friday. They open the district tourney against Normandy, on Monday, May 16.

Burroughs next game is at Priory on Saturday. Their districts seeding meeting is Thursday.