Mason, Davis key Logan win

BY JOHN D. HOMAN

Logan Media Services

CARTERVILLE – Sophomore lefty Wes Mason pitched seven innings of two-hit ball and sophomore second baseman J.C. Davis banged out three hits Thursday to lead the John A. Logan College baseball team to a 5-2 home win over Southeastern Illinois College.

Wes Mason moves to 3-0 with win over SIC.

With the win, the Vols improve to 4-2 in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference and 16-13 overall. SIC falls to 6-13 overall, 2-7 in the league.

The visiting Falcons took a 1-0 lead over Mason and the Vols in the top of the fourth inning on a two-out single off the bat of John Jones, who drove in Taylor Morris. Morris had walked, stolen second and advanced to third on an error by the catcher.

That would be the only run Mason would allow, however, as the Mount Vernon native struck out six and walked only one in picking up his third win of the spring.

“The main thing I tried to improve upon today was not walking so many people and I think I accomplished that,” Mason said. “I worked on establishing my fastball more for strikes. Other than that, I don’t think I did much different than either of my last couple of starts. I’m just trying to repeat what I’ve been doing week after week.”

The Vols tallied three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 3-1 lead. Freshman Matt Woolwine, who would later reinjure his hamstring, led off with a double. DeJohn Suber singled him to third. Davis followed with an RBI single. Suber was thrown out at third on the play. Zac Mishler then singled and Anthony Bayus singled to load the bases.

Tanner Scott came up with a base hit, plating Davis and Mishler. Bayus was thrown out at third for the second out. Derek Repking then flied out to left to end the inning.

The Falcons pulled to within one at 3-2 in the eighth off Vols’ freshman reliever John Hondlik. Collin Book walked and came around to score on a hit by Nick Borders. Borders next raced from first to third on an errant pickoff attempt, but Vols’ sophomore third baseman Keelin Rasch saved the day when he stretched high to snag a line drive off the bat of Logan Leverette.

The Vols tacked on two insurance tallies in the bottom of the eighth as Rasch and Davis singled in runs. Sophomore righthander Anthony Spangler worked an uneventful ninth to pick up his second save of the spring.

Logan head coach Jerry Halstead was pleased with the win.

“Wes has been good in the conference his last three outings,” he said. “I didn’t think he had his best stuff today, but he got ahead in the counts and made some good pitches.”

Halstead said Rasch’s web gem was indeed the play of the day.

“I thought that was a game-changer. The young man (Leverette) barreled it up and probably hit it as hard as he could hit it, and fortunately for us, Keelin got off the ground to make the catch with the tying run on third. That may have changed the whole scenario of the ballgame.”

Halstead said he was also happy with the way Davis swung the bat.

“He had three hits and drove in a couple of big runs for us,” the coach said.

The Vols are scheduled to play a doubleheader at Southeastern Illinois College in Harrisburg, at noon today, weather permitting.