Baseball: Alex Ankiewicz, Nathan Husser spark St. Bede past BV

PERU – Major League Baseball is taking action to speed up its games this season.

It has nothing on how the St. Bede Bruins and Bureau Valley Storm played their game Monday at the Academy diamond.

St. Bede’s Alex Ankiewicz and Bureau Valley’s Seth Spratt locked into a highly efficient pitchers’ duel lasting about 1 hour, 15 minutes. The host Bruins escaped with a 2-1 win in Three Rivers East play, scoring the game-winner after a leadoff triple by catcher Nathan Husser and a run scored by John Brady on a wild pitch.

“No pitch clock today, and we still got it done,” St. Bede coach Bill Booker said.

“What was it an hour-and-15-minute game? Shoot, that doesn’t happen too often. Been a long time we got done before 6,” BV coach Ryan Schisler said.

“It was a pitcher’s duel. Runs were at a premium. Hits were hard to come by. Both pitchers were on. Tough day to hit.”

—  Bill Booker - St. Bede coach

With the game tied at 1, Husser led off the sixth with a deep drive to right-center and got on his horse for a triple. Brady, who ran his share of quarterback keepers in football, didn’t hesitate on a pitch in the dirt to Lee Tunnell and beat Storm catcher Sam Wright’s flip to Spratt at home.

“We’re looking to get a baserunner on and move him around, and he ends up getting a three-bagger,” Booker said. “Outfielder took a little extra time when he was rounding second and it got him to third. John made a real nice read when the ball got away and made a real nice slide. That slide was textbook.”

Husser said he was just looking for a pitch that he could drive, “which is what I do every time. Look for a pitch right there on 0-0. If it’s there, I’ll hit.”

Ankiewicz was the happiest person on the field when he saw Husser’s hit.

“Made me get off my seat for sure,” he said.

Ankiewicz was highly efficient, striking out eight of the first nine batters he faced, finishing with 13 punchouts. He scattered five hits and walked none.

“Had the fastball there. The curveball was there for quite some time. Lost it for a little while, but got it back and was able to go the whole game,” Ankiewicz said.

He said pitchers’ duels are fun, but “I’d rather have a little comfort there. You look for those moments some times.”

Although he was the offensive hero, Husser threw the credit back to his battery mate, Ankiewicz, for his effort.

“You’ve got to give big credit to the guy on the mound going a full seven. I mean, it’s not very often you have a pitching performance like that, and he gutted it out, especially in a game like this,” he said.

Booker, whose team improved to 16-5 overall and 8-1 in the TRAC East, will take the wins any way he can get them.

“It was a pitchers’ duel. Runs were at a premium. Hits were hard to come by. Both pitchers were on. Tough day to hit,” he said. “We had a couple situations where if we put the ball in play, we might get a couple cushy runs. Their kid responded by getting us out, and that’s baseball.”

The Bruins got on the board first with a run on two hits and an error in the bottom of the fourth. Husser again was in the middle of things with a leadoff single. Tunnell reached on an error, and Alan Spencer singled to left to plate Husser to make it 1-0.

The Storm evened the score with a run on two hits in the top of the sixth. Ethan Freeman blooped a single that dropped in behind the bag at first base. Leadoff man Sam Rouse followed with an RBI double to center to make it 1-1.

Husser went 2 for 3 to lead the Bruins with two hits.

The Storm outhit the Bruins 5-4, with sophomore Eljah Endress collecting two.

“The pitchers threw well,” Schisler said. “They made a couple more plays than we did, and that’s how it goes. You knew it was going to be a close game with them. They always are.

“Hats off to their kid [Ankiewicz]. He did a heck of a job. Seth battled through some adversity, so proud of him for his effort. Our defense made some plays. Couldn’t find it at the plate.”

The teams will meet again Thursday at Manlius.