Published on April 30, 2026 8:17 am
Last Updated on April 30, 2026 8:18 am
The game went into the eighth inning before Effingham St. Anthony pulled out an 8-7 victory over Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg as two National Trail Conference baseball teams duked it out Wednesday in a game heard on KJ Country 102.3.
The Bulldogs struck in the first inning. Henry Brent drew a walk. Blake Verdeyen followed with a single. With two outs, Charlie Spour singled Brent home.
That’s where the scoring stood until the third. Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg moved into a 3-1 lead. Morris Koy reached base on an error and was sacrificed over by Jakob Gurgel. Wyatt Wetherell reached base on a single. Both runners then dented the plate when Noah Pruemer doubled.
St. Anthony came back to tack on a run in the fourth. Aiden Lauritzen drew a walk and Spour singled. With one out Rogan Allen drew a walk. Lauritzen came home on a wild pitch and the Bulldogs pulled within 3-2.
St. Anthony moved ahead in the fifth with two runs. Alex Mayer led off with a single and stole second. With one out, Verdeyen singled and Mayer came home. Verdeyen stole second and scored on a triple by Spour and the Bulldogs held a 4-3 lead.
But that didn’t last long. Windsor/Stew-Stras moved into a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the fifth.
Pruemer led off the fifth with his second double of the game. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and eventually came home on a wild pitch. With two outs, Parker Duncan and Grayson McCray drew back-to-back walks. Jacob Vonderheide singled home a run. And suddenly the Hatchets led 6-4.
That’s where the scoring stood until the seventh. With two outs on the scoreboard, St. Anthony’s Ben McDonald singled. Rogan Allen followed with his second walk of the contest. Freddie Jansen then knocked out a double that scored both runners and the Bulldogs had tied the game at 6-6.
Windsor/Stras-Stras batters went up and down in order in the bottom of the seventh, pushing the game into the eighth.
The Bulldogs struck again with two outs. Verdeyen reached base on a fielder’s choice. Lauritzen was then hit by a pitch. A fly ball hit by Spour ended up as an error by Windsor/Stew-Stras and both runners scored and the lead went to 8-6.
The Hatchets came back in the bottom of the eighth to make things exciting. Morris led off the frame with a double and took third on a wild pitch. With one out, Wyatt Wetherell drew a walk and advanced on wild pitches as Morris came home and the Hatchets pulled within 8-7.
A diving catch on a ball hit by Pruemer put the second out on the board and Spour got the final out on a strikeout to end the game in favor of the Bulldogs.
St. Anthony finished with eight hits led by Spour with two singles, a triple and two RBI while Verdeyen had two singles and an RBI and Jansen a double and two RBI.
Windsor/Stew-Stras was led by Pruemer with a single, two doubles and two RBI, Morris and Oliver Wascher with a double each and Noah Vonderheide with a single and two RBI.
At Windsor
St. Anthony 100 120 22 — 8-8-3
Windsor/Stew-Stras 003 030 01 — 7-9-1
WP — Spour. LP — Verdeyen.
St. Anthony — Mayer, single; Verdeyen, 2 singles, 1 RBI; Spour, 2 singles, triple, 2 RBI; McDonald, single; Jansen, double, 2 RBI
Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg — Wetherell, single; Pruemer, single, 2 doubles, 2 RBI; Barnard, single, 1 RBI; Duncan, 2 singles; Vonderheide, single, 1 RBI; Morris, double