By Fred Kroner
Isaiah Immke swatted three of St. Joseph-Ogden’s five hits on Monday (May 10) and accounted for six of the team’s runs in an 8-0 Illini Prairie Conference baseball win at home over Rantoul.
Immke scored three runs and drove in three runs. Two of his hits were doubles. He was the only SJ-O player with more than one hit. Immke is the eighth squad member with a three-hit game this season.
Keaton Nolan knocked in two runs. Xander Rieches and Coby Miller each scored two runs. Miller and Rieches also had two stolen bases apiece.
Rieches pitched the first five innings, allowing one single and two walks while fanning seven Eagles.
Avian Gerdes worked two hitless innings, and registered one strikeout.
On Tuesday (May 11), Tyler Altenbaumer struck out a season-high 14 batters in a two-hit, 4-0 shutout at home over Bloomington Central Catholic.
The shutout was the Spartans’ eighth of the season.
The offense was paced by Immke, who drilled a two-run double in the second inning. SJ-O had all four of its runs after two innings with Immke scoring the final tally.
Martinie carried a perfect game into the bottom of the seventh inning on Wednesday (May 12) and settled for a three-hitter in SJ-O’s 9-2 win at Heritage.
Martinie walked one and struck out a season-high 10 in his complete-game pitching performance. He also helped himself at the plate with a run-scoring single.
Immke paced SJ-O with two hits. He scored twice and had one RBI. Burnett and Nolan each knocked in two runs.
SJ-O (18-2) has a six-game winning streak and returns to action on Thursday (May 13) at Bloomington Central Catholic. The Spartans have won nine of their last 10 games.
