Baseball Recap: Althoff Catholic Victorious

It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Althoff Catholic had no problem doing just that on Monday. They had just enough and edged out the Staunton Bulldogs 5-3. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Crusaders.

Dale Parker tossed a big game, tossing five innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off five hits. What's more, he posted two strikeouts, the most he's had since back in April.

On the hitting side, Zach Winkeler and Tyler Birdsong did most of the damage at the plate: Winkeler went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one double, while Birdsong went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI. That's the most RBI Winkeler has posted since back in April. Tyler Pollock was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI.

Althoff Catholic hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. They are a perfect 6-0 when they post two or more strikeouts.

Crusaders

Previous 3 Games (Home)

05/19/25 vs Staunton	5-3
05/13/25 vs Valmeyer	9-4
05/07/25 vs Granite City	2-1

Althoff Catholic pushed their record up to 17-14 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.7 runs on average over those games. As for Staunton, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 15-14-1.

As of now, neither Althoff Catholic nor the Bulldogs have any future games scheduled.