The Jr. Bills have won three of their past four games down the home stretch of the season, as they gear up for a District Championship run. 

Coming off of a brutal 2-1 loss against De Smet, the Jr. Bills rebounded with a 12-3 exclamatory win over the Spartans. Sophomore phenom Andrew DuMont pitched 5.0 innings, striking out five, walking one and yielding three runs, two of which were unearned. In a year where run support has dwindled at times, the offense lit up the scoreboard and backed up DuMont. 

In a hitting barrage, senior Tommy Etling scored four runs, senior Mikey Floretta drove in three on two hits, senior Alex Shelton knocked in three more, and sophomore Charlie Isom-McCall cleared the bases on a clutch double. 

Junior Nick Heinlein closed out the game with two clean innings, and the Jr. Billikens evened the season series with the Spartans, a series which holds large implications for District Tournament seeding. 

This past Saturday, the Jr. Bills celebrated Senior Day with a twin bill against Parkway West and DuBourg. 

Senior Jack DuMont was granted the start against the Longhorns in the first game of the day, and he left it all out on the field. DuMont pitched the best game of his high school career, hurling a complete game, allowing only three hits and one run while striking out 11. 

“I was able to get ahead in the count and finish hitters off,” DuMont said. “My offspeed was on and I didn’t waste pitches ahead in the count. My defense also played solid behind me.”

Despite the dominance, DuMont was bested by Longhorns pitcher Zach Taylor, who threw a complete game shutout. The Jr. Billiken bats were nowhere to be seen, as they couldn’t even produce a single run to give DuMont a much-deserved tally in the win column. SLUH dropped the contest 1-0.

SLUH looked to go into their second game with some more offensive firepower against DuBourg, but the Jr. Bills’ bats stayed cold for the first few innings. 

Senior Johnny McArthur started on the mound, striking out four and allowing no hits through two innings of work. Even so, McArthur walked three and allowed one unearned run on a bases loaded walk to give DuBourg the early lead.

Senior Dennis “Scooby” Jakubik entered the game and followed the same trends as McArthur. He walked three and allowed an unearned run, allowing no hits and striking out three through 0.2 innings. He exited with the bases juiced, and a 2-0 hole on the scoreboard, but senior Coby Spratte entered the game and escaped the jam with a three-pitch strikeout. 

The Jr. Bills offense sustained a two-out rally that was capped off by a two-RBI triple into the corner by senior John Loretta. 

“It was a slower pitcher so I was focused on keeping my head in, driving the ball opposite field, and seeing the curveball,” Loretta remarked. 

Spratte pitched the final 4.1 innings of the game, striking out seven and walking none. 

SLUH grabbed a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 6th, but DuBourg managed to knot it up in the top of the seventh, thanks to three errors in the field. Spratte managed to strand the final runner at third, setting himself up for the win if the Jr. Billikens could walk it off. 

Loretta came up to the plate as the hot bat for the Jr. Bills, and he delivered a walk-off single into right field. He contributed three of SLUH’s six hits and three of their four RBIs, as the Jr. Billikens escaped Senior Day with a 4-3 win. 

The Jr. Bills began their final MCC series of this season with a home game against Vianney on Tuesday. 

Junior Garret Shearer got the nod for SLUH, but he struggled to get out of the first inning. Shearer allowed five earned runs in the first, more than he had surrendered in his previous 24 innings combined. Even so, Shearer bore down and completed 4.0 innings, allowing one unearned run over his final three frames. 

The Jr. Bills offense slowly chipped away at the deficit, gradually scratching runs across each inning. Senior Tucker Thomas started this trend with an RBI walk. Junior Henry Zenor and sophomore Charlie Isom-McCall each contributed an RBI as well. 

Junior Parker Guthrie came up as the most clutch player, though, as he went three for four on the night, including a huge two-RBI double to trim the deficit to 6-5. 

“My approach was to have a good at bat,” Guthrie said. “I knew the pitcher couldn’t beat me and I had confidence that I could barrel the ball up.”

In the 6th inning, Etling scored the game tying run on a chaotic play where the Golden Griffins kicked the ball around. 

Guthrie also came in a tough relief position and held his ground for the Jr. Bills, throwing 2.2 scoreless innings, striking out seven of the eight recorded outs. 

“I was just trying to keep the team in the game,” Guthrie said. “My fastball was working so I stuck with that.”

Junior Michael Baudendistal held the game at 6-6 with a clean 8th inning frame, which set up the Jr. Bills for another walk-off winner. 

Senior Patrick Mooney led off the bottom half of the 8th with a double into the gap. Junior Owen Fitzgerald pinch ran for Mooney to give the Jr. Bills some speed on the bases, yet it did not matter, as Tucker Thomas tattooed a double into the gap which easily scored Fitzgerald and walked off the game 7-6 for SLUH. 

“It was an awesome feeling,” Thomas said. “I knew it off the bat, and seeing the team run out for a big win like this was just really cool.”

SLUH wrapped up their conference schedule with another game against the Golden Griffins last night. The Jr. Bills dropped the contest 1-0, unable to muster any run support behind another dazzling performance by Andrew DuMont. They conclude conference play with a 4-4 record, and a 16-12 overall record.

They will play a road doubleheader at Troy Buchanan (10-20) on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and wrap up the regular season with a game against Rockwood Summit the following Tuesday.