Xavier Baseball

Mattke delivers the long ball for Saints

Mack Mattke is a big, strong guy at 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, but he's always had trouble hitting home runs for the Xavier High School baseball team.

Until now.

Mattke slugged a three-run homer Wednesday night and hit a game-winning double in the bottom of the seventh inning as the eighth-ranked Saints clipped Linn-Mar, 9-8, for third place in the Metro Baseball Tournament at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Mattke hit .374 as a sophomore in 2010, but didn't hit any homers. He climbed to .413 last season as a junior, but still didn't knock any out of the park.

Now he's slugged two homers in two days. He collected a four-bagger against Prairie in the semifinals Tuesday night, then hit a mammoth shot to left field against Linn-Mar.

The bats are deader this year due to new bat restrictions, but Mattke has been swinging a lively stick. He credits a regimen of lifting weights, getting in shape and losing about 20 pounds from last season.

"I'm a lot stronger," he said. "I was about 240 last year, I'm at about 220 now. That might have helped a little bit too."

Mattke crushed a three-run homer to give Xavier a quick 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. The Saints kept marching across home plate and had an 8-2 advantage after four innings, but Linn-Mar rallied and tied the game at 8-8 with six runs over the last three frames.

Mattke came up in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs and Mitch St. Andrews on first base with a walk. Mattke walloped a shot to deep left-center and St. Andrews raced around the bases with the winning run.

"It's not really getting the hit, it's getting the win," said Mattke. "That's the thing I think of."

Mattke got his game-winning hit an inning after being spiked on the ankle by a Linn-Mar runner while playing first base. Mattke fell to the ground in pain after getting spiked, but picked himself up and stayed around to get the clutch double.

Mattke will be headed to Purdue University this summer to study engineering and will be joining the Purdue baseball team as an invited walk-on as a pitcher and first baseman.

Mattke stopped by the Purdue baseball office when he visited the campus to meet the coach and let him know he was interested in joining the team. Purdue Coach Doug Schreiber didn't know who he was and didn't know a 6-foot-6 ballplayer would be stopping by that day.

"No. No idea," said Mattke. "My dad and I just showed up at his door and walked into his office."

Mattke was not invited to join the team during that initial visit, but Schreiber has assured him that he's welcome to compete for a spot on the team this fall and winter before the roster is finalized prior to the 2013 campaign. Purdue won the Big Ten this spring and is top seeded in this week's conference tournament with a 41-12 record.

"I know it's going to be a hard road," he said, "but I'm willing to do that to play at a high level."

Corbin Woods went 3-for-5 for the Saints (2-1) and pitched four good innings before moving to shortstop with an 8-2 lead. He didn't get the win, because Linn-Mar rallied to tie the game. Tyler Hines got the victory in relief, even though he gave up the tying runs in the top of the seventh.

Austin Banks hit a two-run homer for Linn-Mar (1-2).

LINN-MAR (8)
Kvach, 2b, 4 1 0 1, Bogert, lf, 3 1 1 1, Redmond, cf, 4 0 0 0, Stickney, rf, 3 1 2 1, Stroschein, p/3b, 4 1 1 0, Banks, c, 3 1 1 2, Meier, cr, 0 1 0 0, Wyant, 3b, 2 0 0 0, Blackford, p, 1 0 1 1, Digmann, cr, 0 2 0 0, Stolley, 1b, 3 0 1 0, Meier, pr, 0 0 0 0, Strellner, ss, 1 0 1 0, Roth, ph, 1 0 1 1. Totals 29 8 9 7.

XAVIER (9)
Grimm, cf, 5 1 1 0, Woods, p/ss, 5 0 3 0, Harriott, cr, 0 2 0 0, Mattke, 1b, 3 1 2 4, Herder, pr, 0 1 0 0, Ratz, rf, 3 0 0 0, Pick, dh, 4 1 2 2, Keller, ss, 0 0 0 0, Scott, p, 0 0 0 0, Hines, p, 0 0 0 0, Brown, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Hammerberg, c, 4 0 1 0, Dlouhy, cf, 0 0 0 0, Meaney, lf, 3 1 1 0, St. Andrews 3 2 2 0. Totals 33 9 12 6.

Linn-Mar    000 213 2 - 8  9 1
Xavier       320 300 1 - 9 12 2

Stroschein, Blackford (4) and Banks. Woods, Scott (5), Pick (6), Hines (7) and Hammerberg. W - Hines. L - Blackford. 2B - Blackford, Mattke. 3B - Pick, Meaney. HR - Banks, Mattke. SB - Bogert 2, Harriott, Meaney.

Prairie drops the Hammer on Xavier

In the first couple innings of Tuesday’s baseball game, Prairie pitcher Brennan Hammer was letting Xavier batters come and go a little too easily.

Then in the third, he slammed the door shut, and deadbolted it.

After allowing five runs in the first two innings, Hammer brought Xavier’s momentum and offense to a standstill, and helped Prairie defeat the Saints 10-5 in the semifinal round of the Bob Vrbicek Metro Tournament at Marion field.

Prairie will play Kennedy for the tournament championship Wednesday at approximately 7 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Xavier meets Linn-Mar for third place at 5 p.m. at Vets.

Xavier started Tuesday's game swinging hot in the top half of the first inning. With the bases loaded, Tristen Scallon squeaked a grounder under third baseman Tyler Butz’s glove, scoring Corbin Woods for the game’s first run. The next pitch, Mack Mattke hustled in on a passed ball to make it 2-0 after one inning.

In the second, with two runners on base, Mattke took a 2-2 Hammer pitch and sent it packing. The ball cleared the left field fence with plenty of room to spare, and pushed the score to 5-0.

“We came out a little sluggish,” said Hammer.

But that was all Xavier got. Over the next five innings, Hammer and his Prairie friends held the Saints scoreless, and allowed only two more hits.

“I was leaving my stuff up during the first and second inning,” said Hammer.  “Then I started finding my place in the third, and started to get some pitches to work for me. I was just trying to work low and not leave my curveball up.”

He finished with seven strikeouts, and provided a much needed confidence boost for his team after the early deficit. When the Prairie Hawks saw that Hammer was going to keep them in the game with his pitching, they started hitting and manufacturing runs.

With two outs in the third inning, Bryce Alberts drew a walk and stole second. Mitch Peters lined a double down the right field line, scoring Alberts. Two passed balls later, Peters crossed home plate to pull Prairie within 5-4.

“I think a very big thing was when they got two outs on us and then we plated two runs,” said Prairie Coach Matt Thede.  “Then Hammer shuts the doors and gives us hope.

“I asked the guys if they had a heartbeat and if they had any life in them, and asked somebody to show me. And that is what they did, they made it happen.”

In the fourth inning, Ty Mougin led off with an infield single for Prairie. Jason Velvick knocked a base rip into left field, which the outfielder bobbled allowing Mougin to score. It was a tie game, and Prairie was on the attack.

Hammer followed with a base hit, advancing Velvick to second. A sacrifice bunt by Tyler Butz moved the runners over, and a sacrifice fly by Tyler Votroubek scored Velvick.  Alberts smashed the next pitch into the gap, scoring Hammer and pushing the Hawks' lead to 7-5.

“When we started getting runs across the plate and got things going everyone was a lot more confident,” said Hammer.  “The bats were just rolling.”

Mougin, Prarie’s No. 9 hitter, came up again in the fifth and smoked a line drive home run past the left field scoredboard. The two-run shot gave Prairie a 9-5 lead. The Hawks added a run in the sixth.

Spencer Dean and Connor Steffens came in to pitch for Prairie in the sixth and seventh, repectively, to solidify the victory.

“We don’t talk about winning, we talk about the process,” said Thede.  “The process of preparing in the offseason and preparing in practice, and so far the process has carried us through on the field.

“I am very pumped for these guys to get the chance to play for a championship tomorrow night. Any time you play for any kind of championship it is fun.”

The second game at Marion also brought some exciting offense. Marion smashed Mount Vernon 15-0 in a shortened four-inning game.

Marion was the home team, so it witnessed ace pitcher Cale Cannoy take the mound for the first time in a year in the top of the first inning. He had an arm injury that limited him to 15 2/3 innings pitched last season. He mowed down Mount Vernon’s lineup, then came Marion’s first inning turn at the plate.

They scored 14 runs in the first inning, and every player had at least one RBI.

“That hitting just got contagious,” said Coach Steve Fish.  “Coupled with the way we hit and having Cale out there, it is refreshing.”

Marion finished with 19 hits. Cannoy gave up two to Mount Vernon.

“It gives us confidence and more options for these upcoming games,” said Fish.

Marion plays Washington in the fifth-place game Wednesday at approximately 7 p.m. at Marion.

Mount Vernon plays Jefferson in the seventh-place game at 5 p.m.

GAME ONE

XAVIER (5)
Grimm CF, 4 1 2 0, Woods SS, 4 1 0 0, Mattke DH, 4 2 1 3, Ratz RF, 4 0 2 0, Pick 1B, 4 0 1 0, Scallon 3B, 3 0 1 0, Tipton 3B, 1 0 0 0, Hines LF, 2 0 0 0, Brown P, 1 0 0 0, Harriot LF, 1 0 0 0, Helms C, 1 1 1 0, Hammerberg C, 2 0 0 0, St. Andrews 2B, 3 0 0 0. Totals 34 5 8 3.

PRAIRIE (10)
Velvick CF, 4 1 1 1, Hammer P, 4 1 1 0, Butz 3B, 4 1 1 0, Votroubek 1B, 4 0 0 1, Alberts LF, 4 2 3 2, Peters RF, 4 1 1 1, Pond C, 4 2 2 0, Digman 2B, 4 0 0 0, Mougin SS, 3 2 2 3, Davidson CR, 0 0 0 0. Totals 35 10 11 8. 

Xavier   230 000 0 --  5   8  1
Prairie   022 321 x -- 10  11 1

Keller, Brown (4), Hines (6) and Helms, Hammerberg (4). Hammer, Dean (6), Steffens (7) and Pond.  W - Hammer. 2B- Ratz, Butz, Alberts.  HR- Mattke, Mougin.  SB- Grimm, Alberts 2, Davidson.


GAME TWO 

MOUNT VERNON (0)
Timm P, 1 0 1 0, Eldred P, 1 0 0 0, Ryan SS, 2 0 0 0, Welch C, 2 0 0 0, Kray DH, 2 0 0 0, Drahos LF, 2 0 0 0, Younggreen 1B, 2 0 0 0, Pisarik CF, 2 0 0 0, Hanson 2B, 1 0 1 0, Dahlstrom RF, 1 0 0 0.  Totals  16 0 2 0. 

MARION (15)
Wagner 3B, 4 2 2 1, Stekl SS, 4 2 2 1, Biery 1B, 4 1 2 1, Johnson C, 4 2 2 2, Davila LF, 4 2 3 3, Cannoy P, 3 1 1 2, Charipar DH, 3 2 3 2, Fuller 2B, 0 0 0 0, McGarvey RF, 3 1 2 1, Connolly CF, 2 1 2 2, Schneiders CF, 1 1 0 0. Totals  32 12 19 15.

Mount Vernon  000 0 -- 0 2 1
Marion            (14)00 1 -- 15 19 2

Timm, Eldred (2), Kray (4) and Welch. Cannoy and Johnson. W - Cannoy. L - Timm. 2B- Biery, Davila, Charipar. SB- Timm, McGarvey.

Xavier, Prairie roll in Metro openers

Baseball season has come knocking again. The clanging of aluminum bats marks the beginning of summer, and opening day never fails to bring feelings of excitement and nervousness.

The days and hours leading up to the Bob Vrbicek Metro Tournament were filled with preparation and speculation. Come game time it was time to play baseball, and relax. The Xavier Saints were very relaxed.

Calm minds and strong bats helped the eighth-ranked Saints cruise to an 11-1 victory over the Mount Vernon Mustangs Monday in the opening round at Marion.

The ninth-ranked Prairie Hawks topped Marion, 8-2, in the second game.

Xavier and Prairie will meet in the semifinals Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Marion, followed by Marion against Mount Vernon at approximately 7 p.m.

The Saints rode the arm of pitcher Mack Mattke and put the mercy rule into effect during the fifth inning when Corbin Woods smashed a walk off three-run home run.

After a three-run first inning, Xavier Coach Dave Schemmel knew his team was simply playing baseball.

“There are always those first-game jitters,” said Schemmel. “But I told them in the outfield before the game that the first team to relax and put the ball in play has the advantage and I thought we did a good job with that in the first inning.”

Jordan Ratz got the Saints on the board with an RBI single in the first. Zach Brown followed Ratz with authority, roping a two-run double past the left fielder.

Three runs were more than enough for Mattke, who allowed only two hits and struck out 11. He mixed a potent slider with a quick fastball and had Mount Vernon hitters confused all evening.

“For the first time he has really thrown in a game situation (this year), I thought he did a nice job,” said Schemmel. “He has a really nice slider that is tough to hit in high school, but I want him to work in his changeup and fastball more.”

By the time the fifth inning rolled around, the Saints had a hefty lead. Woods strolled to the plate and immediately sent a pitch soaring over the unusually tall left-field fence. This plated three runs and put the Saints up 11-1, abruptly ending the game.

“My first at-bat I popped out on the first pitch so later in the game I was just trying to relax and sit back,” said Woods. “There were definitely some nerves out there, but I am glad we were able to get the win for Mack.”

Woods went 2-for-4 with four RBIs and first baseman Adam Pick went 3-for-3 with two runs scored for the Saints.

IN THE NIGHTCAP, the Marion High School baseball team got a chance to welcome Prairie to its home, but the Prairie Hawks were not good houseguests. Behind a strong performance by pitcher Bryce Alberts and a balanced offensive attack, Prairie won by six runs.

The pre-game jitters also hit home with these two teams, but Prairie was able to push them aside and come out swinging.

With the bases loaded in the first inning, Prairie’s Tyler Butz walked and sent in the game's first run. With the bases still loaded, Tyler Votroubek hit a sharp grounder to Marion’s shortstop, who had a sloppy exchange with the second baseman and failed to register the forceout at second. Two runs scored on the play.

“I think we took some pressure off of our pitcher when we were able to manufacture those three runs early,” said Prairie Coach Matt Thede.

The Indians threatened in the third inning when second baseman Mitch Wagner poked an RBI double down the right field line, making it 3-1. But Prairie pitcher Alberts proved to be too much. He got the win by going 6 1/3 innings, allowing only two runs on eight hits.

“I told him to put us on his back this year,” said Thede. “We are going to ride him and hope to keep guys off balance and throw enough strikes to give our defense a chance.”

Butz lined a two-RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to push the lead to 5-1. And in the sixth, lefty Prairie leadoff hitter Jason Velvick crushed a homer over the right field fence, scoring three more runs.

Wagner drove in another run for the Indians in the seventh, but it was too little, too late. Spencer Dean relieved Alberts and closed the game for Prairie.

Wagner went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for the Indians and Velvick was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored for Prairie.

“Overall, I think it was a great battle between two great teams and pitchers,” said Thede. “I am excited to see what these guys are going to do this season.”

GAME 1

MOUNT VERNON (1)
Timm, 2b, 3 0 0 0, Ryan, ss, 3 0 1 0, Welch, c, 3 0 1 0, Kray, 1b, 3 0 0 0, Eldred, 3b, 2 0 0 0, Younggreen, p, 2 0 0 0, Pisarik, cf, 2 0 0 0, Durgin, lf, 2 0 0 0, Dahlstrom, rf, 2 1 0 0, Helms 0 0 0 0 Meaney 0 0 0 0. Totals 23 1 2 0.

XAVIER (11)
Grimm, cf, 4 1 0 0, Woods, ss, 4 1 2 4, Mattke, p, 3 1 1 1, Meaney, cr, 0 0 0 0, Ratz, rf, 3 1 1 1, Pick, 1b, 3 2 3 0, Brown, 3b, 3 1 1 2, Hammerberg, dh, 3 1 2 1, Helms, c, 0 0 0 0, Harriot, lf, 3 1 1 0, St. Andrews, 2b, 3 2 1 0. Totals 32 11 12 9.

Mount Vernon  001 00 -   1   2 1
Xavier              300 35 - 11 12 2

Younggreen, Eldred (5) and Welch. Mattke and Helms. W- Mattke  L- Younggreen.
2B-Woods, Mattke, Brown. HR-Woods (1). SB- Woods.

GAME 2

MARION (2)
Wagner, 2b, 4 0 3 2, Stekl, ss, 4 0 1 0, Biery 1b, 4 0 0 0, Johnson, c, 4 0 0 0, Davila, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Hedtke, p, 2 0 1 0, Schnieders, ph-lf, 1 0 0 0, Charipar, dh, 3 1 0 0, McGarvey, rf, 3 0 0 0, Cannoy, cf, 3 1 3 0. Totals 31 2 8 2.

PRAIRIE (8)
Velvick, cf, 4 3 2 3, Hammer, rf, 4 1 1 0, Carlson, 2b, 4 1 1 0, Butz, 3b, 3 0 1 3, Votroubek, 1b, 3 0 2 0, Peters, lf, 3 0 0 0, Alberts, p, 3 1 2 0, Steffens, dh, 3 0 0 0, Mougin, ss, 3 2 2 0, Pond, c, 0 0 0 0. Totals 30 8 11 6.

Marion    001 000 1 - 2  8 2
Prairie     300 023 x - 8 11 0

Hedtke, Lockner (6) and Johnson. Alberts, Dean (7) and Pond. W- Alberts. L- Hedtke.
2B-Wagner, Mougin. HR-Velvick (1). SB-Velvick, Stekl 2.

Saints look to regroup behind Mattke, Woods

Xavier is coming off a successful 26-11 season in 2011. It will be particularly important for the junior class to step up and make a huge contribution.

The Saints have only three returning players with at least 30 starts and they lost nine of 15 varsity players who had any varsity experience.

Mack Mattke, Corbin Woods and Andrew Sodawasser will lead the team. A competitive sophomore squad from 2011 will move up to the junior level and provide the bulk of the 2012 Xavier roster.

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