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8.0 years ago

Baseball defeats Jersey 1-0 - The Telegraph - 5/21/2015

PREP BASEBALL: Alton beats Jersey 1-0, set wins record
Hudson shuts out Jersey, Redbirds get record at 29

Last updated: May 21. 2015 8:26PM - 473 Views 
By Greg Shashack - gshashack@civitasmedia.com

Alton's Matt Hopkins, right, slides in safely ahead of the tag by Jersey catcher Hunter Bryant during the fifth inning Thursday at Ken Schell Field in Jerseyville. Alton won the game 1-0.
Billy Hurst | For The Telegraph
Alton's Matt Hopkins, right, slides in safely ahead of the tag by Jersey catcher Hunter Bryant during the fifth inning Thursday at Ken Schell Field in Jerseyville. Alton won the game 1-0.
     

Billy Hurst | For The Telegraph
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JERSEYVILLE – Todd Haug is certified as a teacher of both world and American history.


Thursday afternoon at Ken Schell Field, the Alton High teacher and baseball coach offered a brief tutorial on Redbirds baseball history.


“Ninety-three years, it’s been 93 years if you go back in our history since Alton baseball started,” Haug said. “We don’t take anything away from our past, we’ve had some tremendous teams at Alton High.


“But we’re savoring this one. This is a really big one for us – 29.”


The Redbirds’ 1-0 victory over the Jersey Panthers set a school record for victories in a season with their record at 29-6, eclipsing marks set at 28-11 in 2001 and 28-10 in 2013.


“It’s pretty unbelievable,” said Alton senior Matt Hopkins, who had two of the Redbirds’ four hits and scored the game’s only run. “At the beginning of the year, in sports psychology, we talked about what record we wanted this year and we predicted 29-6. So coming into today, I was extremely excited and extremely hopeful to be a part of history.


“You can’t get any better than that. Senior year, going out last regular-season game and breaking the school record for wins. … I’m glad that I was a part of it.”


With the IHSA-allotted maximum of 35 regular season games played, the Redbirds will prep for a week before meeting Quincy in the semifinals of the Edwardsville Class 4A Regional next Thursday at Tom Pile Field.


But postseason concerns would wait a day while the Redbirds finish basking in the achievement of 29 wins in a season.


“It means a lot more than what people think,” Alton senior Bryan Hudson said. “We’ve been working really hard for a really long time, before the season, preseason workouts even. This was our goal.


“Hey, we made history.”


So did Hudson. The 6-foot-8 left-hander went the distance for a three-hit shutout that lowered his ERA to 0.44 and raised his record to 10-1. Hudson’s 10 wins match the school-record set by Jason Roberts in 2011.


“Hopefully, we’ll get one more,” said Hudson, whose next start projects to be against top-seeded Edwardsville in the regional title game should both teams advance.


Hudson, Alton’s career leader in strikeouts (320) and wins (25), walked three and struck out 16 in a 112-pitch outing. “Tremendous effort from, in my opinion, the best player in the state,” Haug said of Hudson, who struck out all 11 Panthers he faced.


Alton, which beat Jersey 12-0 in five innings on March 23 in Alton, plated the game’s lone run in the fifth inning when Matt Hopkins singled and scored on Hudson’s double. The RBI was Hudson’s 49th of the season, moving him within two of Pat Gibson’s school-record 51 set in 2002.


“This is a good team, they’ve gotten a lot better since the first time we faced them,” Hudson said of Jersey. “(Kimble’s) a great pitcher. We were the better team today.”


Senior right-hander Crick Kimble (5-4) took the tough-luck loss for the Panthers. Jersey’s ace limited the Redbirds to four hits, while walking three and striking out six.


“What’s really going to get overshadowed in this game,” said Jersey coach Darren Perdun, whose team takes a 17-14 record into Friday’s regular-season finale at Collinsville, “is just how good Crick Kimble is. If Hudson’s the best pitcher in the area, I’d say Crick Kimble has got to be a No. 2.


“Our kid pitched well. … You walk away from this one and you say, hey, we just got beat by somebody that is better than us.”


ALTON 1, JERSEY 0


Alton 000 010 0 — 1 4 0


Jersey 000 000 0 — 0 3 1


Alton (29-6) – Hopkins 2-3, Hudson 1-2 2B RBI, Bonnell 1-2. WP-Hudson IN-7.0 H-3 R-0 ER-0 BB-3 K-16.


Jersey (17-14) – Witt 1-3, Kimble 1-2 2B, Bryant 1-3. LP-Kimble IN-7.0 H-4 R-1 ER-1 BB-3 K-6.


Greg Shashack may be reached at 618-798-1486 or on Twitter @gregshashack

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