Alton second baseman Rob Taul (left) attempts to turn a double play while Quincy’s Masen Melton slides into second base during a semifinal baseball game at the Alton Class 4A Regional in Godfrey. Alton won 3-1 and will play O’Fallon for the regional title on Saturday. 
Billy Hurst / For The Telegraph

Alton’s Jacob Kanallakan reacts after hitting a RBI triple to give the Redbirds a 3-1 lead over Quincy in the sixth inning Thursday at the Alton Class 4A Regional at AHS. 
Billy Hurst / For The Telegraph

GODFREY – The Alton Redbirds and Quincy Blue Devils renewed their long-distance regional baseball rivalry Thursday.

The fledgling rivalry remains all Redbirds.

Alton scored twice in the fourth inning to take a lead it would not relinquish and put away the Devils 3-1 in a semifinal of the Alton Class 4A Regional. The Redbirds improve to 23-12 and will play top-seeded O’Fallon (31-5) for the regional championship at 4 p.m. Saturday.

It is the third straight season Quincy had its season ended by Alton in the regional semifinals. The Redbirds then fell to Edwardsville in the title game each of the last two seasons after beating the Tigers in 2013 for Alton’s last regional title.

The new sub-sectional postseason format has Alton and Edwardsville in separate regionals for the first time in nine years of four-class baseball. But the Redbirds get no favor with O’Fallon expected to start ace Bradley Harrison (11-0, 0.28 ERA) in Saturday’s title game. Harrison already owns two shutouts – 5-0 and 7-0 – against the Redbirds this season.

Alton earned another shot at the Panthers by again putting down the Devils. Jacob St. Peters went four innings for the win, giving one unearned run on three hits, one walk and six strikeouts. Devin Colley worked three scoreless innings for the save.

Quincy led 1-0 before Steven Pattan put Alton up 2-1 with a two-run double in the third inning. The Redbirds tacked on another run in the sixth on Jacob Kanallakan’s RBI triple. Steve Nguyen and Kanallakan each had two hits for Alton, which outhit Quincy 8-7.

The champ of the Alton Regional will meet the Belleville West Regional champion on Wednesday at a Metro East site yet to be announced. Edwardsville plays the winner of a semifinal match Belleville West and Belleville East at West.

The Maroons and Lancers played to a 5-5 tie through nine innings Thursday before darkness suspended play. The semifinal will resume at 12:30 p.m. Friday.

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