Sailer starts, finishes Tigers victory

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PRINCETON — David Sailer hit the first pitch he saw Saturday at Prather Field down the right field line for a solo home run. He also made the last pitch of the game to pick up the win in relief in a 9-8 Princeton Tiger victory over Streator Woodland in the first game of a doubleheader.

The visiting Warriors earned the split by taking home a 3-1 win in Game 2.

The Tigers were cruising with an 8-1 lead in the opener, but Woodland stormed back to tie the game at 8 with six runs in the fifth, including a grand slam homer by Pat Kelly, and one in the sixth inning.
PHS third baseman Brik Wedekind doubled with one out in the bottom of the sixth and scored the go-ahead-run on short stop Drew Compton’s bloop hit to right field.

“We won it on a Texas Leaguer by Drew. I’d rather see him get a line drive to get him going, but we’ll take it,” PHS coach John Cruz said. “We had to sweat it out some. It was 8-1 and all of a sudden, they tied it. Can’t complain getting a win, especially after last night (Friday’s 11-7 loss to Kewanee).”

Sailer kick-started the Tiger offense with two hits and two RBIs from the leadoff spot. Cruz moved senior Zac Marquis to the No. 9 hole, not a demotion, he said, but rather to utilize having double “leadoff” hitters back-to-back with Marquis followed by Sailer.

Michael Murray also had two hits with a double and two RBIs, and catcher Reid Clary drove in two runs.

The sophomore Sailer, who came on in relief of senior Daniel Murray in the sixth, held off the Warriors in the seventh to pick up the win. Cruz was glad to see senior starter Daniel Murray go five innings, his longest stint of the season while nursing a sore shoulder.

“Daniel pitched pretty good. He just had one bad inning,” Cruz said.

Woodland stayed hot in the second, scoring two runs in the first and one in the second for a 3-1 win. Michael Murray was tagged with the loss, allowing five hits over seven innings.

The Tigers (14-7) collected just four hits off Woodland’s Lucas Skul, including doubles by Clary and Dylan Olson\

Tiger tales: Cruz, a Spring Valley resident, and his Tigers will travel to Spring Valley to face the Hall Red Devils under the lights at Foley Field on Tuesday. The NCIC rivals will meet again Thursday at Prather Field in Princeton.

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