Well, there was no hangover from our tough loss yesterday. Christopher Payton, our backup catcher, got the start today and made the most of it. He broke the game open in the 2nd with a grand slam and had 7 RBI altogether. Everyone else was hitting too of course. In fact, we raised our team batting average 3 points (from .226 to .229, which is still terrible).

Player of the Game:
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Frustrating loss in 15 innings. We never led in this one, but we did manage to tie it 5-5 in the 7th on RF Boyd Adkin's 2-run HR and force extra innings. Both teams bullpens matched each other with 7 scoreless innings before Bethalto broke through with 4 in the top of the 15th. We tried to mount a rally in the bottom of the inning but came up just short.

Player of the Game:
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Bethalto's offense erupted in the 3rd, scoring 6 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk. It was all they would need to win this one. RF Jim Beasley led their attack, going 3-for-4, with a solo HR in the 9th. 2B Johnathan Briggs also had a big day, collecting 4 singles in 4 at-bats. We had some chances to come back, but stranded the bases loaded in the 6th and 7th.

Player of the Game:
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We scraped out another 1-run win. We're now 19-10 in 1-run games, the best record for any team at any level in close games. SP Cliff Sanders, fresh off a demotion from Gillespie, started for us and threw 6 effective innings. 3B Derek MacIntosh tied it up 1-1 in the 6th with an RBI single and CF Doug Blanchard put us ahead with an RBI single in the 7th.

Player of the Game:
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Lebanon's starting pitcher, Brian Stewart, gave us trouble on the mound and in the batter's box. He threw 7 strong innings and went 3-for-3 at the plate, driving in the first 2 runs of the ballgame in the 6th. Our offense struggled, but managed to chip the lead down to 3-2 after 8 innings. But, our bullpen had a bad 9th and put the game out of reach.

Player of the Game:
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