EDWARDSVILE - Lucas Krebs, Auggie Johnes, and Joe Chiarodo all hit their first home runs of the season, while Chiarodo held Normal Community to two hits, striking out five in three innings, as Edwardsville scored all of their runs in the first three innings to take an 11-0 win over the Ironmen in the Illinois Prep Baseball Report Kickoff showcase Thursday afternoon, March 20, 2025, at Tom Pile Field.
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The Tigers scored twice in the first inning, then added six in the second, and three more in the third to create the final score, holding off a mild-Normal rally in the fifth to collect the win.
“That was a fun day,” a beaming Tiger head coach Tim Funkhouser said after the game, “Our guys were chomping at the bit to get out there and compete. And our practices run so well, because our guys just want to get better, and they’ve already started gelling. We have a lot of guys that are back from last year, but even the guys who hadn’t been with us, they know they’re wanting to be part of something special. So, it was fun to see the guys perform as well, and to be able to get as many guys out there.”
Chiarodo was magnificent on the mound, and he might have a bit of an edge to him this year, as well, having missed the postseason last year, due to injury.
“Boy, he’s been swinging it well,” Funkhouser said, “and you can tell he’s settled in with good tempo. He’s got good stuff, he’s probably going to play the whole season with a little edge, because he didn’t get to finish our season because of the injury he had. But he’s already had great performances throughout. But each day, you can tell how his swing’s continued to be refined, and he understands the game so well in his leadership skills, There’s a lot of positives. When Joe’s around the ball, good things are going to happen. It was fun to watch him play.”
The three homers hit by the Tigers on opening day is also a good sign for the team as well. Seeing the live pitching in practice has already paid off for the Edwardsville hitters.
You know what? We take good (batting practice),” Funkhouser said, “but really, the amount of pitches we saw from our own pitchers? We have a lot of pitchers that can throw. So I think we threw about 14 guys to our live hitters, and our guys are throwing strikes, they’ve got good stuff.
"So, it accumulated a lot more, so even on a day where it’s their first game of the year, and the other team’s even played a game, our guys have accumulated several games already, mentally or visually, for their timing, and they’ve had some bad at-bats. I was impressed, I thought a couple of our guys took some bad swings, or maybe cheated on a pitch, but then adjusted within that at-bat, that didn’t let them spiral out of control against a really quality pitcher, real quality arm.”
It's only the first game of the season, but things are already looking up for the Tigers.
“We only get to play 35 games in our regular season,” Funkhouser said, “so we want to take advantage of each one we get. We have a lot of guys that are going to compete for innings and at-bats. So, I think all of our guys know that they’re going to do their best each day, try to stay within the moment, and good things are going to happen.”
The good things started happening in the opening inning, as Max Waltenberger singled home both Chiarodo and Krebs with the opening two runs of the game. In the second, Krebs launched a three-run homer over the fence in right-center, scoring Will Downs and Chiarodo ahead of him to make it 5-0. Grayson Rathgeb then singled, and scored on a double by Waltenberger, who scored on a two-run homer over the left-center field fence by Johnes to make it 8-0 after two innings.
In the third, Chiarodo hit a two-run shot over the left-center field fence that made the score 10-0, with Hunter Baugh, who drew a two-out walk, scoring ahead of him, and an RBI single by Rathgeb scored Krebs, who had singled, for the final run of the game.
Meanwhile, Chiarodo was in complete control on the mound, throwing three innings, fanning five and only allowing two hits to help the Tigers take the win, the game being terminated by the 10-run rule.
The Ironmen are now 1-1 on the season, while the Tigers open up 1-0, and host Joliet Catholic Friday at 4:15 p.m., then meet Joliet West, also at home Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m., then host DeSmet Jesuit next Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., before partaking on the road for the first time this season, playing at Granite City next Wednesday, also at 4:30 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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Dan Brannan also contributed to this story
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