Waltenberger’s Three Hits Propel Edwardsville Past Quincy In Regional Baseball Title Shutout

Waltenberger Has Three Hits, Rathgeb Drives In Three Runs, Chiarodo Fans Nine, Edwardsville Wins Class 4A Baseball Regional 10-0 Over Quincy

BELLEVILLE - Max Walternberger had three hits and a RBI on the day, while Grayson Rathgeb drove in three runs, and Joe Chiarodo struck out nine in five innings of work on the mound, as Edwardsville took a 10-0 win over Quincy in the final of the IHSA Class 4A baseball regional Saturday morning, May 31, 2025, at Maroons FIeld on the campus of Belleville West.

The Tigers are now 26-10 and will play O'Fallon at Roy E. Lee Field Wednesday at 4:30 p.m., with the winner going to the final against either Bradley-Bourbonnais or Normal Community next Saturday at 11 a.m.

The winner meets the Lockport Township sectional winner, in the Illinois Wesleyan University super-sectional June 9 at 6 p.m., with the state finals being played June 13-14 at Slammers Stadium in Joliet.

The Tigers advanced to the Normal Community West sectional semifinal against O'Fallon, a 14-6 winner over Belleville East later on Saturday afternoon, in a neutral-site game at SIU-Edwardsville's Roy E. Lee Field at the Simmons Baseball Complex.

"It was just a great team effort," said Tigers' head coach Tim Funkhouser. "I thought Joe threw great on the mound, (Tony) Eberlin came in and closed it out, and I thought out hitters throughout the order started getting those runs early, which was important. And then for our guys to just keep adding. I thought their pitcher (Drake Gibson) made some good adjustments after the first inning, and really, towards the end of the first inning, and kind of disrupted our hitters a little bit. But we were able to have enough guys in the order to just keep battling, and that was a good win for us."

It's a good thing to get the regional title and advance, of course, and the Tigers went after it play-by-play, and pitch-by-pitch in order to come out on top.

"We played each pitch, and play each game," Funkhouser said, "and look forward to surviving another day. So, I am just really proud, our guys worked really hard, it's fun to see them get rewarded for a regional championship. They really like each other, and they like being in the moment, being able to thrive, and also play with freedom. That's fun to see us out there."

Now, it's on to the sectional, where new challenges await, and it's something Funkhouser and his crew are looking forward to.

"We'll have a chance to go out there and see them play in a little bit here," Funkhouser said, in reference to the Lancers-Panthers game. "They've both had success during the course of the year, and we'll watch them play, one of them will advance, and then, we'll kind of prepare ourselves just for us to continue to sharpen the sword, and then, hopefully get out with some decent weather on Wednesday, and see what we've got."

For now, its definitely a good feeling to win the regional and move on.

"You have to appreciate, we don't take anything for granted," Funkhouser said. "We're really happy with the way our guys competed."

Chiarodo allowed a walk and a hit in the Blue Devils' first, but after that, he settled in and retired the next 11 batters in a row. He ran into trouble in the fifth as Quincy used singles by Mason Ritter and Trace Routh, as well as a bunt single by James Day, to load the bases. Chiarodo reared back and struck out the side, getting Cameron Lawson swinging to end the inning. It would be Quincy's only real opportunity all day

Chiarodo and Waltenberger hit back-to-back doubles in the first to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead, and in the third, Chiarodo doubled, was singled to third by Waltenberger, and scored on Tyler Powell's sacrifice fly to center. Rathgeb immediately doubled in Walterberger to give Edwardsville a 4-0 lead.

In the fourth, Hunter Baugh led off with a double, took third on a wild pitch, then Jack Kirgan drew a walk, and Logan Porter hit a nubber that was fielded by the catcher, who threw Porter out tat first, with Baugh alertly coming in to score and make it 5-0. Kirgan went to second on the play, advanced to third on another wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Lucas Krebs to make it 6-0 after four. In the fifth, Waltenberger doubled to open the inning, took third when Powell reached on an error, and scored on a force play at second by Rathgeb. Auggie Johnes singled home another run to make it 8-0.

In the Edwardsville sixth, Will Downs, now playing left field, reached on an error to lead off the inning, went to third on a single by Krebs, and scored on Chiarodo's sacrifice fly to right. Waltenberger was then hit by a pitch, and Powell drew a walk to load the bases, where Krebs scored on a sacrifice fly by Rathgeb to end the game 10-0, due to the 10-run rule.

Krebs had a hit for the Tigers, while Chiarodo had two hits and a RBI, Waltenberger had hits three hits and RBI, Rathgeb had two hits and three RBIs, Johnes came up with a hit and RBI, Baugh had a hit, and Porter drove in a run.

Chiarodo threw five innings on the mound, and was credited with the win scattering four hits, walking one and striking out nine. Eberlin relieved him in the sixth, and struck out two.

The Blue Devils end their season at 15-19.

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