Without a doubt it was the most exciting game of the year! It took the Cardinals almost all their outs to catch and finally pass the Metro Christian Patriots on fan appreciation night Monday evening at Pat Colpitt Field. The Cardinals were trailing by a score of 3 to 0 with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning before they staged their dramatic comeback. Brad Aguillard drew a two out walk to keep the inning alive and Ryan Coe supplied the power when he crushed a pitch over the left field fence for a two run home run. Going into the seventh inning Collinsville was still trailing by a score of 3 to 2. Tyler Nair led off the seventh inning and hit a line drive, however, it when directly to the Patriot second basemen for the first out of the final inning. Jonathan Bewely followed Nair with a base on balls to put the tying run on base. Josh Walker followed Bewely and brought the crowd to its feet when he lined a pitch down the left field foul line that curved foul before it left the field. The Patriot's tried to fool Walker by doubling up with the same pitch, but Walker was waiting for it and he once again he lined the ball down the left field line. However, this time it didn't curve foul and hit the left field foul pole for his ninth home run of the year and a Cardinal victory.

Four Cardinal Pitches combined to keep Metro Christian within striking distance. Alex Belitz, Josh Walker and Kevin Phillips held the Patriots scoreless in the last four innings.

-----------------------1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Metro Christian 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 7 0
Collinsville -------0 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 3 2

Sirmon, Belitz (2), Walker (5), Phillips (7) and Coe; W: Phillips (2-1). Hr: Coe (5) and Walker (9).

The Collinsville Cardinals scored six times in the last half of the seventh to defeat Bishop McGuinness and captured third place in the East West Classic played at Deer Creek of Edmond last Saturday afternoon. The road started out very bumpy for the fourth ranked Cardinals as they were defeated Thursday afternoon in the opening round by Piedmont at Piedmont High School by a score of 2 to 0. The Cardinals were held to three hits with two of the hits coming in the first inning. With two outs in the first inning consecutive singles by Josh Walker and David Chester put Cardinal runners on the corners. Kevin Phillips lashed a ball in the left centered field gap that the Piedmont outfielder ran down to keep the Cardinals off the scoreboard. The only other hit by the Cardinals was a fourth inning single by Phillips. The Cardinals managed to load the bases in the seventh on walks to Phillips, Ryan Coe and Alex Belitz, but were unable to score.

Josh Walker pitched six strong innings allowing only one earned run, walking none and giving up five hits while striking out four. Belitz pitched a scoreless seventh and struck out two.

Later that evening the Cardinals traveled to Deer Creek to play the Irish from Bishop McGuinness and defeated the Irish by a score of 11 to 3. The Cardinals scored three times in the first. Consecutive singles by Shawn Curtis and Jonathan Bewely put runners at the corners which set the stage for Curtis to score on a wild pitch. Kevin Phillips singled to score Bewely and Brad Aguillard sent Phillips across the plate when he singled. In the second inning the Cardinals continue to apply pressure as they scored four times to take a 7 to 0 lead. Ryan Coe and Matt Sowards opened the inning with consecutive base on balls and two outs later the Cardinal runners had not scored. However, consecutive walks to Bewely and Walker forced in the first run of the inning. David Chester followed with a two run single and two walks to Phillips and Brad Aguillard forced home the final run of the inning. The Cardinals score once in the third inning when Matt Sowards singled and later scored on a Josh Walker ground ball. In the fourth inning singles by Brad Aguillard, Coe and Jake Hamlin produced the Card's ninth run of the game. The Cardinals scored twice in the fifth inning. Consecutive walks to Walker and Chester followed by a run scoring single by Alex Belitz produced the first run of the inning. Aguillard was hit by a pitch that loaded the bases and Coe drew a walk to force in the final run of the inning.

Harrison Mendez pitched 4 and 2/3 innings giving up three runs and four hits while striking out seven. Kyle Keith pitched the final 1/3 of an inning striking out the only batter he faced.

The Cardinals played their third game of the classic on Friday evening and defeated McCloud by a score of 10 to 5. McCloud scored one run in the bottom half of the first inning with the Cardinals bouncing back in the second to score twice. David Chester lead off the inning with a home run over the left center field fence for the Card's first run. Kevin Phillips followed with a single and raced to third base on a Ryan Coe single. Phillips later scored on a Jake Hamlin single. The Cardinals scored two times in the fourth. Kevin Philips led off with a single and scored on a Brad Aguillard triple. Coe scored Aguillard from third base when he singled. McCloud tied the score up at four runs a piece in the bottom half of the fourth inning when they scored three times. The Cardinals manufactured a run in the fifth inning when Walker drew a base on balls and later scored on a Phillips sacrifice fly. In the sixth inning the Cardinals score four times to take a 9 to 4 lead. Matt Sowards opened the inning with a single, Jake Hamlin was safe on a McCloud error, Shawn Curtis singled and Sowards scored on a Walker sacrifice fly. David Chester followed with a double that scored the second run of the inning and Phillips sent two runners home when he doubled. Collinsville scored a single run in the seventh when Coe singled and later scored on a Curtis single.

Jeremy Guest started on the mound for the Cardinals and pitched four innings allowing four runs on seven hits while striking out four. Phillips threw one scoreless inning and Walker pitched the final two innings giving up one run while striking out two.

In the third place game the Cardinals played Bishop McGuinness for the second time in the tournament. McGuinness scored six times in the first inning and lead 6 to 0 after two and one half innings. The Cardinals narrowed the Irish lead to four in the bottom half of the inning when David Chester hit a home run after Jonathan Bewely had drawn a base on balls. Bishop McGuinness managed to score three times in the fifth to take a 9 to 2 lead. In the bottom half of the inning the Cardinals fought back when they scored five times to narrow the deficit to two runs. Shawn Curtis led off the inning and was hit by a pitch. Bewely singled and Josh Walker drove both Curtis and Bewely home when he tripled. David Chester was then hit by a pitch and Kevin Phillips drove home a run when he singled. Brad Aguillard drew a base on balls and Ryan Coe drove home a run when he singled. Jake Hamlin drove home the final run of the inning when he ground out to the second. Neither team scored in the sixth, but the Irish managed to score three more times in the top half of the seventh to take a 12 to 7 lead. At this point in the game the Cardinals seemed out of the game. However, the Cardinals didn't believe they were. Aguillard led off the inning with a walk and Ryan Coe doubled. Matt Sowards reached first on an error that allowed Aguillard to score. Both Hamlin and Garrett Thurman singled with Thurman's hit driving in a run. Bewely lifted a fly ball to center field that scored a run and Walker doubled to score two more Cardinal runners and tied the score. Chester and Aguillard walked to load the bases and with Coe at the plate Walker raced home on a wild pitch to win the game.

Kyle Keith started on the mound with Alex Belitz coming into pitch with no outs in the first inning. Belitz pitched 4 and 2/3 innings to allow the Cardinals to get back into the game. Belitz gave up three runs on three hits and struck out two. Walker pitched the final two innings of the game giving up three runs on four hits and struck out three.

----------------1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R
Collinsville 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Piedmont- 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

Walker, Belitz (7) and Coe; L: Walker (6-1).

------------------------------1 2 3 4 5 R H E
Collinsville --------------3 4 1 1 2 11 10 0
Bishop McGuinness 0 0 0 2 1 3 4 1

Mendez, Keith (5) and Coe; W: Mendez (2-0).

----------------1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Collinsville 0 2 0 2 1 4 1 10 13 1
McCloud-- 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 5 9 1

Guest, Phillips (5), Walker (6) and Coe; W: Guest (5-0). Hr: Chester (12).

------------------------------1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Bishop McGuinness 6 0 0 0 3 0 3 12 11 2
Collinsville--------------- 0 0 2 0 5 0 6 13 9 2

Keith, Belitz (1), Bewely (5), Walker (6) and Coe; W: Walker (7-1). Hr: Walker (10).