Quintal, O’Fallon halt Granite City streak

By Scott Fitzgerald

Saturday, April 3, 2010 3:12 AM CDT

With a sparkling 8-0 record and a lot of big-time bats, the Granite City Warriors were feeling pretty good about themselves last week.

“Everyone in this lineup, one through nine, knows how to hit,” said Granite City junior right fielder Cody Spanberger. “We felt like no one could beat us.”

Such was the challenge for O’Fallon senior pitcher Miles Quintal and the rest of the Panthers – no slouches themselves despite their 4-4 mark – when they visited Babe Champion Field on Thursday afternoon.

An experienced hurler and the ace of the staff, Quintal felt that if he kept the ball down and kept the ball in play for his defense, the Warriors would be in for a long day.

Quintal not only kept the ball down, but kept it away from Granite City’s bats. He fanned seven and scattered five hits in the Panthers’ 2-0 victory.

“I don’t usually strike out that many and count on my defense to make the plays,” Quintal said. “But I felt like I was hitting my spots today.

“They’re a great team. It feels great to get a conference win, especially one on the road.”

Other than a walk to Kyle Varble, Quintal didn’t allow a baserunner until second baseman Matt Burton singled to lead off the third inning, and later was picked off. From the fourth inning on, Granite City got a hit in each one, but couldn’t string them together.

Another runner – Spanberger – was picked off in the fifth after blasting a double to the left field fence. The Warriors stranded a runner in the sixth and two in the seventh. Four times, Quintal closed out an inning with a strikeout.

O’Fallon coach Jason Portz felt Quintal’s strikeout of Granite City standout Jake DePew in the first inning was the biggest.

“I think a play like that picks us up and resonates through their dugout,” Portz said. “Miles has been pretty much a control pitcher for the last few years, but he has developed a pretty good slider that has made him more of a strikeout pitcher.”

Granite City starter Cody Daily came into the game 2-0 and was effective at times. He didn’t have one of his better outings, but he didn’t get a great deal of help, as the Warriors committed a pair of errors.

Despite giving up a hit or a walk in each of the first three innings, Daily was able to keep O’Fallon off the scoreboard. But the Panthers broke through in the fourth with just one hit. Quintal walked and, after Daily struck out Cody Seeberger, Matt Meadows was hit by a pitch. Austin Bossart hit a possible double play ball to Varble, who only was able to get the out at first.

Casey Truitt followed with another grounder to Varble, but his throw pulled first baseman Brett Pearman off the bag, scoring Quintal. Ninth-place hitter Cory Beyersdorfer followed with a single to right, scoring Meadows for a 2-0 lead.

While O’Fallon was making the most of its chances, Granite City was squandering its. Varble, looking to amend for his error in the previous inning, came up with two on and two out in the fourth. He ripped a 1-2 pitch down the right field line, but it went just foul.

“It was just inches away,” Varble said. “If I was able to turn two before that, we’re out of the inning and it’s probably a different game.”

Varble struck out, ending the threat. Jake DePew ripped a two-out double in the sixth, but then Quintal fanned Daily. The Warriors put two on in the seventh when Varble was hit by a pitch and Burton got his second single. But Quintal struck out Danny Hutchins to end the game.

Granite City was scheduled to play host to Rock Falls on Friday before traveling to Collinsville for a 4:15 p.m. game on Tuesday. O’Fallon hosted Webster Groves on Friday and will entertain Edwardsville on Tuesday at 4:15.

Granite City coach Daren DePew said the Warriors looked a little tight on Friday as they tried to keep the winning streak intact.

“We do kind of get the monkey off our back,” DePew said of the loss. “Sometimes we put too much emphasis on certain matchups … Quintal is a good pitcher. You gotta put balls in play, and we didn’t do enough of that.”

As well as Quintal threw, many of the Warriors felt this was one that got away.

“He (Quintal) did a good job hitting his spots,” Spanberger said. “But we beat ourselves more than he beat us. Now we have something to look forward to. Beating them next time should be our No. 1 goal.”