Thrillbillies Flex Muscles, Bang Out 16 Hits, Two Homers, Including Grand Slam, Sweep River Dragons

ALTON - The Thrillville Thrillbillies of Marion pounded out 16 hits and hit a pair of home runs, including a fourth-inning grand slam by Bryson Arnette, as the Thrillbillies took a 16-0 win over the Alton River Dragons, sweeping the two-game series between the two clubs, Sunday evening at Lloyd Hopkins Field at Gordon Moore Park.

The win extended the Thrillbillies lead in the South Division of the Western Conference to three-and-a -half games over the River Dragons in the first half of the league's split season. Thrillville is now 13-3, while Alton slips to 9-8, two games behind the second place Jackson, Tenn., Rockabillys, who are 11-6, and two-and-a-half games out of third place, currently occupied by the 9-7 O'Fallon, Mo., Hoots.

The Thrillbillies started off on the right foot in the opening inning, when Arnette drove in Jackson Lindsay with a double, and Jack Porter singled home Arnette to make it 2-0 for Thrillville. In the third, Arnette struck again, singling home Cameron Hill, and himself was singled home by Charlie Isom-McCall to give the Thrillbillies a 4-0 lead.

Everything broke open in the fourth, starting with a RBI single by Owen Anderson that scored Jaden Correa to make it 5-0. Later with the bases loaded, Lindsay walked to force home Anderson, and Arnette unleashed his grand slam homer over the left field fence,, scoring Lindsay, Hill, and Braden Brock ahead of him to make it 10-0. In the fifth, Hill followed up with a two-run shot over the fence in right field, scoring Anderson and making the score 12-0.

The onslaught continued in the sixth, with RBI singles by Correa and Anderson. and in the seventh, a bases loaded walk to Josh Griffin, and a RBI single by Alex Wilson brought in the final two runs as the game was terminated after the eighth, with the Thrillbillies taking the 16-0 win.

Luke Pamentier of Civic Memorial had a pair of hits for the River Dragons, while Justin Santoyo, CM's Bryer Arview, Eli Hill, and Jason Schiera also had hits on the night.

Dylan Manino started on the mound and was charged with the loss, going three innings, giving up eight runs on nine hits, walking one, while Aiden Adams pitched two innings, allowing four runs on three hits, walking two, Jack Gazdacka pitched for 1.1 innings and gave up four runs on three hits, walking two and striking out one. Scott Detweiler threw for 0.2 innings, only giving up a hit, while walking one and fanning one.

The River Dragons are off on Monday, and begin a five-game road swing on Tuesday, playing at the Cape Catfish of Cape Girardeau, Mo., Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m., then play a two-game series at Jackson Wednesday and Thursday, both games starting at 7 p.m., are at O'Fallon's CarShield Field Friday night at 6:35 p.m., then conclude the road trip at the Burlington, Ia., Bees on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Alton returns home on Sunday to face the Normal Cornbelters at 5:35 p.m.

Brock's Two-Run Single In 10th Is The Difference As Thrillbillies Toke 9-8 Thriller Over River Dragons In First Game Of Series

Brendan Brock's two-run single in the top of the 10th inning proved to be the winner as the Thrillville Thrillbillies of Marion held off a rally by the Alton River Dragons in the home half of the 10th to take a 9-8 win in the first of a critical two-game series between the clubs Saturday night at Lloyd Hopkins Field in Gordon Moore Park.

The loss by Alton knocked the River Dragons own to 9-7, and extended the Thrillbillies' lead to three-and-a-half games over Alton. Thrillville is now 12-3 in the first half of the league's split season, with the O'Fallon Hoots in second, a game-and-a-half up on the Dragons, and the Jackson, Tenn., Rockabillys a full game ahead of Alton in the South Division standings in the Western Conference.

The River Dragons jumped on top in the opening inning, when Edwardsville's Drake Westcott hit a homer over the right-center field fence to make it 1-0. In the second, Justin Santoyo blasted a three-run homer over the fence in right, scoring Xian'en Zeng and Civic Memorial's Luke Parmentier ahead of Santoyo, putting Alton ahead 4-0.

The Thrillbillies rallied in the fourth on a RBI single by Charlie Isom-McCall that scored Jack Porter to make it 4-1, then in the sixth, Alex Zimmerman brought in a pair of runs on a single, as both Alex Wilson and Kaleb Herbert scored, and Zimmerman went to third on an error to cut the lead down to 4-3. Alton countered in the bottom of the sixth when Jordan Aguello scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-3, then in the seventh, a Dane Stevenson RBI single scored Westcott to make it 6-3.

The Thrillbillies started their rally in the eighth, when Herbert doubled home Porter, a Zimmerman ground out to third scored Wilson, and Brock doubled home Herbert to tie the game at 6-6. Thrillville then took the lead in the top of the ninth when Wilson hit a sacrifice fly to center, pushing across Bryson Arnette to give the Thrillbillies their first lead at 7-6. The lead was short-lived when, in the bottom of the ninth, a RBI single by Santoyo scored Eli Hill to tie the game 7-7, forcing extra innings.

In the top of the 10th, Brock delivered his game-winning single, which scored both Herbert and Zimmerman to make the score 9-7 for the Thrillbillies. The River Dragons came to within 9-8 on a Luke Melton single that scored Aguello, but it would be as close as Alton would come as Thrillville held on to win.

Westcott ended up with three hits and a RBI for the River Dragons, while Santoyo had two hits and four RBIs, both Stevenson and Melton had a hit and RBI, and Parmentier, Javi Alvarez, Aguallo, and Jack Gazdacka all had hits.

Gavin Kinworthy started out on the mound for Alton, and went five innings, allowing an unearned run on four hits, walking three and striking out three, with Scott Detweiler going 0.2 innings, allowing twp runs, one earned, on one hit, walking two, then B. Biggs struck out the only batter he faced. Jacob Hammer then came in and threw 1.1 innings, allowing three runs on two hits, walking one, Connor Jackson also went 1.1 innings, giving up a run on two hits, also walking one, and Bryce Louis went the final two innings and was also charged with the loss, giving up two runs, one earned, on two hits, fanning two.

Four Pitchers Combine To Hold River Dragons To Four Hits, Hoots Take Critical Win Over Alton In Prospect League Game 7-0

Four pitchers - winning pitcher Owen Kelly, Camron Poe, Joshua Cunningham, and Markell Dixon - combined to hold the Alton River Dragons to four hits as the O'Fallon, Mo., Hoots won a crucial Prospect League South Division game over the River Dragons 7-0 Friday night at Lloyd Hopkins Field in Gordon Moore Park.

The loss ends a three-game winning streak for Alton, dropping them to 9-6, and in fourth place of the division, a half-game behind the Hoots, who are now 10-6, a full game behind the Jackson, Tenn., Rockabillys, and two-and-a-half games behind the first place Thrillville Thrillbillies of Marion, who the River Dragons host in a critical two-game set this weekend.

It was a pitcher's dual between Kelly and Alton starter Gabe Smith of Father McGivney Catholic, until the seventh, when O'Fallon broke out on top, thanks to a RBI pinch single by Kyle Byrne, scoring Michael Long with the opening run to put the Hoots ahead 1-0. O'Fallon then broke open the game in the top of the eighth, starting when Bryson Lofton forced Ryan Stevens at third, but Ben Stedman scored on the play to make it 2-0. Long then singled home Henry Zenor with the bases loaded to give the Hoots a 3-0 lead, which became 4-0 after a walk to Kade Wood forced home Lofton. A Byrne sacrifice fly to right scored Braden Hackworth to make it 5-0 after eight innings.

The Hoots scored their final two runs in the ninth, when Lofton singled home Stedman for the second time in the game, and Long doubled home Zenor to make the final 7-0.

Cooper Howell, Drake Westcott of Edwardsville, Dane Stevenson, and Jordan Aguallo had the four hits on the night for the River Dragons, while Smith pitched five strong innings, allowing only three hits while walking one and striking out five. Aiden Adams came on in the sixth, and was charged with the loss, allowing a run on two hits, fanning one, Tanner Paschke pitched one inning, giving up three runs on three hits, walking one and striking out one, Harrison Dubois came on to pitch an inning, allowing a run on a hit, walking one and fanning one, and Aaditya Sur threw in the ninth, allowing two runs on three hits while walking one.

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