Hannibal drops game 5-3

The Cavemen were so close to a win Friday night, they could almost taste it.
What they got to taste, instead, was the bitter tang of an extra-inning loss.
Despite clawing back into the contest to knot things up at 3-3, the Hannibal Cavemen let two Dupage Dragons runners score in the top of the tenth inning to lose 5-3 and earn loss No. 17.
Hannibal manager Jay Hemond said the loss is not one that will sit well with him or the rest of the team.
“It is frustrating when you get back into a game and keep battling back … and not be able to finish it off,” Hemond said. “It’s a little upsetting.”
By all accounts, the momentum should have been on the Cavemen’s side for the final game of the homestand. Hannibal ace Shane Riedie took the mound to start things off, which, for the last four games, has meant a win.
However, it became apparent early on that not all was right with the hurler. A leadoff walk, followed by a stolen base and a base hit from Dupage resulted in an early lead for the Dragons.
A throwing miscue in the second inning from Riedie showed further signs of frustration from the Louisiana State University Tiger freshman. That miscue translated later on in the inning into a second run for Dupage.
Hemond said he wasn’t sure where the problems his starter encountered stemmed from.
“Sometimes you come out of the bullpen, you have a great bullpen session and you take a while to adjust on the mound,” Hemond said. “Sometimes it’s the other way around. And, sometimes, it’s not even indicative of what is going to happen in the game.”
But after giving up a third run in the fourth inning, Riedie began to settle in from the rubber and the results were visible immediately. Through the course of the next three innings, the Cavemen hurler retired eight consecutive batters and nine of the last 10 he faced.
And as Riedie went, so to did the Hannibal offense. While Kyle Gaedele, who was 2-for-4 Friday night, scored an early first run for the Cavemen, the offense remained stagnant for the better part of the first five innings.
That all changed in the sixth inning when another LSU Tiger, Grant Dozar, lined a hit into the outfield to drive home Colin Hofmann. Dozar would have the favor returned later in the inning when Matt Gaudet hit a sacrifice fly to left field, giving Dozar enough time cross home safely.
That late-inning rally breathed new life into the Cavemen, which spurred their defense on to two more scoreless innings for the Dragons and sent the game into extra innings.
But Dupage would not be denied. With the prospect of their first loss at Hannibal’s hands, the Dragons’ bats came alive to plate two runs in the top of the tenth. And even though Hannibal saw the tying run come to the plate for the second time in as many games, a pair of back-to-back fly outs ended any hopes the Cavemen had of mounting a comeback of their own.
The loss puts Hannibal at 7-17 and 0-3 against Dupage, the first team the Cavemen faced this season. Still, Hemond pointed out that the team the Dragons faced Friday night was a very different one than the one they faced a month ago at Clemens Field.
“We swing the bats a lot better and our pitching has been strong,” Hemond said. “That part is encouraging. We just need to finish some of these off and get the wins.”
Hannibal will ring in the 233rd anniversary of America’s independence playing America’s pastime in a double-header against their cross-river rivals, the Quincy Gems. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Quincy University Stadium, weather permitting.