Blue Devils fail to hang on to one-run lead with three outs to go against Galesburg

QUINCY — Patience was the name of the game for the Galesburg baseball team when it mattered most on Wednesday.

The Silver Streaks trailed Quincy High School 3-2 entering the top of the seventh inning before two walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases with one out. Three consecutive walks later, the Silver Streaks had a 5-3 lead, and they tacked on another run on Hayden Ralston’s sacrifice fly.

Galesburg pitcher Alex Ritchie retired the Blue Devils’ final three batters after a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh, and the Silver Streaks secured a 6-3 Western Big 6 Conference victory at Quincy High School.

Silver Streaks coach Jeremy Pickrel said his team’s patience in that seventh inning was a bit out of the ordinary.

“Our team has been a pretty good hitting team because of our aggressiveness, so it was nice for them to make that adjustment, like, ‘Hey, you don’t have to go up there looking for the first pitch to hit. Make them come to you. The pressure’s on them,’” Pickrel said. “Luckily we didn’t do anything to help them out.”

Quincy coach Rick Lawson regretted not taking out Blue Devils pitcher Noah Wells earlier — he did so after Wells surrendered his third consecutive walk that gave Galesburg a 4-3 advantage. In the moment, he trusted Wells after the sophomore worked out of a first-and-third jam in the sixth to keep the Blue Devils in front.

“With him just coming back (from an injury), I probably could have gotten him a little sooner, but he was on a roll and feeling good, so we stuck with him,” Lawson said. “We have a lot of games this week, and you’ve got to ride the guy while you can.”

While Wells’ struggles to find the strike zone led to Galesburg’s crooked number in the seventh, he likely would not have even been on the mound had Blue Devils starter Cameron Lawson not been forced to leave the game with two outs in the fifth.

Lawson started to feel pain in his left shoulder blade before the fifth. He tried to pitch through the pain, but after retiring the first two batters of the inning, that pain became unbearable.

“I went out in warmups the next inning, and I just wanted to keep on throwing, so I just stayed out there,” Cameron Lawson said. “I just wanted to get an out and get out of there.”

Until that point, Lawson had only thrown 39 pitches, 33 of which were strikes. He had given up three hits and allowed one earned run.

“It’s unfortunate because he was dealing,” Rick Lawson said.

Cameron Lawson was as sharp as Blue Devils designated hitter Drake Gibson had ever seen.

“He was in the zone,” Gibson said.

Wells, who relieved Lawson, threw 1 ⅓ scoreless innings before the seventh and was in line for the victory after Gibson gave the Blue Devils a 3-2 lead with a sacrifice fly in the fifth.

“It definitely was a struggle, but I have total faith in Noah,” Gibson said. “He’s a very talented pitcher. He just didn’t have it today, but he’ll come back stronger, for sure.”

Gibson said he narrowly missed doing more damage on his go-ahead sac fly, but he was satisfied with the result.

“I was seeing it really well,” Gibson said. “He gave me one right in my sweet spot. I just missed it a little bit, but I did what I needed to do. I feel like I could have done more.

“I was pumped. I felt so good, like a weight was lifted off my shoulder.”

That go-ahead RBI may not have proven to be the game-winner, but Gibson said the goal for the Blue Devils’ next game — Thursday at home against Granite City — is simple.

“Take all of our frustration from this game and put it on Granite City,” Gibson said.