CRESTWOOD — Chris Wiman ran into trouble in the ninth inning but struck out pinch-hitter Damian Walcott with the bases loaded to preserve the Southern Illinois Miners' 6-5 win over the Windy City ThunderBolts at Standard Bank Stadium on Tuesday.

CARTERVILLE — Two days after coming home from the Gator Classic winning two of three games, Marion’s American Legion Post 147 baseball team appeared slow and sluggish Monday evening.

While Metropolis Post 306 flirted with disaster in the last two innings, it was able to capitalize on Marion’s lackluster performance and escape with a 7-5 non-district victory at John A. Logan College.

O'FALLON, Mo. — Joey Metropoulos launched a grand slam and drove in five runs and Tony Roth added a two-run homer to help newcomer Ryan Mitchell to his first win as the Southern Illinois Miners breezed past the River City Rascals, 8-3, Monday night at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in the rubber game of a key Frontier League West Division series.

O'FALLON, Mo. — Ryan Bird improved to 6-0 on the season in leading the Southern Illinois Miners to a 9-4 win over River City on Saturday at T.R. Hughes Ballpark.

The righthander won his 17th straight Frontier League decision by scattering six hits and striking out seven with one walk over 7 2-3 innings. He did give up four earned runs, however, as his ERA jumped from 0.99 to 1.63, although two of the runs crossed the plate after he left the game.

River City, which leads the league's West Division standings, held off a late Miners rally Sunday night to win the series' middle game, 4-3, and set up a rubber game Monday night.

TRENTON — For the second consecutive year, Marion’s American Legion Post 147 baseball team won two of three games at the Gator Classic.

Once again, however, Post 147 did not win its pool nor did it earn the wild card to advance to the championship semifinals for a chance to win the tournament title over the weekend.

Marion began the tournament with a 6-1 victory against 25th District foe Pinckneyville Friday night before splitting a pair of games Saturday with an 8-0 loss to nemesis Belleville and a 3-1 win over New Baden.

MARION — When Brad Miller went down swinging for the second out of the eighth inning Thursday, the Southern Illinois Miners' designated hitter thought his night was over with his squad trailing by a run.

Thanks to a ninth-inning rally, however, Miller's spot in the batting order came up with two runners on base, including the winning run at third, against Rockford closer John Muller.

Miller completed the comeback with his third hit of the game, ripping a walkoff RBI single to left field as the Miners scored two runs in the ninth to pull out a thrilling 3-2 victory against Rockford in front of 4,263 fans at Rent One Park.

MARION — Andrew Dunn is not quite sure how it happened, but he's glad it did.

Dunn, who threw off pitching mounds at Marion High School, John A. Logan College and Southern Illinois University over the past half-decade, was contacted by the Milwaukee Brewers organization Wednesday night.

MARION — While the Southern Illinois Miners have had their issues when turning the game over to the bullpen lately, there was no such problem Wednesday night.

Unfortunately, Tony Bradley endured his second straight troublesome start and never made it out of the third inning despite four relievers pitching 6 2-3 shutout innings during the Miners' 7-3 series-opening loss to Rockford at Rent One Park.

MARION — The Southern Illinois Miners sold the contract of shortstop Gered Mochizuki to the New York Mets organization Wednesday evening.

Mochizuki will report to the Mets Appalachian League affiliate in Kingsport, Tenn., later this week.

MARION — Runs are never meaningless, and as proved during the Southern Illinois Miners' 2-1 win over Gateway Tuesday night, retroactive meaning can be applied to a seemingly harmless run from a previous game.

Miners manager Mike Pinto wasn't about to let starting pitcher Brett Scarpetta be hung with a loss Tuesday, so he turned the ball over to Chris Wiman a night after he gave up what seemed to be an insignificant tally in the ninth inning of a blowout win.

MARION — Herrin graduate Cody Dunbar will become the newest member of the Southern Illinois Miners on Wednesday as they begin a three-game home series with the Rockford RiverHawks.

Dunbar, a 23-year-old righthanded reliever, was recently released by the Toronto Blue Jays after coming back from a forearm injury that allowed him to pitch in just four games with their Gulf Coast League affiliate.

WEST FRANKFORT — Just about every time Marion's American Legion Post 147 baseball team travels to play Orient Post 1961, head coach Greg Haub knows it will be quite the adventure trying to leave with a win.

Such was the case during their 25th District contest Tuesday night.

Post 147 overcame a six-run deficit by scoring nine of the game's final 11 runs, dodging a seventh-inning bullet before escaping with a wild but entertaining 13-12 victory in eight innings.

MARION — For the first time since June 11, the Southern Illinois Miners are on a streak.
Thanks to another dominating performance by a sweat-soaked Ryan Bird and three-run homers from Brad Miller and Joey Metropoulos, the Miners rolled past Gateway for the second straight night Monday, 9-2, in front of 3,821 fans at Rent One Park.

MARION — If there is one thing certain when the Southern Illinois Miners and Gateway Grizzlies take the field, it's that anything is possible at any given time.

After winning two of three games during a wild series in Sauget last week, the Miners needed another crazy finish to prevail in their series opener against the Grizzlies at Rent One Park Sunday night.

Kevin Koski was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Southern Illinois a 10-9 victory over Gateway in front of 4,029 fans on a hot and humid Father's Day.

MARION — With Marion's American Legion Post 147 baseball team low on pitching, Jeff Gardiner picked up the slack on a sticky Sunday afternoon at Ray Fosse Park.

Gardiner threw 5 2-3 relief innings with six strikeouts and two walks while Kenton Parmley went 3-for-3 with five RBI, including a two-run homer, to carry Marion past Sparta Post 396 by an 8-5 margin in 25th District action.