One sweet finish as Gier, Grant top Antioch

Even before the home run, Grant shortstop Thomas Gier was having a pretty good day.

His 2-run shot over the right field fence during the fifth inning Tuesday afternoon at Antioch was the cherry on the sundae.

With that one swing, Grier not only broke up his own little slump at the plate, he also put Grant firmly on the path to a 10-5 North Suburban Conference Prairie Division win over the Sequoits.

All this came on the heels of some other very good news Gier received earlier in the day.

He was left a text message by the baseball coach at Concordia that indicated he had just been officially accepted into the school and that the entire staff was looking forward to Gier playing there next spring.

"It is (a really good day)," Gier said. "Concordia is where I want to go, so it was good to get that message. And it felt really good to hit (the homer, his second of the season) because I haven't been swinging the bat very well lately. I was due for a hit."

Gier is also due for some better luck.

He spent the early part of the season trying to get back into the swing of things after he was forced to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery during basketball season. Then, about a week and a half ago, he sprained his ankle and has been working to shake that off.

"It's been hard (with the injuries)," Gier said. "Hopefully (the news about Concordia) will make me relax a little bit."

Clearly, Gier's teammates were playing loose after his home run, which came with two outs in the fifth.

The Bulldogs managed to squeeze in another 6 at-bats, scoring 5 runs in the process to turn a slim 3-2 advantage into a commanding 10-2 lead.

During that decisive stretch, Brandon Magnuson drove in 2 runs with a triple and Kyle Hunter drove in a pair with a double. Earlier in the inning, Lucas Moss drove in a run with a triple.

"That's kind of been the way we've been all year," said Grant coach Dave Behm, whose team improves to 10-11-1 overall and 6-1 in the Prairie Division. "If one guy starts it, everyone just follows along. We either play really well together, or we struggle."

Speaking of struggling, Antioch starter Ryan Dragoon, who had allowed only 2 Grant hits in the first four innings, gave up 4 hits, 2 walks and 5 runs in the fifth alone, before being pulled.

"You know you can't live belt high and that's where Ryan was most of the day," said Antioch coach Paul Petty, whose team falls to 8-13 overall and 3-4 in the Prairie. "He got hit hard. But they're a pretty good team and they hit the ball well."

The Sequoits also hit the ball well, too, just not enough times with runners in scoring position.

Antioch finished with 10 hits, including a 2-run home run from Cameron Jerina, who also had a double and was 3-for-4 overall. Joe Gregory also went 3-for-4 on the day with 3 doubles and 2 RBI.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Sequoits were threatening a rally by opening with 2 doubles and a walk, which scored a run. The bases were then loaded when Grant starter Jared Helmich hit a batter.

But Helmich settled down and finished out the game by retiring the side without any further damage.

"I went out for a mound visit and you never know if those do anything, but Jared did calm down a bit after that and he did fine," Behm said. "Once he gets out there and relaxes and believes he can do it, he does real well."