Collinsville High School held a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth at Waterloo Tuesday, but the Bulldogs used a seven-run inning to claim a 7-3 non-conference victory.

Photo by Roger Starkey

The Kahoks scored first when Dylan McEwen drew a lead-off walk in the fourth inning. After advancing to second on Tanner Houck sacrifice and third on a passed ball, Ryan Hoffman’s groundout to second scored McEwen.

Collinsville added another run in the fifth. Daniel Franke scored on a two-out Waterloo error when the shortstop kicked Grant Bauer’s ground ball.

Collinsville starter Jacob Grzywacz pitched shutout ball for the first four innings, before hitting a wall in the fifth.  The outing was his first start and longest of the season.

“He did a great job, threw strikes, battled through,” Collinsville Assistant Coach Ryan Warnecke said.

Mitch Reising relieved Grzywacz with the score tied at 2-2, runners on first and second and one down. Both of the runners that Reising inherited scored, as did three more.

“They put the ball in play. They made us have to make some plays,” Warnecke said. “They found some holes and they hit a couple of balls hard and it just kept adding up.”

The Kahoks got a run back in the sixth when Mathes reached on an error and went to second when the catcher attempted to pick him off first base but, instead, bounced it past the first basemen. Nick Chance singled Mathes home two batters later.

Collinsville took advantage of playing a non-conference opponent to play some irregulars. Chance, Franke and Hoffman all got a rare start and all contributed. All three singled, Chance and Franke scored a run and Hoffman had an RBI.

“Obviously we still want to win, but it gave us a chance to get a couple of guys at bats that haven’t gotten a few the last couple of games,” Warnecke said.

The Kahoks will have all of their regulars on the field at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday when they play at Edwardsville.