Former Moline Maroon pitcher Kirk Clark has been named to the South Atlantic League All-Star team.

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Despite a strong pitching effort from Jr. right handed pitcher Seth Fuller, the Moline Maroons fine season ended with a 2-0 loss to Minooka.  The Maroons offense was stymied by future 1st Rd draft pick Mike Foltynewicz.  Foltynewicz, who is committed to attend the University of Texas struck out 15, scattered 3 hits and hit a me deciding two-run homr in the top of the sixth.  Moline threatened to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning on a double by Drew Osborn that also advanced Eric Ashcraft to third.  With runners on second and third with one out, Foltynewicz struck out Fuller walked Tim Wages and ended the inning with a strike out by Austin Michna.  Osborn had two of the Moline hits, while Aschraft had the other.  Moline's season comes to an end with a 28-7* record.

The Moline Maroons defeated the Pekin Dragons, 5-0 at Holmgren Field, to claim their thrid straight 4A Regional title.  Ryan Archer threw a complete game gem on the mound for the Maroons who now move on to face Minooka at LaSalle Peru on Wednesday.  Eric Ashcraft continued his power surge with a two run homer in the bottom of the first.  It was Ashcraft's third homer in his last four games.  Thomas Lindauer also had an rbi double in the 2 run fourth inning for the home team.

The Moline Maroons couldn't hold off Galesburg in extreme hot conditions Monday at Jim Sundberg field.  The Streaks rallied to score two runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull away  with a 8-6 victory.  Despite pounding out eleven hits, the Maroons were plagued by untimely defensive woes in the loss.  Eric Ashcraft and Austin Michna had three hits a piece, while Seth Fuller and Thomas Lindauer each had two.  Lindauer also drilled his eighth homer of the season over the left field fence.  Cameron Kiel suffered his first loss on the mound, giving up three hits and two runs in 1 2/3 innings of relief work.  The Maroons will now turn their focus to post-season play when they host United Township on Wednesday afternoon in the Moline Regional.

The Moline Maroons traveled to Arlington Heights St. Viator Saturday and came away with a pair of hard fought wins. Game one saw the Maroons pound out 9 hits in route to a 6-5 win. Seth Fuller and Timmy Wages each drove in a pair of runs, while Drew Osborn belted his first homer of the season. Seth Fuller was once again dominant on the mound, going 4 innings scattering 3 hits and striking out 5 improving his record to (7-2) on the year. Sophomore lefty, Cameron Kiel earned his first save of the year, holding off a Lion threat in the bottom of the seventh.

Game two saw the Maroons flex its muscles at the plate. Thomas Lindauer homered twice driving in 5 runsa and Eric Ashcraft went big fly to lead the offense. Ryan Archer struggled to earn his sixth victory of the season. Archer gave up seven earned in 4 2/3 before giving way to the bullpen. Sophomore Drew Marlier went 2 scoreless innings to pick up his first save of the season. The Maroons travel to Galesburg Monday before opening post-season play against UT Wednesday at Holmgren Field.

The Moline Maroons offense has been sputtering lately and continued to do so Wednesday in a non-conference matchup with UTHS.  However, Moline was able to do enough to come away with a 4-2 victory to improve their record to (24-5*) on the season.  Eric Ashcraft drove in three runs for the home team.  Jeremy Rushing got his first varsity start on the mound going 3 2/3 before giving way to Paul Mills in relief.  The play of the game come from the glove of Austin Michna.  With the bases loaded and two out in bottom of the fourth, Michna made a game saving diving catch in right field.  Brandon Shaw earned his second save of the season pitching a scoreless seventh inning.

The Moline Maroons improved their record (23-5) with a double header sweep of the Morton Potters.  In game one, the Maroons scored 4 runs on only 2 hits.  Ryan Archer went 6 1/3 innings to pick up his fifth win on the season.  Brandon Shaw earned his first save of the season in relief.
      In game two, the Maroons smoked the Potters 9-0. Six Maroon hits, combined with four Morton errors did in the Potters.  Eric Ashcraft drove in four runs on two hits.  Thomas Lindauer also added three RBI's to lead the offense for the Maroons.  Paul Mills had a solid outing going six complete innings allowing only two hits and walking only one.  

The Chilicothe IVC Grey Ghosts scored three times in the sixth inning rallying from a 2-0 deficit  to defeat Moline 3-2. The loss drops the Maroons' record to 21-5 on the season.  The visitors opened the scoring in the first inning on RBI singles by Eric Ashcraft and Drew Osborn.  However, the Maroons offense went silent the rest of the way.  IVC's Jeremy Adcock went the distance scattering 6 hits and striking out 10 Moline batters.  Seth Fuller was equally dominant on the mound for Moline until trouble struck in the sixth.  The Ghosts opened the inning with back-to-back doubles, then a two-run homer by Matt Semtner was the deciding factor.  Fuller struck out eight and only allowed four IVC hits in 6 complete innings of work.

The Moline Maroons baseball earned the #1 seed in the Moline Regional.  Tournament action begins May 26th at Holmgren Field on the campus of Moline High School.

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QUINCY -- The month-long hitting slump finally ended for Moline sophomore baseball player Timmy Wages on Saturday.

All it took was some advice from a teammate and an assistant coach to break the funk.

With senior teammate Thomas Lindauer and assistant coach Craig Schimmel correcting his hitting mechanics earlier in the week, Wages had his powerful swing back. The first baseman smacked three home runs and drove in eight runs, pushing the Maroons to a 12-2 (6 innings), 17-5 Western Big 6 Conference sweep over Quincy.

"My hands were all messed up," Wages said of his hitting woes. "I'd roll over the top of the ball and hit groundballs. Thomas told me to line my knuckles up, and Schimmel told me to put my front elbow down a little bit and relax my top hand."

He hit a two- and three-run homer in the opener to pace the Moline (11-14, 6-4 WB6) opener. Wages added to his memorable day by cracking a three-run shot in the nightcap.

"He hadn't been hitting the ball the last two weeks," Moline coach Derek Lindauer said. "Then again, some of the teams have figured out how to pitch to him. But, if you get a pointer from another player or coach, it makes you feel good."

Wages had no problem listening.

"They always tell me what to do," said Wages, who went 3-for-7 on the day. "They have more experience than I do. Since I'm a young guy, I have to learn from them."

The Maroons seemed to follow Wages' lead. They hit five home runs in the two games, including a grand slam from Eric Ashcraft in Game 2 to put an exclamation point on an eight-run sixth inning, and had nine extra-base hits.

"It was just a great day," Wages said. "Everybody hit pretty well."

The pitchers did their job, too. Moline received a brilliant performance in the opener from right hander Seth Fuller, who handcuffed the Blue Devils (8-13, 1-7) for two runs on six hits in six innings.

After allowing two runs in the second, Fuller faced four over the minimum in the last four inning and retired the game's last six batters in order.

"Seth's been good since the first day of the season," Derek Lindauer said. "I've considered him dominating."

The pitching wasn't stellar in Game 2, but Ryan Archer held Quincy to five runs in his five-plus innings of work. Trailing 5-4 after five, the Maroons scored 13 times in the last two innings to get the sweep.

"We ran out of gas," Quincy coach Randy Mettemeyer said. "We got ourselves in too may jams early in the game where (starting pitcher Kyle Young) had to pitch and get out of them where it ran his pitch count up. They, then got him and we didn't have much after that."

By Daniel Makarewicz, danmak@qconline.com