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Illinois Valley

Braden Curran, Hall catch fire at Bureau Valley

Red Devils score 13 runs after 2 innings in 13-0 rout over Storm

Bureau Valley catcher Tyce Barkman leaps for an errant throw home as Hall's Luke Bryant scores for the Red Devils in the fifth inning Tuesday in Manlius. The Red Devils scored three in the fifth on the way to a 13-0 win. over the Storm.

Braden Curran and the Hall Red Devils had a slow start Tuesday, but once they get going, they got going.

Shut out by Bureau Valley starter Brody Lewis for two innings, the Red Devils broke out for two runs in the third inning and three each in the fourth and fifth on the way to a runaway 13-0 win over the host Storm in Manlius.

Curran matched Hall’s offense – slow out of the gate – walking three batters in the first two innings with one hit. But he settled down, allowing three hits with no walks over his final four innings, fanning 10.

“Enough to get a win. Just throwing some strikes, and if they hit it, hopefully make a play,” Curran said. “I’m not going to lie, that wind kind of threw me off and all that. Started slow, we came back. Started hitting, so some confidence, and it’s easy to pitch after that.

“When you’ve got run support and you feel like you can throw with no repercussions, it’s pretty nice. So they hit. I threw. Enough to get a win.”

While he lobbied a bit to finish the game, Curran gladly turned the ball over to his twin, Jack, to pitch the seventh. The latter allowed one hit and a walk while recording a game-ending strikeout.

“From the third inning on, I thought Braden was super efficient,” Hall coach Tom Keegan said. “First couple innings some deep counts, some walks. That third inning, really settled in. That was great to see out of him.”

Luke Bryant got the Red Devils on the board with a two-run single to center in the third inning.

“Luke’s hit there, to get us up 2-0, kind of gave us a chance to exhale a little bit, and we were able to tack on a little bit after that,” Keegan said.

The Red Devils were only warming up.

Geno Ferrari hit a leadoff single in the fourth, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Jack Curran. Curran also stole second and scored along with his twin, Braden, on Hunter Edgcomb’s deep triple to left.

Bryant led off the fifth with a deep double to left, and Jaxon Pinter traded places with him with another double to left to make it 6-0. Ferrari’s RBI groundout scored Pinter, and an error in the outfield brought in Hall’s eighth run.

The Hall offense took a pause in the sixth before breaking out with five more runs on two hits in the seventh, a two-run hit by Greyson Bickett and a two-run double to center by Bryant.

“Lewis kept us in the game early, and then it got away from us. Hall’s a good program. It was not our night tonight,” BV coach Ryan Schisler said.

Bryant led Hall (22-9-1) with a 3-for-4 day at the plate and four RBIs. Pinter (two RBIs) and Jack Curran (RBI) each went 2 for 4.

Logan Philhower, Drake Taylor, Reid Maynard and Dylan Howlett each hit safely for the Storm (14-12).

Keegan said it was a good tuneup for postseason play with two more regular-season games remaining. The Red Devils open the Princeton Regional against Monmouth-Roseville on May 28.

“Luckily we got a few games left this week,” he said. “With the IHSA adding that extra week this year, some of the teams are scrambling just to fill some games this week. We’re fortunate we go tonight, Thursday and Saturday, and that will get us going into the postseason.”

Kevin Hieronymus

Kevin Hieronymus

Kevin has been sports editor of the BCR since 1986, covering Bureau County and IL Valley Sports. Was previously sports editor of the St. Louis Daily News and a regular contributor for the St. Louis Cardinals Magazine. He is a member of the IBCA and Illinois Valley Hall of Fames. He is one of 4 sportswriters from his tiny hometown Atlanta, IL