PERU – The St. Bede Bruins welcomed Newman Central Catholic into a special setting at Schweickert Stadium in Peru, the home of the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp.

The Bruins took advantage of a solid performance from Alan Spencer and a big hit from Luke Tunnell for a 6-1 victory over their former Three Rivers Conference rivals.

“They are a really good team, and we played solid defense and got a few hits when we needed them. This was a good game for us heading in to the conference schedule.” St. Bede coach Bill Booker said. “This was a great place to play, and we can’t thank the City of Peru and Bobby Ghigi enough for making it happen. Playing in a place named after a guy who is such a baseball guy even makes it more special.”

Spencer worked through a scoreless first inning before Bruins’ shortstop Gus Burr got a solid single to put runners on the corner with one out. The Bruins loaded the bases before Spencer rolled into a fielder’s choice forcing Carson Riva at the plate, but an errant throw to first would allow Burr to motor around to get the Bruins on the scoreboard.

Geno Ferrari beat out an infield hit to put St Bede up 2-0 after one inning.

After that the two pitchers started to dominate as Spencer (6 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 7 K, 0 BB) threw another scoreless inning and recorded two of his seven strikeouts on the evening. But the Comet’s Ashton Miner (4 2/3IP, 3 R, 6 H, 1 K,2 W) settled in and held the Academy scoreless in the bottom of the inning.

The pitchers continued to throw zeros for the next two innings, and the game rapidly moved to the top of the fifth where Spencer continued to hit his spots to keep the Comets from scoring.

“I was able to spot my fast ball tonight and worked off of that. My defense played well, and in a big ballpark like this it’s easier to pitch when you know the guys will make plays. I felt good tonight and Huss (Nathan Husser) called a great game behind the plate.

In the bottom half of the fifth, the Bruins finally got something going as Ryan Slingsby led off with a single and Riva followed him aboard on a hit by pitch. Luke Tunnell drove a pitch into right field and scored a pair to double up the Bruin advantage.

“I knew the situation and went up there looking for a pitch I could hit hard, and when I got it, fortunately, I didn’t miss it and had a good result. When you DH, it feels good to get up there and do your job,” Tunnell said.

But the Bruins weren’t done yet as Spencer singled and Husser chased home the fifth run with a double and later crossed home on a wild pitch.

In the top of the sixth, the Comets scored their only run when Brendan Tunink worked a walk and went to third on a Daniel Kelly base hit. He scored on an RBI double off the bat of Miner. But Spencer worked his way out of the jam and left the bases full, sending the game to the bottom of the sixth where St. Bede would go down quietly.

In the top of the seventh, reliever Geno Ferrari allowed a Tunink base hit but nothing else and the Bruins secured the 6-1 victory.