Robinson became the last Little Illini Conference baseball team to fall from the ranks of the unbeaten on Saturday when the Maroons suffered a walk-off, 4-3 loss at Windsor-Stewardson-Strasburg in an early-season battle of unbeatens.
The host Hatchets won it on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh inning after Robinson had tied the game at 3-all in the top half on a fielder’s choice RBI ground ball by Braylon Murray. WSS improved to 6-0 with the win.
The Maroons lost another tough one later in the day, also at Windsor, when Tuscola (5-3) pushed across two runs in the top of the 10th inning and made it stand for a 3-1 victory. Robinson had opened the season with four straight wins.
Newton now takes the reigns as the hottest team in the LIC. The defending champion Eagles are 5-1, not having lost since March 19, when they dropped a 19-9 season-opening game at undefeated Mascoutah (5-0). Included in the winning streak is a 4-3 win over a 5-2 Effingham team, and a 13-6 triumph over LIC rival Mt. Carmel. It does not count as a conference game, however, with the league matchup between the two scheduled for April 16th at Mt. Carmel.
There are a total of six LIC teams at or above the .500 mark at this juncture. After Newton and Robinson come Casey-Westfield and Paris, both 3-2, followed by Marshall and aforementioned Mt. Carmel, each at 3-3.
Olney stands 2-4 after a Saturday doubleheader split with North Clay-Clay City (now 7-1). Lawrenceville is 1-3 on the season.
The conference season begins on Monday, Aug. 13.
This story has been edited.
