By Sean Duncan

SAUGET - By the time No. 28 Granite City rolled into GCS Ballpark Saturday night, the Warriors had already swept a doubleheader earlier in the day.

If Granite City was tired, it certainly wasn’t evident in its play. The Panthers completed a whirlwind day by defeating Valle Catholic 9-6 in the final game of the Missouri-Illinois Border War.

Earlier in the day, Granite City (6-0) swept Washington, 3-1 and 4-3, to improve to 6-0 this season.

“Days like this I live for,” said catcher Jake DePew, who caught 16 innings, and pitched the seventh inning to earn the save against Valle. “I love the game of baseball. I have a passion for it. If I could play three games every Saturday, I would.”

A handful of scouts were on hand to watch DePew, who’s the No. 2-ranked senior in the state. The Louisville recruit went 1-for-2 with two walks and flew out deep to centerfield. He also struck out the final two batters of the game with 87-mph fastballs to seal the victory.

Cody Daily pitched five innings, allowed five hits and four runs with five strikeouts to earn the win. The senior right-hander yielded a first-inning run, then blanked Valle (1-2) for the next three innings. Valle, which is the defending Class 2 champions in Missouri, scored three runs after a leadoff error in the fifth to make it 7-4. Daily also helped his own cause by delivering a moonshot solo home run in the sixth, and walked his other three plate appearances.

“Cody pitched well,” said Darren DePew. “That one inning when we made the error, the door opened a little, and caused his pitch count to go up.”

Junior outfielder Kaleb DePew, Jake’s cousin, cemented the win with a two-run double in the seventh. He finished with two hits and three RBI. Shortstop Tyler Lignoul scored three runs, junior right fielder Cody Spanberger went 1-for-1 with a double, two walks and two runs, and senior left fielder Danny Hutchins added two hits, two runs and one RBI.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Darren DePew said of his three-game sweep. “I think the kids were really looking forward to it. … You learn a lot about the team. The whole club was into it all day long.”

With the victory, Illinois and Missouri split the Prep Baseball Report-sponsored Border War weekend series 3-3. One game was rained out.