Summertime thrill

DECATUR – By the sixth inning of the double-elimination championship game on Saturday, the Vandalia High School softball team had left the bases loaded twice and left runners in scoring position in the other three innings.

Coach Brian Buscher sensed a change.

And he was right.

The Lady Vandals brought all their hitters to the plate, scoring five runs in the sixth to regain the lead that they had traded with Warrensburg-Latham all game en route to a 15-13 victory that gave them the title in the Decatur league.

In the first championship game, Warrensburg-Latham won, 16-7, to force a double-elimination game for the tournament title.

“It’s real nice, because most nights (all but two), we split doubleheaders,” Buscher said. “It’s a good feeling … battling back to win the second game.”

The spike in offense was much-needed, because Vandalia’s top four pitchers all missed the games for various reasons, forcing Buscher to use Shelby Foster and Amber Bruno, both whom have done a little pitching in the past.

Bruno’s outing in game two was nothing to write home about – 19 walks and a combined 10 wild pitches and passed balls – but for her to continue battling for all seven innings showed her toughness.

“None of them really wanted to throw, but we told them that it was for the team and to try to throw strikes,” Buscher said.

The third-seeded Lady Vandals scored the first run of the game, after Kylie Sellers scooted from second to third and from third to home on two wild pitches.

The bottom three hitters, who reached base in 11 of 15 plate appearances, set the table for two more runs in the second to give Vandalia a 3-0 lead.

Foster and No. 8 hitter Caitlin Alverson reached on errors and No. 9 hitter Matti Tedrick singled to give the Lady Vandals some runners; Foster was tagged out at the plate on Tedrick’s single.

Sellers, the team’s No. 2 hitter, singled home Alverson, and Alex Henna drew a bases-loaded walk the next at-bat to bring home Tedrick.

"Any time you can get those people on, it doesn’t matter how, that just benefits you,” Buscher said. “If you get runners on, you’ll get runs across somehow.”

Top-seeded Warrensburg-Latham claimed the lead in the bottom of the inning after scoring four times, but Vandalia retook the lead in the third by scoring five runs.

The bottom three in the lineup were again instrumental in that rally, with each getting a single. Henna had the big strike, recording two RBIs on a sharp grounder that the shortstop misplayed.

Warrensburg-Latham, however, matched Vandalia’s five-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth to gain a 9-8 advantage.

Taylor Well and Emilie Britt scored in the fifth to give the Lady Vandals an 10-9 advantage. Both were driven home on a bloop single by Alverson, but that offensive effort was matched in the bottom of the frame to put Vandalia behind, 11-10.

Five of the first six batters reached base and scored in the sixth inning, however, to give Vandalia the final lead.

“We battled ourselves all day,” Buscher said. “We were up, then down, and when players get down, character comes out. You’re always going to have that, but you have got to fight it.”

Vandalia advanced to the title game through the winner’s bracket, and that wouldn’t have been possible without Megan Godoyo, Abby Dugan and several others who were not available to play on Saturday.

“Even the players who weren’t here (today) helped contribute to this win,” Buscher said.