Vandalia, Ramsey split doubleheader

The joke during the first game of a doubleheader against Ramsey last Thursday was that Brandy Protz was never coming to Taylor Well’s house again.

Because Ramsey had just seven players for the game, the two Vandalia sophomores found themselves on opposite teams, as Protz and Caitlin Alverson played for Ramsey to give them a full roster.

The joking came because Protz put out Well twice, but by the end of the game, Well was ahead, as she earned the game-tying RBI during the Lady Vandals’ 9-7 win.

But once the game was over, the two were back to their friendly ways.

“They’ll still be friends,” said coach Brian Buscher. “They might give it to each other a little bit, but they are friends for life.”

Well’s RBI came during a five-run fifth inning for Vandalia. In that inning, the team had just one hit, earning runs by taking advantage of several walks and errant pitches.

Ramsey had led 7-4 coming into that frame.

Denise Simmons reached base in the first plate appearance of the fifth after being hit by a pitch, and Kylie Sellers and Amber Bruno both walked to load the bases.

Two batters later, Alex Henna would drive in a run with a walk, and Sellers would score on a wild pitch to pull the Lady Vandals within one.

Bruno scored on an error committed on a hit by Well, and Henna would later cross the plate on a wild pitch for what would be the winning run.

Paige Ehrat also singled home an additional run before the coaches determined the game’s time limit had passed.

“You hate to go down losing, and we didn’t play terrible,” Buscher said. “They had some timely hits, but we had a nice last inning.”

Those hits for Ramsey came during the fourth inning.

The Lady Rams sent 11 batters to plate and scored all seven of their runs in that frame.

Bre Seaton did the most damage for Ramsey, leading off the inning with a double, and then reaching her goal of hitting a ball to the outfield fence with a three-run triple to cap the inning.

“That was mainly our starters,” said coach Mike Jackson said. “That really helped, but once one or two gets a hit, the others start to say, ‘I can get a hit, too.’”

After Seaton’s double, the next seven batters reached base, including a two-run triple by Kim Casey.

Prior to that inning – which Jackson said was the best offensive output for a single inning all summer – Ramsey had just two baserunners and had struck out four times against Emily Redman, who is a Hillsboro player who was pitching for Vandalia.

“We watched too many strikes, especially third strikes,” Jackson said. “It seemed they lost their aggressiveness, but they don’t have enough at-bats. That’s what this is for – to get more at-bats to draw experience from.”

In the game, Redman had eight strikeouts, half of which were looking.

The Lady Vandals earned the early lead after Lauren Wasmuth rifled a single to center in the second and scored on a walk to Matti Tedrick.

Bruno and Morgan Whightsil each drove home a run in the third after hitting errors, and Well brought home the Lady Vandals’ fourth run with to single to right.

Defense, however, is where Buscher wants to see improvement from his players, and his middle infielders – Bruno and Wasmuth – showed good range against Ramsey.

The corner players on the infield – Well and Ehrat, neither of whom have extensively played in the field at the varsity level – are who Buscher really hopes benefit defensively from summer games.

“That’s the area we are most concerned with, but that is why we play in the summer,” he said. “As many games as we can play, that will give them extra time to get better and get ready for varsity.”

In the second game of the doubleheader, Ramsey won, 16-15, in four innings.

Whightsil had a grand slam in the second inning to help the Lady Vandals take a 10-4 lead, but Ramsey scored 12 runs in the next two frames, while holding Vandalia to just five.

During the game, Whightsil also hit a double and earned five RBI.

Well and Alverson were both 2-for-2, with a double and two RBI. Redman also had an RBI for Vandalia.

Protz took the loss from the pitcher's circle.

Vandalia sophomore Brandy Protz (left) played for a short-handed Ramsey squad during the first game of a doubleheader last Thursday, and she put out Taylor Well (right) twice during the game. Well got the last laugh, however, as the Lady Vandals won the game, 9-7.

Ramsey’s Bre Seaton hit three balls deep to the outfield during a 9-7 loss to Vandalia last Thursday. One was an out, but the final two were a double and a triple, which she is seen above hitting.