Vandals upset Shelbyville in regional play

In the opening round of the baseball regional on Monday Vandalia pulled off a shocking upset of Shelbyville.

“I just really proud of the boys the way they came out from the first pitch today and went from the first inning to the seventh inning,” head coach Luke Hohlt said. “That’s how you’ve got to play this game.”

The Vandals pitching and hitting was both on point in the 16-5 win over the Rams. Freshman pitcher Ian Murrell earned the win.

“[Pitching was] absolutely great. I mean that’s another freshman on the mound. We’re going to have that guy for four years, and he did a nice job,” Hohlt said.

Vandalia jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first and never trailed.

Andy Hosick did just about everything coach Hohlt could ask of him. In the bottom of the fourth, Hosick robbed a home run from the Rams as he caught the ball just as it was going over the fence. His body slammed into the waist high chain link fence, bending him over and nearly flipping him onto the other side.

In the top of the fifth, Hosick showed what he could do with his bat, as he hit his first home run of the season over the left-center field wall.

Completing the tri-fecta, coach Hohlt called him into pitch in the bottom of the fifth. With no outs and the bases loaded, he gave up two runs in the process of striking out three. He would pitch the rest of the game and be on the mound for the final out, a dropped third strike, with the batter thrown out at first.

“He’s our senior that loves the game and he came to play today,” Hohlt said. “He made a great play defensively and did it with the bat, too. [It was an] all-around great job today.”

The Vandals lead was never in jeopardy. In fact, they flirted with a 10-run rule in the earlier in the game but couldn’t get the eight run lead to 10.

Vandalia hit three home runs in the win.

Hosick went 3-5 with three runs batted in and a homer. Ryan Thiele was 3-5 with four RBI, a double and a home run. TK Kinkead hit a grand slam and was 2-4 on the day.

“We’re going to enjoy this win on the way home, and then it’s back to work tomorrow,” Hohlt said. “We’re going to work on our defense, being ready to put the ball in play … getting on base.”

The Vandals will play Teutopolis High School in Effingham on Thursday at 4:30.