Heartbreaker

Losing is never easy.

For the Guaranteed Air Freight Fast Pitch Softball team, losing in the ASA State Championship game to the Decatur Pride is just heartbreaking.

After a weekend of five games, two rain delays, a fog delay and a 10-inning championship game, second place wasn’t enough to buoy The Freight’s spirits.

The narrow loss against The Pride is Vandalia’s third straight loss to Decatur, after Vandalia started the season 2-0 against The Pride.

Sunday night’s championship game featured three ties and four lead changes as the game pushed closer to 11 p.m.

In the bottom of the 10th, with two out and the bases loaded, The Pride hit a blooper that fell into center field between the center fielder and shortstop.

With hurler Brad Sturdy standing in the circle, hands on his knees, the winning run scored giving Decatur the 8-7 win.

“We knew it was going to be like that, we knew it was going to be a nail-bitter every time we play them,” manager Rich Well said.

Both team’s offenses were rolling from the start.

Decatur showed power early and throughout the game as they hit a home run in the bottom of the first.

Vandalia was able to load the bases in the top of the second and drive in two runs on a single by Randy Clampit. Two batters later, with two on, Mike Simmons hit a three-run homer to dead center, putting the Freight up 5-1.

The Pride’s power hitting continued through the bottom of the second as back-to-back home runs cut the lead to 5-3.

An error by Decatur allowed Vandalia to score again in the third. With runners on the the corners, Bob Nagel stole second, the throw went into the outfield; as the runner on third came in to score.

Decatur continued to chip away at The Freight’s lead. They scored two more in the bottom of the third to get within one at 6-5. And in the bottom of the sixth, The Pride tied the game on a home run, its fourth of the game.

The score remained deadlocked into the eighth inning. Well led off with a single and Brian Buscher was brought in to run. Buscher stole second and moved up to third on a ground out. Jeff Swaney delivered a single to right field to score the go-ahead run.

Vandalia had to just hold the lead for three outs to win. The Pride’s power, however, had other plans.

“Every time we came out and put a number up, they answered back,” Well said.

A leadoff home run by The Pride once again tied the game, 7-7. Sturdy was brought on to replace Alan Meinhart in the circle.

Sturdy was able to get out of the eighth and ninth without giving up any hits or runs.

In the bottom of the 10th, Decatur loaded the bases on two walks and a hit.

“When I went out there (to the circle), Brad thought they were getting his pitches, so he said ‘Throw down a two for a drop and I’m going to throw a change.’ And he threw the change, and the guy hit it off the end of his bat and it fell into no-man’s land–game over,” Well said

Vandalia’s late night ended, with an 8-7 loss.

This won’t be the end of Vandalia’s season, though. The Freight will be in Decatur on Aug. 29 to face The Pride again. The following weekend, Sept. 3-6, Vandalia will compete in the ASA National Championship in Decatur.

“Hopefully, we’ll get another shot in Decatur, and there’s still a bigger trophy out there for us to get,” Well said.

Freight 11 – Pete’s Blues 1

Fighting for a spot in the championship game, The Freight played in its second game of the night on Sunday against the defending champs, Pete’s Blues.

Meinhart gave The Freight a top-notch start in the must-win game. He went five innings, only giving up one run on two hits. He struck out nine batters.

Vandalia’s bats were also hot for the third time in four games. The Freight scored in every inning and hammered out 14 hits.

With two outs in the top of the first, Well and Nick Casey walked and were driven in on a double by Nagel. Nagel would come around to score on a single by Swaney.

Vandalia plated two more runs in the fourth on RBI singles by Hammack and Well.

Four more runs by The Freight in the third inning made it a 9-1 game. And two more runs in the last two innings put them up 11-1, securing a 10-run rule victory.

Well was 2-for-2 with an RBI, Mark Burnam went 2-for-3 with a double, triple and an RBI, and Nagel was 4-for-4 with three RBIs.

Pete’s Blues finished in third place, and Vandalia headed to the championship game.

Decatur 5 – Freight 1

Late Saturday night, fog rolled into Altamont, making it hard to see on the diamonds. Games were suspended until Sunday morning, and all of Sunday’s games were pushed back. Once on the field though, Decatur got right to work.

The Freight was able to score in the first. Well doubled and Bryan Hobbie was brought in to run for him. Hobbie moved up to third on a passed ball and scored on a single by Casey.

“I thought we got off to a good start. We got a run right from the get-go. Usually that’s what you need in these kinds of games,” Well said.

Sturdy, who had been dominant on Friday night, struggled with control issues on Sunday. He gave up three runs in the bottom of the first.

The Pride would score again in the second and fifth to go on to win 5-1.

“One run is not going to win a lot of games,” Well said. “A lot of breaks went their way.”

Sturdy walked eight batters and gave up just three hits.

Well was 2-for-3, Casey was 1-for-3 with an RBI.

The loss put The Freight in the losers’ bracket and The Pride in the championship game.

Freight 10 – Belleville 2

On Saturday, The Freight was not only battling the Belleville Stallions, but also the elements. Two separate rain delays interrupted Vandalia’s game, but also gave them a much-needed boost.

“The rain delay kind of woke us up a bit,” Well said.

Meinhart got off to a rocky start, giving up two runs in the bottom of the first, but Casey led off the top of the second with a home run to center, a hit that manager Rich Well credits with turning the game around.

“That gave us life immediately, and that was pretty crucial,” Well said.

Vandalia would score another run in the third to tie the game at 2-2. In the bottom of the third, the unrelenting rain forced the umpires to suspend the game and have the tarp put on the field.

The delay lasted an hour and 45 minutes.

Teams always worry about how they will come out of delays. Sometimes a team comes out cold and with no momentum. But in some cases, a team comes out swinging. Vandalia came out swinging. They scored eight runs in the top of the fourth. Randy Clampitt and Well both had a two-run double in the inning as The Freight took a 10-2 lead.

Another rain delay after the fourth had the tarp crew rushing to cover the field a second time. The 35-minute delay lasted longer than the final inning. The Freight won easily, 10-2.

After stumbling early, Meinhart would pitch a complete game. He struck out eight and gave up just one hit after the first inning.

Simmons went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Well was 1-for-3 with a two-run double and Casey was 3-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs.

Freight 12 – Ramsey Financial 0

Friday night against Ramsey Financial, Sturdy dismissed the popular saying that pitchers can’t be hitters.

In the circle, Sturdy cruised through the first two innings, not surrendering a hit. In the bottom of the second, he hit a two-run homer, putting Vandalia up 3-0. Casey scored earlier in the inning on a triple by Nagel.

Sturdy’s dominance on the rubber continued through the third as he struck out the side. And in the bottom of the third, in his second at bat of the game, Sturdy hit his second home run of the game. The three-run shot to left-center put the Freight up 8-0.

Sturdy’s perfect game on the mound was broken up in top of the fourth on a close play at first after a bunt down the third base line.

The Freight plated four more runs in the bottom of the fourth to win 12-0 by way of a 12-run rule.

Sturdy’s perfect game in the batter’s box lasted the duration. He was 3-for-3 with two homers and five RBIs. From the pitcher’s circle, he threw a one-hit shutout and struck out nine.