Vandalia sweeps Ramsey in doubleheader

The Lady Vandals picked up two wins on Tuesday, sweeping Ramsey in a doubleheader. Vandalia’s wins were the second and third in a week’s time.

Game one of the twin-bill was a battle. Ramsey took a  3-0 lead in the top of the third inning, but Vandalia was able to tie the game in the bottom half, thanks to a couple of errors by the Rams.

Vandalia was able to put four more runs on the board in the fourth. With two on, Katie Vieregge doubled to center, scoring two. Amber Bruno followed with a bunt single. Vieregge and Bruno would both score in the inning on sacrifice fly balls.

Trailing 7-3, Ramsey started to mount a comeback in the top of the fifth inning. Shaunna Rainey homered to left to make it a 7-4 game.

Ramsey picked up two more in the top of the sixth, when a bad throw to first sailed down the right field-line, allowing two Rams to score. With it now a one-run game, Vandalia was able get the final two outs of the sixth inning and set the Rams down in order in the seventh.

Vieregge went 1-for-4 with two runs batted in and a run scored. Bruno went 2-for-4, and Audra Donaldson and Whitney Newsom both went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored.

Maggie Childers picked up the win, striking out six and allowing only two earned runs.

Vandalia 13

Ramsey 5

Ramsey’s offense got off to a hot start in the game two, but couldn’t keep pace with the Lady Vandals, falling 13-5.

 Rainey hit her second home run of the night in the top of the first inning with one on to get Ramsey on the board, 2-0. However, Vandalia was able to answer in the bottom half with four runs, as Vieregge, Bruno Donaldson and Newsom all reached base and scored. Donaldson picked up two more RBIs and Newsom doubled her in. Newsom would score from third on an error.

Ramsey scored three more in the third inning, with Cecelia Miller driving in two runs on a double to center, giving the Rams the lead again, 5-4.

Childers worked a one-out walk in the bottom of the third and came in to score on a double by Amy Walton, tying the game 5-5.

The Lady Vandals’ offense surged in the fourth and fifth innings, as they plated seven runs on eight hits, including a two-run home run by Newsom in the fifth.

Vandalia’s pitching and defense allowed only four baserunners over the final innings for Ramsey.

Bruno went 4-for-4 with three runs scored, and Newsom went 3-for-4 with four runs batted in and three runs scored. Donaldson went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, and Morgan Whightsil went 2-for-3.

Childers got her second win of the night, again allowing only two earned runs and striking out five.

Vandalia had 15 hits.

The Lady Vandals will host Roxana on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. and play in the Tri-City Tournament on Saturday.

Regional play begins Monday. Vandalia will play St. Anthony in Effingham at 4:30 p.m. The winner will face Shelbyville in Pana on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

Carlyle 11

Vandalia 0

Vandalia fell to Carlyle, 11-0, Saturday morning in game one of a doubleheader. The Lady Vandals had three hits on the day. Donaldson, Newsom and Henna each went 1-for-2.

Carlyle 19

Vandalia 0

Carlyle defeated Vandalia, 19-0, in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Bruno went 2-for-2 and Childers went 1-for-1. The game was called after three innings.

Vandalia 8

Litchfield 4

Vandalia ended an eight-game losing streak last Friday with an 8-4 win over Litchfield.

"The last couple games, we’ve started to hit the ball again," Vandalia coach Brian Buscher said.

Vieregge, Donaldson and Whightsil each had two hits for the Lady Vandals, and Newsom drove in two runs, as all parts of Vandalia’s lineup was contributing to the offense. The Vandalia’s eight runs was its highest run total of the season. It had 10 hits and two walks.

After falling behind 1-0 in the third inning, Vandalia scored three runs in the bottom half to take the lead. Amy Walton led off with a double and was driven in two batters later, when Vieregge singled to right. Vieregge came around to score from second on an infield single by Newsom. Bruno also reached and scored in the inning on a wild pitch.

Litchfield came back in the fourth inning to tie the game, 3-3, on a couple of doubles and an error.

"When Litchfield tied the game at 3-3, I didn’t know how we’d react to that," Buscher said. "We reacted pretty well. We just came out and played."

The Lady Panthers held the lead until the bottom of the fifth inning, when once again, it was the bottom of the lineup that got things started. Whightsil singled, moved up to second on a single by Bruno and was driven in on a double by Donaldson. Newsom singled in Bruno to make it a 5-3 game.

Litchfield was able to cut it to 5-4 in the top of the sixth inning, but three runs by the Lady Vandals put Litchfield away.

Childers earned the win for Vandalia. She went the distance striking out two and allowing three runs on eight hits.

Greenville 6

Vandalia 3

Vandalia lost to Greenville for the second time this season, 6-3. The game began on Monday, May 3, but rain halted the game in the top of the sixth inning with Vandalia trailing, 6-3. Following a 72-hour break, the game resumed on Thursday. The extended break didn’t do too much to get Vandalia’s offense restarted and the Lady Vandals went six-up, six-down to end the game.

Hillsboro 19

Vandalia 5

Vandalia started last Wednesday’s game against Hillsboro better than perhaps any other game this season. The Lady Vandals scored five runs in the top of the first to go up 5-0. However, they surrendered 19 runs over the next four innings to take what was its worst loss of the season, at that time.

Alex Henna hit a three-run home run in the top of the first, after Newsom had already singled home a pair of runs.

Henna went 1-for-3 on the day, Newsom went 2-for-3 and Bruno went 3-for-3. Vandalia had only two hits after the first inning, both by Bruno.