Vandals again have tough week of games

Vandalia never was able to get too far ahead at any point in Tuesday’s game with East Alton-Wood River, leading to a 6-2 loss, the Vandals' ninth in a row.

Four times in the game, Vandalia had two runners on base with two outs, and they could only capitalize twice, once in each the fifth and sixth innings off of Mike Sabatino, who has signed to play college baseball next season.

“That kid is one of the better pitchers in the conference,” said coach Luke Hohlt. “We went up against another top guy.

“We’ve been drawing that lately, but you want your guys to see the best.”

Junior Leyton Godoyo scored on a wild pitch in the fifth after reaching on a perfect bunt single down the first-base line, and senior Nick Metzger singled in the sixth and was brought home on a hit by senior Josh Lawson.

Several others hit the ball hard, but right at somebody, and Hohlt said there is still some value in those type of outs.

“We hit some balls on the nose against their No. 1 (pitcher),” he said. “I told our guys that they cannot be disappointed about that.

“Although you don’t have anything to show (statistically), what you do have to show is that you stung the ball.”

Three of those came off of the bat of senior Dathan Berning, who rifled three fly balls to outfield, two of which were caught on athletic plays by the centerfielder.

Meanwhile, the Oilers worked the count well on offense to get ahead of Metzger and had at least one base runner in every inning but the seventh.

A two-out error allowed a run to cross in the second, and EAWR added three more in the third, on a pair of singles, a walk and a two-base error.

Three errors in the fifth inning allowed another run to score, and an error in the sixth got a runner on, who would score on a double.

“We are one out, pitch or big hit away from getting our life back,” Hohlt said.

Box score
Tuesday, April 24
EAWR 6
Vandalia 2
EAWR: 0-1-2-0-1-1-0—6-4-1
VHS:     0-0-0-0-1-1-0—2-7-7
WP: Sabatino; 7 IP, 2 K
LP: Metzger, 7 IP, 6 K, 6 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 4 BB
Vandals: Ian Murrell, 2-for-3; Lawson, 1-for-3, RBI, SB; Godoyo, 1-for-4, run, 2 SB; Metzger, 1-for-3, run; Zach Schaal, 1-for-3; Michael Wells, 1-for-3.
Record: 6-12 (2-4 SCC)

***

On Monday, Vandalia struggled offensively during an 11-1 loss to Litchfield.

The Purple Panthers pounded out 17 hits (to Vandalia's four) and scored in four of the six innings.

Vandalia's lone run came in the fourth, when junior Dalton Wehrle had an RBI single to bring home Berning.

Monday, April 23
Litchfield 11
Vandalia 1
LHS: 0-5-0-2-3-1—11-17-1
VHS: 0-0-0-1-0-0—1-4-0
WP: Osborune; 6 IP, 5 K
LP: Murrell (5-4); 4 IP, 3 K, 7 ER, 12 H, 2 BB
Vandals: Wehrle, 1-for-3, RBI; Berning, 1-for-3, run; Murrell, 1-for-2; Montgomery, 1-for-3; Godoyo, 2 SB
Record: 6-11 (2-3 SCC)

***

Vandalia and Hillsboro played 12 innings last Friday, with the Hilltoppers coming away with a 7-6 victory.
Hillsboro won the game after drawing a walk and slicing a double and a single in the bottom of the 12th.

Each team had 14 hits, with five Vandals having multi-hit games. Murrell had the best effort at the plate, going 3-for-6, with a triple.

“We really competed and played hard,” Hohlt said. “We had chances for that to be a momentum-builder.”

The next day's game against Centralia was canceled.

Friday, April 20
Hillsboro 7
Vandalia 6
VHS: 3-0-0-0-0-3-0-0-0-0-0-0—6-14-6
HHS: 2-2-0-0-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-1—7-14-2
WP: Boston; 2 IP, 1 K
LP: Trevor Montgomery (0-3); 5 IP, 8 K, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 BB
Vandals: Murrell, 3-for-6, 3B, RBI, run; Wehrle, 2-for-4; Berning, 2-for-5, 2 runs, RBI; Metzger, 2-for-6; Montgomery, 2-for-6, 2B; Carson Smith, run, RBI
Record: 6-10 (2-2 SCC)

***

There was some good and some bad during Vandalia’s 6-0 loss against Greenville last Wednesday.

On the good side, Vandalia allowed just six runs to one of the top teams in the conference and two players were able to get quality at-bats against one of the toughest pitchers the team has faced all season.

On the bad side, the Vandals had just four base runners during the game and made a mental error that extended Greenville’s four-run fourth inning.

Still, Vandalia coach Luke Hohlt said he hopes the game will be a lesson learned for his players.

“We can try to build off of something like this,” he said. “They had a great pitcher on the mound, but we couldn’t get anything going.”

Vandalia’s best chance to score came in the third inning, when, with two outs, senior Ian Murrell singled to left and junior Leyton Godoyo walked, but the inning ended five pitches later with a strikeout, one of A.J. Childerson’s 14 in the game.

During the team’s six-game losing streak, it has only produced 18 runs, and Hohlt said that it’s only a matter of time before the team posts a big inning.

“If we keep giving ourselves opportunities like that, we’re bound to put some runs across the plate,” Hohlt said. “We don’t want to get shut out, but that is a good baseball team over there.”

Godoyo’s walk came on a 10-pitch at-bat that saw him foul off four pitches after falling behind in the count, 0-2. In total, Godoyo saw 22 pitches in three at-bats.

“His second at-bat was a fantastic at-bat, and he won that one,” Hohlt said. “He can take that with him to the next game.”

Senior Dathan Berning also had a marathon at-bat, seeing 11 pitches before hitting a deep fly ball to center field in the fourth.

Even though he failed to reach base, Hohlt still considered that a quality at-bat because of how long Berning battled to make solid contact.

The only other base runners for Vandalia (6-9, 2-1 South Central Conference) came on a single from senior Nick Metzger in the second and a walk by Murrell in the sixth.

Murrell (5-3) took the loss on the mound, throwing all seven innings, while striking out seven.

Greenville scored a run in the second, after Dylan Bone tripled and Cy Perfetti drove him home.

The bats would be quiet until the fourth, but a pair of hit batsmen on either side of a double from Brady Huber started a four-run rally.

“He made a few errant pitches that cost us, but he’s our best,” Hohlt said of Murrell. “We know he’s going to give us a chance.”

A mental error on the infield prolonged that inning, and the Comets would score their final run after stringing together a couple of singles and a walk in the fifth.

Box score
Wednesday, April 18
Greenville 6
Vandalia 0
GHS: 0-1-0-4-1-0-0—0-9-0
VHS: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0—0-2-1
WP: Childerson; 7 IP, 14 K
LP: Murrell (5-3); 7 IP, 7 K, 6 R, 6 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 2 HBP
Vandals: Murrell, 1-for-2, SB; Metzger, 1-for-3; Godoyo, walk.
Record: 6-9 (2-1 SCC)