Vandals come back to beat Mulberry Grove

MULBERRY GROVE – An upset was brewing through the first three innings of last Thursday’s baseball game between Vandalia and Mulberry Grove.

Aces senior Nate Ketchem was perfect through three innings as his team spotted him a four-run lead, but Vandalia tied the game in the fourth and tacked on two insurance runs in the next two innings of a 6-4 season-opening victory.

“That’s the best response to adversity I have ever seen early in a season,” said Vandalia coach Luke Hohlt. “It was quiet early, but our guys stuck with it.

“I’m very pleased with our guys today.”

Mulberry Grove (1-1) scored two runs in each of the first two innings off of Vandalia junior Jake Bowen, but he settled in and allowed just one hit over the final five innings of a complete game.

He helped his own cause at the plate, going 3-for-4, with three RBI on three singles. Bowen drove home Vandalia’s first two runs in the fourth, and knocked in the winning run in the fifth.

Junior Drake Dokey and senior Matt Beck followed Bowen with RBI singles in the fourth, and Beck reached base and scored on two separate errors in the sixth.

“They kind of gave us those, but we’re going to give teams run this season, too,” Hohlt said. “We have to keep pushing.

“In high school baseball, there are never enough runs.”

That was Mulberry Grove coach Chad Nelson’s top takeaway from the game, as he watched his squad get just three runners into scoring after the second inning.

He was pleased with his players for showing a good approach at the plate in the first two innings.

In the first, junior Matt Korte scored on an error and junior Alex Goodin came home when Ketchem drew a bases-loaded walk, and in the second, freshman Michael Sloan and Korte crossed the plate when Goodin reached on an error.

“We got those four early runs, but it was hard for us to tack on,” Nelson said. “We have to get to that mentality of not being satisfied and keeping tacking on runs.”

Junior Collin Nestleroad was the first base runner for the Vandals (1-0), reaching on an error to lead off the top of the fourth inning, and a passed ball moved him to second.

After senior Colin Ledbetter walked, a balk moved both runners into scoring position, and a walk to senior Carson Smith loaded the bases.

Bowen then collected the team’s first hit through the right side, and Dokey and Beck followed with RBI singles.

“We got a few hits here and there and we started being patient and drawing some walks. We let the ball come to us instead of going and getting it.

“We teach our guys to be aggressive, but there’s a point where you can be too aggressive,” he said. “There are some key situations where you need to put the ball in play, and you can’t be rolling over in those at-bats.”

Other than that frame, Ketchem had a strong outing for the Aces.

He struck out a pair over five innings of work. He walked just two and allowed five hits. Goodin pitched the final two innings, striking out four and allowing just one hit.

“Nate pitched a heck of a game for his first outing,” Nelson said. “When it’s hard to find it, he dug down deep and found a way to get out of a tough inning.”

Ketchem is one of several talented players that Hohlt said he saw in the other dugout, and said that the April 8 rematch in Vandalia will be a tough game.

“Mulberry came to play. They have some guys doing some good things like playing summer baseball,” Hohlt said. “They’re well-coached, and they are a different club than I have seen in the past.”

Thursday, March 20
Vandalia 6
Mulberry Grove 4
V: 0-0-0-4-1-1-0—6-6-2
M: 2-2-0-0-0-0-0—4-5-4
WP: Bowen (1-0); 7 IP, 1 K
LP: Ketchem (0-1); 5 IP, 2 K
Vandals: Bowen, 3-for-4, 3 RBI, run; Ledbetter, 1-for-3, 2B, 2 runs; Dokey, 1-for-4, RBI; Adam Palmer, 1-for-3; Beck, RBI, run, SB; Nestleroad, run; Smith, run.
Aces: Goodin, 2-for-4, run; Sloan, 1-for-4, 2B, run; Derek Childress, 1-for-3; Jake Linnabary, 1-for-3; Korte, 2 runs; Ketchem, RBI, SB.