Schaal, Well shine as Vandalia’s offense pounds out 20 runs

VANDALIA – Junior Zach Schaal made the most of his season debut.

After missing the first two games of the season, Schaal went 4-for-4 at the plate and struck out 12 in a complete game last Friday as Vandalia knocked off in-county rival Ramsey 20-5 in six innings.

“Last year, he pitched some really big games,” said acting coach Mark Rinehart. “From my point of view, the main thing we were impressed with was that he hung tough.

“We got down 5-0, but he stayed the course,” he said. “As the game got going, he got better and better and better.”

Schaal settled in after allowing five runs in the top of the first inning, but only two were earned, both coming on a home run to right-center field by Ramsey senior Tristan Wesselman.

Ramsey batted around in the first, but had just four base runners in the last five innings, as Schaal picked up at least two strikeouts in all but the fifth inning.

Schaal aided his own cause at the plate, sparking a one-out, four-run rally in the second inning and doubling with two outs in the third, leading to the tying run.

He then had the first hit in the fourth, a nine-run inning that saw the first nine Vandals reach base and score.

Head coach Luke Hohlt – who missed his second game while handling a death in his family – said that the team’s rally from down four runs in the season-opener was among the best early-season responses to adversity he had seen.

Rinehart, however, said that the response in the season’s third game was more impressive.

“Today, if (Hohlt) was here, he would probably say this was even better,” Rinehart said. “Ramsey was moving the ball and we were making errors, so all of the momentum was on their side.

“These kids knuckled down, fought back to tie it, and then busted it open.”

Vandalia (2-1) committed four errors in the first two innings and Ramsey collected four of its six hits.

The Vandals were one run shy of run-ruling the Rams – who were the home team because the game was moved from Ramsey to Vandalia due to field conditions – after the top of the fifth.

The offensive onslaught continued in the sixth, with the Vandals adding another six runs on seven hits.

In total, Vandalia pounded out 11 hits and had 24 plate appearances in the final two innings.

“As a coaching staff, we think that these guys are going to hit,” Rinehart said. “We figured things were going to bust out, and guys were going to start doing what they can do.

“It took us a couple of games and two innings in this game, but finally, something clicked,” he said. “The main thing was that we were patient.”

Freshman Richie Well was 4-for-5 out of the No. 9 spot in the lineup, driving home four runs and scoring three, and leadoff hitter Collin Nestleroad, a junior, was 1-for-4, but had a three-run double, four total RBI, three steals and a run in six plate appearances.

For the Rams, senior Tylor Knisley was 2-for-3 and scored, and Kurtis Holland had a two-run double in the first, the third extra-base hit for Ramsey in the inning.

Notes: Vandalia sophomore Tucker Willms and freshman Alec Schroeder both had their first career hits … Freshman Preston Ruckman scored four runs in five chances as a courtesy runner in place of Schaal … Schaal struck out all but two of the 11 Ramsey players who had an at-bat … Nestleroad drove home a run on a suicide squeeze bunt in the fifth inning. The ball was not fielded cleanly, but the run probably would have scored regardless … Junior Adam Palmer had a unique line for the Vandals, getting no official at-bats by walking three times and getting hit by a pitch.

Friday, March 28
Vandalia 20
Ramsey 5
V: 0-4-1-0-9-6—20-14-4
R: 5-0-0-0-0-0—5-6-6
WP: Schaal (1-0); 6 IP, 12 K
LP: Waylon Davis; 4+ IP, 2 K
Vandals: Schaal, 4-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Well, 4-for-5, 4 RBI, 3 runs; Carson Smith, 2-for-5, RBI; Nestleroad, 1-for-4, 2B, 4 RBI, run, 3 SB, 2 HBP; Matt Beck, 1-for-2, 2B, RBI, run; Willms, 1-for-1, run; Schroeder, 1-for-1, run; Palmer, 0-for-0, 3 runs, 3 BB, HBP; Ruckman, 4 runs; Jones, 2 runs; Colin Ledbetter, RBI, run; Jake Bowen, run, BB, sac fly; Drake Dokey, run, BB; Jake Stewart, 2 runs, BB; Jake Shulman, HBP.
Rams: Wesselman, 1-for-2, HR, 2 RBI, run, sac fly; Holland, 2-for-2, 2B, 2 RBI; Knisley, 2-for-3, RBI, run; Devin Mercer, 1-for-3, 2B, run; Brady Black, run, SB; Adam Casey, run.