Spring Broadcast #1
United @ Monmouth-Roseville (Softball)
(3/31/10)
No, there will be no quest for 100 games this spring. That would probably be logistically impossible during a turbulent Illinois spring. Not to mention, it's not quite as easy to hammer out five or six broadcasts in one day for baseball/softball like it is during basketball season.
In yesterday's blog entry, I talked about my favoritizing the method of picking up and finding a game, over all of the preparation that goes into each and every broadcast. During the spring season, the biggest downside is the broadcast setups. All too often, the "press box" is nothing of the sort, just a space of bleachers cleared out, and the only difference between me and the person next to me is that I am talking on the radio.
Sitting in the bleachers is all fine and dandy during the spring, unlike basketball season. I will digress for a moment. For some reason, I get a claustrophobic feeling in high school gyms. My favorite games to cover are the gyms where I am well out of the crowd's way, and a place that I can walk freely to grab coaches, etc. Some gyms (Galesburg), I can easily access all of the necessary information from people and coaches without interfering with fans and their seats, unlike at (Monmouth-Roseville), where I have to squeeze through a large amount of fans to get to the gym floor from my broadcast setup.
That may be another reason why I like to just pick up and find a baseball or softball game at a moment's notice. The freedom to walk the premises, unlike a confined gym. Anyways, I was unsure of the setup at Monmouth Park for today's game.
I talked with Monmouth-Roseville athletic director Chuck Grant earlier in the week about the WRAM broadcasts this spring, for both baseball and softball and our broadcast setups. He was unsure about Monmouth Park (softball), but said we could set up in the dugout at Sunnylane Field for the baseball games.
Unsure about where I was going to be broadcasting in a few hours, I took a few minutes during the noon hour to head out to Monmouth Park to scope things out. The press box, or crow's nest, is pretty small out there, and I didn't know if there would be anyone else in there. Sometimes, we set up in dugouts, but the dugouts looked like they would have had even less room for us to set up. If all else failed, I would be having to deal with my number one spring enemy...the wind.
After making a stop for some bottled water and sunflower seeds (yeah, my backup bag since I left my other bag at home...again), I made it to the diamond around 3:30. Before unloading the equipment, I headed over to the Titans dugout to talk with Monmouth-Roseville softball coach Tom Casteel. He was unsure if I would even have access to the crow's nest, but gave me a set of keys and told me to try each one. I didn't need any of them, as there was no lock on the door, just needed to give it a slight budge to open up. With the temperatures in the mid-70s...unbelievable for an Illinois March day, it was very warm inside. I tried opening the door on the window, but there was no where (that I could find) to firmly latch it into place. As it opened, it took up nearly the whole space, so with an unstable large piece of board that could give me a concussion if it slid, I opted to brave it in the weather.
A steady wind blew out of the south around 15 mph, but it was a much lighter than I had expected. It didn't take the toll on the broadcast, like some softball or baseball broadcasts can. Once on the air, the United Red Storm would bat first.
They would bat around, and place 13 batters at the plate in the FIRST inning, scoring nine runs in the first inning. Sommer Foster was the first baserunner, reaching on a single. Following Foster was Katie Bertelsen, who walked. Those girls would score on a 2-run single by Augusta Chandler. Rachel Kenney followed with a walk, and both her and Chandler scored on a 2-run double by Ashlynn Winkler. Winkler would come around and score on a passed ball. Alex Fell reached after getting hit by a pitch. She would score on an RBI single by Katie Kaywood. The Titans then committed three consecutive errors that would plate United runs by Kaywood, Gina Long, and Foster.
The Titans would be set down in a 1-2-3 inning, all strikeouts by Bertelsen. Jalynne Young, in relief of Alexia Snell, would strike out the side in the 2nd inning. The Titans had a 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd as well. No runs would be scored from the first until the fifth inning.
Katie Bertelsen's no-hit bid was ended in the bottom of the 4th inning, when Taylor Woods had a bloop hit into rightfield. The next Titans batter, Cassie Wallace, reached base on a walk. The Titans would strand both base runners. Bertelsen would finish the game with 14 strikeouts, and faced 17 batters.
Late in the game, my broadcast partner Sam Brooks attempted to field a foul ball in our back row bleacher seats. It was not a wise move, as the spinning softball snapped one of his fingers. He told me after the game, it very well may be broken. We wish Sam a speedy recovery!
The final run was plated in the top of the 5th inning for United. Kelsey Crain reached on an error, and would come around to score the 10th run. Monmouth-Roseville went down 1-2-3, all via strikeout in the bottom of the frame to end the game on the 10-run rule.
Checking my clock, I had plenty of time to get back home to catch my fantasy baseball draft!
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