Monmouth-Roseville @ Macomb (Baseball)
(4/13/10)
WRAM Game of the Week
When I walked out to my car and the 80 degree sunshine greeted me, all I could think about was sitting outside and taking in a baseball game. Fortunately enough, that's exactly what I would be doing in a few hours....and getting paid for it.
Getting everything done, and making it over to Phil Bradley Field (named after the former Major League Baseball player from the Mariners and Phillies, an MHS alum), in the time I wanted was going to be difficult. I needed to make a pit stop at home, to change, because this is shorts weather....in April....I love it!
I pulled into the Macomb High campus at about 3:45. Pulling into the parking lot, I noticed my buddy Dave Hasley putting his umpire gear on. I dropped off my equipment in the grandstand behind home plate, pulled out a pen and my digital recorder and went down to talk with Monmouth-Roseville coach Chuck Grant.
Still living in Macomb, and writing a column for the McDonough County Choice, I braved wearing a Titans polo to the grounds of MHS. Normally, when covering area schools that are facing each other (much like United vs. B-PC/A last week), I wear the generic polos, or the Nike polos, instead of team-specific garb. But, with the time I have been putting into the website, I have left little time for laundry, and was left with a mountain of dirty clothes.
Coach Grant and I talked about the inopportune schedule for the Titans, only getting five games by this point, when the weather has been mainly perfect for the year. The days it has rained, have been the days the Titans have had games scheduled.
We also commented about the MHS students tailgating behind right-centerfield fence. By 4:00, there were already at least a dozen kids grilling out, and enjoying the weather. Heck, they even had tiki torches set up. By the middle of the game, there were probably 30-40 tailgaters out there!
Macomb coach Danny Watson walked over. Both head coaches are also the boy's basketball coaches at their respective schools. The talk went to basketball almost immediately, despite being in the middle of baseball season. That's when Macomb athletic director Dave Bartlett made a comment about quit talking about basketball, its spring!
After a quick interview with Coach Grant, I grabbed both lineup cards for the game. The pitching matchup was M-R's Cory Jensen against Macomb's Hunter Cunningham.
The Titans struck first, in the top of the first, when Alex Temple reached on a single, then stole 2nd, and scored on a B.J. Salyers RBI double. Salyers finished 3-4 at the plate with 2 RBI. The Titans tore up the basepaths as well, going 7-7 on the day in stolen bases. That makes M-R, 32-33 on stolen base attempts in 6 games.
Macomb almost tied it up in the bottom of the frame, but some slick fielding by the Titans on a perfect scoop in right field by Alex Temple and on-target throw to catcher Max Richardson got Tyler Thorman out at the plate for the third out.
Two more runs were added in the third inning by the visitors, after Salyers reached on a base hit, and Nate Farm reached on a walk to make it 3-0 Monmouth-Roseville heading into the bottom of the frame.
The heart of the order smacked around starter Jensen for five runs, giving the Bombers a 5-3 lead, with leadoff hitter Hunter Cunningham, Derek Mabrey, Tyler Thorman, Matt Lawver, and Evan Bryant all scoring runs. Thorman smacked a two-run double, and Bryant smoked an RBI triple in that inning.
Monmouth-Roseville answered back in the 4th inning, taking a one-run lead (6-5) after plating three runs. Cory Jensen and Drew Cole, the first two batters each walked and scored. Nick McLaughlin hit an RBI single that knocked in Jensen, while Salyers later hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Cole. McLaughlin was hit in by a Farm RBI double.
Macomb then took an 8-6 lead in the 5th inning, with Thorman and Lawver getting base hits, and Bryant a walk. All three would score. In the top of the 6th inning, the Titans loaded the bases with 0 outs against Macomb relief pitcher Brady Henderson. Richardson, who came up hitting under .150 drilled a bases clearing, 3-run double to give the Titans a 9-8 lead. Richardson would later score on a wild pitch, to make it 10-8.
Once again, the Bombers answered back in the bottom of the inning, tying it up at 10-10. Cunningham and Thorman scored the runs to catch up. Bryant hit an RBI single, scoring Thorman for the tying run. In the top of the 7th, Temple walked, stole second, and scored the eventual game-winning run, to make it 11-10.
Macomb made it scary for the Titans in the bottom of the 7th. Seth Wickert led off with a double, then Brett Taylor struck out, and pinch hitter Brandon Cousins hit a pop out. Cunningham then walked, followed by a Mabrey walk against Titans reliever, Temple to load the bases with two outs in a one-run game. Temple got Thorman, who was 4-4 in his final plate appearance popped out to end the game, and give Monmouth-Roseville a (5-1, 1-1) record. Macomb dropped to (7-8, 0-3).
Finishing up at 6:51, the game lasted 2 hours and 41 minutes. Not quite a marathon, but pretty darn long when I have been covering some 60-minute softball games recently!!!
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