Biggsville West Central @ Abingdon (Baseball)
(4/15/10)
Originally, Thursday was going to be my day off from covering a game this week. I had a meeting with my CPA in Galesburg to go over my taxes (Tax Day and all) after work, so I didn't want to make plans to be somewhere and miss most of a game.
My appointment was set for 4:00 in Galesburg, and I noticed that Abingdon was hosting West Central in baseball. Just a quick 15-minute drive, I figured I could catch most of the game after my appointment. I had also not seen either team, and both are within my radio stations coverage areas. Abingdon (WAIK) and West Central (WMOI/WRAM).
I arrived at my CPA's office, Dave Webster, at about 4:00, and 15 minutes later was all wrapped up. He did fantastic work, and I will be returning to give him business again next year. Before heading over to Abingdon, I stopped into Lowe's to buy a new tarp to cover my TV outside on the deck. With the upgrade to a 36", I needed a bigger tarp to "weather proof" it from the rain and elements. It's a used, tube TV, so it is disposable. My last TV that was outside, had already lived out it's time, lasted 2 "outdoor seasons" on the deck, much longer than expected.
By the time I arrived at the Abingdon ball diamond, the Commandoes and Heat were in the bottom of the 2nd inning. The hosts held a, 4-2, lead and were batting. Upon grabbing my spot to watch the game, just left of home plate, Trent Ray blasted a solo home run over the left field fence. You can watch my postgame interview with Ray here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y64-52dpAQ.
The Commandoes extended their lead to 6-2, after Jesse Hines reached on a single and scored a run on a Dylan Timmons RBI single. Hines would later come in to pitch in relief, and threw two solid innings, striking out 4, and allowing 0 runs and 2 hits. I talked with Hines after the game, watch the video here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiNfPuSzTuc
West Central made a run in the 3rd inning. Blake Durflinger led off the inning with a double. The first four Heat batters reached base. Later in the inning, Ethan Pullen poked a 2-run double down the left field line to tie the game, 6-6. West Central added one more run in the inning to lead, 7-6.
Abingdon went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 3rd inning, which was highlighted defensively by a West Central, 6-4-3, double play that ended the inning. Commandoes starter, Dylan Timmons left the mound after 3 innings, giving up 7 runs. He left the game with 0 outs in the top of the 4th with two runners on (single and walk). Hines entered and set the next three batters down via strikeouts.
A rally was made trailing by a run in the bottom of the 4th inning. Brandon Harroun made, what could be considered the play of the game, scoring the tying run on a suicide squeeze. He reached on a walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, then went to third on a Trent Ray single. Harroun then scored on the squeeze, just avoiding the tag with a head first slide into home. Coach Joe Nichols set up Harroun after the game, playing his best Ashton Kutcher (Punk'd). See what Nichols had in store for his starting sophomore shortstop in this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPdl1s-tiFY
More runs would cross the plate for the hosts, and would leave the 4th inning with a three-run cushion, 10-7. The Heat hit a couple singles in the 5th inning, but failed to score. Ray had the only hit in the bottom of the 5th for the Commandoes.
The Heat came within two runs in the 6th inning, when Durflinger walked, and eventually scored on an error in rightfield. West Central head coach Jeremy Burrell said Durflinger is tearing the cover off the ball in this postgame interview. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxTkRjg-naQ
In the latter stages of the game, I had an Abingdon fan approach me to ask where I was from. When I said the radio station, she was puzzled. She thanked me for the coverage, and also wanted to let Galesburg Register-Mail sports writer Aaron Frey know he did a great job with the writeup earlier in the week. It was Dylan Timmons' mom.
To start the bottom of the 6th inning, the West Central reliever had an improper glove, with half the glove white. After a brief moment on the mound with the umpire explaining the situation, he traded gloves out and the inning began with the Commandoes at the plate and leading, 10-8.
The final runs were scored in this inning. Timmons hit a double, and was driven in by a Brad Siedel 2-run home run. Siedel would later be in on the postgame prank of Harroun. Siedel was the wheelman to grab the shaving cream from Coach Nichols' office, and would later be the prankster to surprise the shortstop during his camera time. Freshman Jacob Perdue later hit an RBI double, and Abingdon would hold off the Heat in the 7th inning to prevail, 13-8.
If you haven't watched the Brandon Harroun "Welcome to the Big Leagues" moment just yet, I suggest you do that now, before I explain it the next few paragraphs....
After the game, I headed over to the visitors dugout, to talk with Heat head coach Jeremy Burrell. B-PC/A Spartans head coach Dave Arnold had called me while I was waiting, wanting some information on West Central, the team they would be playing the very next day in Bushnell. The Spartans would be down to just three starters due to a band trip.
Speaking of the Spartans, former B-PC/A assistant baseball coach Silas Pogue, is now the Fresh/Soph coach at West Central, and we spoke for a moment before my interview with Burrell. I had to wrap up the interview short, since the F/S game had begun during our talk, and we were in foul territory.
Coach Nichols had suggested a few kids to talk with after the game, and over in the Commandoes dugout, I asked if they were available. They were all in the field, and I was a little confused. I asked if this was a varsity doubleheader? Nope, he replied, our varsity is our JV! The first interview was with senior Jesse Hines, who was not in uniform for the JV game. After Hines, I spoke with sophomore Trent Ray, and then Brandon Harroun had the unfortunate tag for the prank.
Behind the Prank
The classic Major League Baseball prank was first drawn up by Coach Nichols when I spoke with him on Monday. Today, he put the idea in motion, and had Brad Siedel run over to get the shaving cream, and grabbed a fresh towel for the shaving cream. Brad didn't make it back in enough time, so we had a lull, while Harroun was in the field, playing shortstop. He made a couple nice plays in the field, which the before and after video was caught by one of the Abingdon assistants.
During this inning, the prank was planned out. In the first two interviews, my final question was asking the players what their thoughts were of Coach Nichols. I thought this to be a perfect segue, since he orchestrated this all. The kids can now add, prankster, to Joe's resume.
When I reached that question, I would give Siedel the nod. During taping of the interview, I stumbled during the question, and almost gave myself away. Perfectly-timed, Siedel gave Harroun the faceful of shaving cream, ala MLB bloopers.
None of the Commandoes baseball players had heard of this prank being pulled off in the big leagues. This is a notorious prank when a rookie gets a win, or his first home run. I suggested to Coach Nichols, that during the next rainy day, he watch film for practice....of MLB blooper videos!
As Harroun was cleaning up, he admitted to thinking something was up, saying that I started laughing at the end. He then called me a, "bad actor". I guess Hollywood won't be a destination in my career, LOL.
Following up, Coach Nichols emailed me the next day, saying it was a great team builder, and even mentioned that a few players texted him later that night saying this very prank happened after a Cleveland Indians game. Not only a good team builder, but a baseball eductational moment!
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