United @ Moline (Softball)
(4/26/10)
In covering the United Red Storm softball team as closely as I do, working for WMOI/WRAM in Monmouth, this was a matchup I had waited all spring for. The Red Storm play a very tough non-conference schedule, with this matchup being a David vs. Goliath.
Tiny (Alexis) United boasts a student enrollment of 275, while Moline packs a punch of 2,223 students. Only about a 2,000 student differential between the two schools!
Moline has a phenomenal softball history, winning five state championships in the past 23 years. The Maroons have made 11 state finals appearances in the last 24 years, and have brought back a trophy each time.
With a 4:30 first pitch, and about a 70-mile drive from Monmouth, it was going to be a stretch to get to the game on time. I left the station at about 3:40, and according to Garmin, I would be arriving at Moline High School at 4:37.
Enter the Garmin Game. This may be a reason why I had to converse with Illinois State Police troopers three times over the basketball season. When Garmin told me I would get to my destination at a certain time, I liked to prove the automated female Garmin voice wrong. In the end, I shaved about 4 minutes off the original time.
I am pretty unfamiliar with the baseball and softball diamonds, as this is my first year covering spring sports as in-depth as I have. A quick call to Moline High School before I left, confirmed my destination to Bob Seitz Field, laying just off of the former 23rd Avenue (now Avenue of the Cities). I am nostalgic, it will always be 23rd for me.
When I talked with the high school, I could have swore the office told me the softball diamonds were just off of 34th Street. When I pulled off the the avenue, and onto 34th Street, I noticed the softball diamonds a block down. A quick drive around, and I pulled into the Walgreen's parking lot, which provided the closest available parking.
Walking up to the diamond, it was 0-0 in the bottom of the first inning. I scoped out the grounds to find a good spot. Right behind home plate was pretty filled up, so I ventured over to the United side, next to the Red Storm dugout.
Brittany Drish was on base when I walked in, and was later hit in on an RBI single by Olivia Aten. Aten finished with 2 hits and 2 RBI, including driving in the game-winning run in the bottom of the 6th inning, to give Moline the 3-2 victory.
In the top of the 2nd inning, Augusta Chandler walked, then Moline pitcher Jordan Kasbohm sat down the next three Red Storm batters down via strikeouts. Kasbohm pitched at the small-school level last year, helping lead the West Carroll Thunder to the Class 2A state finals, where they finished 4th place. Kasbohm transferred to Moline following last school year.
She carried over the K's, into the third inning, sitting down the first two batters for United. Trailing Moline, 2-0, Gina Long walked with two outs. Moline then sent out Amanda McLean to the mound. Facing Sommer Foster, the Red Storm catcher smacked a game-tying home run over the right field fence to even the game up.
Kasbohm would re-enter as the pitcher with two outs in the fifth inning. In the bottom of the 5th inning, Stacey Rettig popped up to shallow right centerfield. Gina Long, running out from 2nd base, back to the plate, made a two-handed basket catch as she fell to the ground to end the inning.
Olvia Aten hit the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning. In the seventh, Megan Patterson hit a two-out single, but Kasbohm got Long to pop out to end the game.
After the game, I spoke with Katie Bertelsen and Kaitlyn Winkler. Bertelsen was a little nervous about the interview, admitting she was a little sick. Bertelsen put up one of the gutsiest performances I have seen in high school athletics to this point in my career, and will probably go down as one of the greatest high school performances I will ever witness, pitching 19 innings and striking out 34 batters.....in a STATE CHAMPIONSHIP game. Speaking of gutsy, after missing four games due to a finger injury, Winkler has returned with bats-a-blazin, and entered the Moline game, hitting .488 on the season.
Before talking with Moline head coach Mark Gerlach, I talked with United assistant Jeff "Fluff" Tyrell. I was looking to lineup a pickup truck to set up in for Tuesday's broadcast of Red Storm softball at United High School. The facilities are brand new, and not a good spot to broadcast.
I never met Mark Gerlach until tonight, but as I saw him in the dugout, who looked very familiar. After broadcasting 112 basketball games this past season, I am sure I saw Mark nearly a dozen times. Mark is an IHSA basketball official, and he told me he has been for 27 years now.
My interview with Gerlach took place in centerfield at Bob Seitz Field. He said this could be one of his best teams in his tenure. That's something to say, since he has won a state championship, and took 2nd place twice in his 10 seasons at the school.
There were many obstacles in our short interview, which the video will be uploaded on Tuesday. First, there was a golden retriever that snuck by us, then one of his staff members tried to divert his attention later in the interview.
Upon leaving the Moline facilities, I noticed a Jimmy John's across the street. That, coupled with the Whitey's Ice Cream just down the street nearly got to me, but my will power was too strong. I did make a stop in Monmouth at the gas station for a snack.
I couldn't tell you the last time I bought a pop, soda, or whatever you call it while on the road. Normally, it's a Gatorade or water. Today, I opted for a Coca-Cola and some crackers. Everytime I see a coke bottle, it reminds me of the 1980 film, The Gods Must Be Crazy. If you have never seen of this movie, it is quite funny. The plot is about an African tribe that has no idea of the outside world. A coke bottle falls from the sky (out of an airplane), and it in turn provides many uses to the tribe, but also leads to jealousy, anger, and violence. The tribe leader seeks out the end of the Earth, to throw the bottle off of the edge. The first time I saw this movie, I was probably only 10 years old. It was one of those late night movies.
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