Road Trippin: A Two-fer Tuesday

IHSSN Heads To Galesburg & Monmouth
(4/6/10)

The idea that grew from the last blog finally came to fruition on this beautiful Tuesday afternoon. Following a late day of work on Monday, I needed to expend my energy out on the diamonds today, however it was nearly not to be.

Late in the afternoon, after another grueling day at the office, with project after project, I felt a little relaxation was in order. It was almost a "game-time" decision, with all my work done at 4:00, which was a blessing in itself. As I packed up my gear and tossed the idea of going straight home around in my head, I ultimately decided to suck it up.

That decision was made much easier as I walked out the doors and felt the warmth of the outdoors for the first time today. There would be no relaxing on a day like this, especially in early April, when the next two weeks could be miserable.

The first destination was to head up Route 34 and take in some softball. Even though, the Monmouth-Roseville/Orion baseball game was just three blocks down the road, my planning took me to cover softball as it would end much sooner, enabling me to drive back to Monmouth to pick up the final innings of the baseball game.

I arrived a tad bit late to Galesburg High School for the Silver Streaks hosting Monmouth-Roseville. It was the top of the 2nd inning as I pulled in, with the visiting Titans already leading 1-0.

As I approached, I held off taking any video, as to get comfortable with the lineups, something that makes me more at ease when filming. It's too bad, because I missed all the action! The Silver Streaks scored the essential game-winning run in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Galesburg plated 3 runs in the frame. Samantha Mason reached base on a single, then stole second base, and advanced to third on an infield hit by sophomore Jordan Marshall. Mason would score the tying run on a wild pitch by Titans starter Jalynne Young. Marshall would then come around to score after stealing second, and advancing to third on a wild pitch. Megan Young blooped a single into rightfield, and advanced to second base on a throwing error. She would score on an RBI single by Chelsey Weigand, giving Galesburg a 3-1 lead after 2 innings.

The only other run to score came by the Streaks in the 6th inning. Mason reached on a base hit, then scored on a Marshall RBI double, giving the Streaks the eventual final score of 4-1. Galesburg improved to (5-3) on the season, matching their win total for the entire 2009 season. The Titans drop to (2-4).

After the game, I ran into Zach Creglow from the Galesburg Register-Mail. Following our chat, I talked with Titans coach Tom Casteel, serving his first season as head coach at Monmouth-Roseville. He informed me that Alex Nunez, the designated player today, has gone (6-8) at the plate in her two games this season. She was behind the plate in the 10-inning win at Annawan/Wethersfield. At the plate, she went, 5-5.

Casteel also told me the scoring rundown in the first inning I had missed. Lynsey Weber reached on a walk, assessed by Galesburg pitcher Jessica Davison. She stole 2nd, and scored on a Nunez RBI single.

Following our video interview (which can be seen at www.ihssn.net), I walked over and talked with Galesburg head coach Scott Hopping (interview also online at the website).

With the clock at 5:50, even after the interviews, I made my way back to Monmouth. It was 5:52 when I left the parking lot, figuring I could catch the last couple innings of baseball.

Not only was the Olympic Conference season opener being played out at Sunnyland Field, the Titans were hosting a boy's track & field quadrangular (with United, ROWVA, & Stark County).

Walking up to the baseball diamond, it was the 6th inning, so I could catch a little action, before postgame interviews. I walked up and said hello to Shawn Temple (the football & basketball PA voice of the Titans), next to Rick and Dina Chick.

Orion had a 9-5 lead on the Titans at this juncture, and the Chargers would plate a run in the top of the 7th inning (video footage of that run scoring will be uploaded to the IHSSNBeau Youtube account later).

Between innings, I spoke with Scott Spitzer, who was snapping photos at both the baseball game and the track meet, and Sam Brooks. Brooks' finger is still a little sore after his attempt to catch a foul ball at the softball game last week, which I chided him once again.

In the bottom of the 7th, with a difficult view from any vantage point at the field, I shot some video and happened to get Cory Jensen's 2-run home run over the left field fence for Monmouth-Roseville. This is one of the most difficult things I have learned when filming the baseball and softball games, is getting an obstructed view from all angles of the field. With the FlipVideo's lack of zoom, it can make some shots very difficult.

The Titans got within 3 runs, falling 10-7 to Orion. The Chargers lifted their season record to (9-0), while the hosts lost for the first time, dropping to (4-1). I headed over to the dugout and chatted with Marty Touchette from the Monmouth Review-Atlas. We both talked with Coach Chuck Grant, as I recorded audio for the radio sportscasts on WMOI and WRAM. After our questions, Marty asked Chuck his thoughts on the National Championship game the night before, in which Duke held on to beat Butler. I razzed Grant, saying he couldn't be happier as a die-hard Duke fan (Coach Grant is a die-hard North Carolina Tar Heels fan), in which he responded it was one of the worst championship games for him, in which I quickly asked if it was better than the NIT championship (a North Carolina loss to Dayton this year), responding "that may have been worse."

Future plans are still up in the air this week. It looks like back-to-back trips to Bushnell at the end of the week, as the B-PC/A Spartans baseball team hosts Macomb on Thursday, and the United Red Storm on Friday. AM 1330 WRAM (www.1330wram.com) will be broadcasting the Friday game. Saturday is also up in the air.