The Ugliest Winner....Is Still a Winner

Lewistown vs. B-PC/Avon (Baseball)
IHSA Class 1A Regionals (@ Bushnell)
(5/18/10)

Strange....ugly....weird. Those could be words that described the opening round regional game between the Lewistown Indians and the B-PC/A Spartans. It all started earlier in the day, when the game had three potential locales. With a monsoon of rains falling on western Illinois over the past week, Lewistown (the scheduled host for this game) had standing water in their baseball field. Bushnell, and Abingdon were backups to host the Spartans and Indians matchup.

In the end, Bushnell would host this game. One year ago, in nearly the same setup, the B-PC/A Spartans baseball team shocked the region, with a postseason upset of Lewistown, in Bushnell. The Spartans entered this game with a (4-27) overall record, with a 25-game losing streak in that mix. The team started hot, and finished hot. B-PC/A went (2-1) to start the season, and entered the regionals on a two-game winning streak, after sweeping Peoria Heights on Saturday to close out the regular season.

Sunflower seeds were on my mind before I headed out to the diamond at B-PC High School. My dill pickle stash was coming to an end, and jalapeno was next on my list. For once, I had plenty of time to get to the first pitch of a baseball or softball game today. I headed over to Casey's in Bushnell for some jalapeno seeds, but alas, they had none. The only flavors offered were dill pickle and ranch, along with plain (and I will never, ever, ever go with plain seeds). I opted for ranch, since I already had some dill pickle in the car.

With my stop at Casey's, I still made the field shortly after 4:00. I headed over near the concession stand, where B-PC Athletic Director Stan Prentice was manning the grill, cooking up some butterfly pork chops. We chatted for several minutes, and then I ventured over to the Spartans dugout to talk with head coach Dave Arnold and assistant coach John McCormick. The latter, a Lewistown graduate.

Lewistown coach Mike Trone, along with the umpires for the game (Gerald Lowe & Dave King), were at home plate to exchange lineups. Coach Arnold was still in the dugout, when Coach McCormick's dry/sarcastic humor came out, yelling out to Arnold, "Hey, this is the part where you need to be the baseball coach."

B-PC/A struck first, scoring a run on a passed ball in the top of the first inning. The first confusing part of the game, the Spartans were batting in the top half of the inning, since they were the visitors. Zach Ebbert scored the first run, after reaching on a single, and stealing second.

Lewistown took the lead in the bottom of the 2nd inning, plating three runs, to take a 3-1 lead. The Spartans made it a one-run game in the 3rd inning, when Ebbert hit an RBI single that scored Zach Anderson. The Spartans, then tied it up in the 4th inning, when Trevor King was hit by a pitch. His pinch runner, (Fr.) Seth Tolley, scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at, 3-3.

The Indians plated a pair of runs in the 5th inning, taking a 5-3 lead. The fifth run scored on a balk by Spartans starting pitcher, Austin Alden. The final out of the 5th inning occurred when shortstop Cedric Huffman ran down the Lewistown base runner at 3rd base. Huffman won the footrace, and when asked heading into the dugout why he chose to chase the runner down over making the throw to first he responded, "I trust my legs."

In the 6th inning, B-PC/A tied the game back up, at 5-5. Brandon Coates led off with a single, and scored on an RBI groundout by Devon Raleigh. Dallas Stranger, following Coates in the lineup, reached base on an E9. Stranger would have been thrown out at 1st base from rightfield, but the first baseman dropped the ball, allowing Stranger to reach, and eventually score the tying run. Cedric Huffman hit Stranger in, with an RBI single.

The Spartans took a two-run lead, and kept it, in the 7th inning. Zach Anderson led off with a single, and would score on an RBI triple by Brandon Coates. Coates would score on an RBI single by Stranger, giving the Spartans the eventual final score, 7-5. Stranger made the fans in the stands laugh, when he attempted to run to 2nd base, when Lewistown pitcher Chance Simpson overthrew his first baseman. Stranger, tripped up, and bear crawled about halfway, still made it to second base safely.

In the bottom of the 7th inning, with one out, and runners at first and second, Spartans 3rd baseman Dallas Stranger made a play on a grounder, and attempted to race the baserunner to third base. It appeared that the Indians runner was safely at third, but called out. This was the second out, and starting pitcher, Austin Alden got the final Lewistown batter to fly out to end the game, preserving a 7-5 win for the Spartans. Alden threw 139 pitches in 7 innings of work.

Conversations in the crowd I had were with both Spartans basketball coaches, boy's coach Matt Colston and girl's coach Julie Blout. Colston talked about the Prairie State Shootout that B-PC High School hosts on June 18th and 19th. Some of the teams that will be participating are the hosts, Macomb, Abingdon, Lewistown, along with some Chicago schools (North Lawndale, ACE Charter, and Dyett).

B-PC/A will head over to Cuba to face North Fulton in the Regional Semifinals on Wednesday.