C.I.G.S. Shootout
(5/8/10)
The Decision
The message boards at www.illinoishighschoolsports.com are a great place to find information on teams statewide, and I use it as a tool to find various tournaments and shootouts for all sports. The website came in handy last week, as I learned of a solid field of softball teams in Decatur. The Central Illinois Girls Softball League hosted two weeks of some of the best teams statewide, at a complex off of Route 51 featuring five diamonds.
Admittedly, had I known the forecast a week ahead of time, I may not have made the 3-hour trek to Decatur to brave the elements. I have always admitted to being a fair weather fan during the spring sports season, and fortunately the weather has been more than fair in 2010. With days of announcing I would head over to catch these teams, and some preparation done days in advance, I certainly wasn't going to back out due to my disliking of a little cold weather.
It was an early morning wakeup call, to head into work, covering the short Saturday morning shift. The alarm rang at 4:30 a.m. and a little weary even after my 16 oz. coffee, I was ready to rule the day.
The Trip Down
My plan of attack was to leave the radio station at, or shortly after 8:00 a.m. from Monmouth. That should put me at the Borg-Warner Complex in Decatur for the final innings of the 10:00 games. Garmin and I have had some disagreements over the past two years, and the GPS device has almost been thrown out the window on numerous trips. It appeared as though I outsmarted the device this morning, when missing my exit onto I-155 at Morton. I heard the lady scold, "recalculating" before I knew what I had done. Looking over at the unit, I actually shaved 6 minutes off of my trip by "missing my exit". My new route would take me to Bloomington-Normal, and down Route 51.
Driving through the twin cities, I passed Normal West High School. Glancing over, I noticed the Wildcats softball team was out on the diamond, in what appeared to be warming up for a 10:00 game. I knew I was going to miss a majority of the first games in Decatur, so I made a rash decision by getting off at Normal, and getting a little bit of video of the undefeated Wildcats softball team.
I pulled into the parking lot at the school, near the tennis courts, and made the long walk down to the softball diamonds. There was only one team on the field, and it didn't look like the varsity. I asked a couple walking down behind me if this was the softball diamonds, and they said it was the JV team out there, and thought the varsity must be on the road. So much for my Normal West video, I decided to get back on the road.
It had been a while since I had any fluids, so I stopped off in Maroa at the Casey's to grab a water, and take a restroom break. Inside, I used the Xlerator, a hand drying device that nearly blew the skin right off of the bone. It sure did the trick, unlike most machines, but I still prefer good old fashioned paper towels.
This was my first time driving through Maroa, and later Forsyth. Maroa-Forsyth High School is located right on the highway. I found it funny that Maroa is home to the high school, while Forsyth (pop. 3,000+) is home to many fast food joints, Menards, Lowe's, Buffalo Wild Wings, etc. Forsyth sits right on the border of Decatur, and seems almost like a twin cities.
Garmin Dilemma Part II
My first issue with Garmin, ended up in my favor, by cutting 6 minutes off my drive time, by "outsmarting" it by missing my turn. However, I put back on plenty of time with my diversion to Normal West, and the stop in Maroa. I didn't have an exact address to the Borg-Warner Complex, however I did notice it was right off of the highway I was coming in on. I had Garmin direct me to the intersection, but it didn't.
As I crossed Lake Decatur, it had me turning off of Route 51. I found this a little odd, but decided it was the one with a map, not me. Winding through for a mile or two, it had me turn into a cul-de-sac. I didn't know it was at first, so I hesitantly turned in. It took me nowhere. In fact, I was clearly several miles from the complex, and Lake Decatur was about to swallow my Garmin.
I angrily proceeded back to the highway, and knew that I had to get to Route 51 south, and i should run into the diamonds. I certainly did, without any further help from Garmin.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game(s)
Only three games were played at 10:00, instead of the scheduled four games. There were some teams backing out this week. Marion bowed out, and Paxton-Buckley-Loda filled that spot, while Casey-Westfield decided not to participate this weekend. Sterling/Danville Schlarman and Shelbyville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm had already finished when I parked, and gathered my things.
I headed over to the main diamond, where Coal City had just defeated Maroa-Forsyth, 2-0. I walked over the premises at the complex, then made my way back to the car and ate some lunch that I had packed. For once in my day-long trips covering games, I decided to pack a cooler, instead of feasting on fast food all day. My snacks included a couple peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, a baggy of cereal, and a banana. I'm very simple when it comes to the kitchen, and I certainly define the bachelor diet.
The noon game on the main diamond was the matchup I was really waiting to see. Coal City vs. Shelbyville. The Coalers came into the weekend, (25-0), and had just beat Maroa-Forsyth. Shelbyville is one of the top teams in the central Illinois area. The Coalers scored three runs in the first inning, and that's all they would need in a 6-0 victory. I took in most of this game, but also headed over to the other diamond and watched the Danville Schlarman/Maroa-Forsyth game. Schlarman would win the sloppy game, 18-8.
After the Coal City/Shelbyville game I tracked down Coalers coach Brad Schmitt and pitcher Kirsten Verdun for video interviews. They will be posted online at www.ihssn.net this week. Verdun is headed to DePaul on a softball scholarship and is interested in a career in communications/media. She did mention to me that she wants to be more behind the scenes, as she was a little camera shy at the mention of the video interview, but did a fantastic job.
Despite an off-game, Maroa-Forsyth sports a (22-4) record, and has played some very tough competition this year. I found Trojans coach Phil Applebee, and conducted a video interview with him to discuss this year's team and the postseason outlook. I also talked with two of his seniors, Rachel England and Carmen Hatton, and junior Kim Lemar.
There was another break in action before the 2:00 game, a single game featuring Sterling against Paxton-Buckley-Loda. Before the game started, I headed back to the vehicle and logged onto the 'net for a few minutes, and jotted down some notes, and organized some stats and rosters that coaches had sent me earlier in the week. This was also an excuse to get out of the cold.
The Weather Report
Throughout the day, temperatures probably ranged from the upper-40's to the low-to-mid-50's. It was also cloudy, and very windy. Wind gusts blew straight in from the west, steadily at 20 miles/hour, more or less at various times during the day. The sun attempted to shine through the clouds on a few occasions, but never longer than a minute. After about an hour in the weather, I found my gloves in the backseat. During my first bout with standing in the cold, I had thought that, when cleaning out my car several weeks ago, I had summerized by throwing my stocking hat and gloves in the closet for next year. Fortunately, I had not. I staved off the stocking hat, but opted for gloves. Normally, my ears are very sensitive to the cold weather, but oddly enough, did not bother me at all today.
Game Time
Since Casey-Westfield had bowed out, that left just one game at 2:00. Georgetown-Ridge Farm was left without an opponent, so they had a long layoff, playing a 10:00 game, and not again until 4:00.
Sophomore Ashli King hit an RBI double into left field of the main diamond to give Sterling a 2-1 lead over Paxton-Buckley-Loda. The ball went beyond the inner fence, and rolling to the permanent fence, making it a ground-rule double. The Golden Warriors tacked on a few more runs, and won the game, 6-1.
Another break in action, gave me time to warm up again, and this time I phoned my parents to alert them I would be driving up tonight, instead of Sunday. After figuring the mileage to drive home, then up to Annawan on Sunday, I would just save almost 200 miles of road time by heading up after the games.
There were three games in the final session. Danville Schlarman played Coal City on the main diamond, with Shelbyville and Sterling playing just beyond the main diamond, and Georgetown-Ridge Farm meeting Paxton-Buckley-Loda on what I called the "Dr. Pepper" diamond, because it had a Dr. Pepper banner on the fence behind home plate.
I staked out the Coal City/Schlarman game, but was strategically placed near the Schlarman dugout so I could turn my head and peek into the Shelbyville/Sterling game. This actually benefitted me on a few occasions, able to get video in crucial game situations.
I bounced back and forth in the first inning to each of the three diamonds, which was an even better effort of warming up, then sitting in the car. I only took one video from the P-B-L/G-RF game, and that was five runs scored by PBL in the first inning. After that, I balanced my time between the other two games, but did walk over to that game a couple times to get score updates. Paxton-Buckley-Loda pulled out the, 15-9 win, and was actually the last game of the three to go final.
Sterling scored one run in the first inning of their game, and it was caught on video. The Rams would tie the game in the 6th inning. Over on the main diamond, the Coalers scored a couple runs throughout the game, and would beat Schlarman, 3-0. IHSSN caught some great video of the Coal City left fielder diving and catching a fly ball.
The Sterling/Shelbyville game went into extra innings, and the international tie-breaker was used, with each team getting a runner on 2nd base to start the frame. In the top of the 9th inning, Sterling had a baserunner get to 3rd base on a dropped third strike. The runner would get caught in a rundown in the basepath, and had a hard run-in with Shelbyville pitcher Grace Moll, who appeared to be pretty upset with the contact. Moll would get the last laugh in the bottom of the 9th inning with an RBI double that scored Cinnae Martin to win the game, 2-1. I had a brief conversation with Grace's father, Tim after the game, to make sure I had the names accurate from the Rams. I also talked with a representative from the Central Illinois Girls Softball League, and he told me that next year, they will host a 20-team tournament. Hopefully, I can clear the weekend for that.
The Long Drive Home
After a 12-hour workday, and being awake 14 hours, I wasn't looking forward to a 2.5 hour drive. I had contemplated on stopping at McDonalds for a double cheeseburger, and a coffee, but opted against that.
Driving down Route 51 (cautiously taking Garmin's directions), I nearly had an accident with a pickup truck, not three miles from the softball complex. Cruising down the four lanes at 65 miles/hour, a truck pulled into the southbound lanes (where I was traveling in the far right lane). Instead of pulling into the proper (left) lane, he pulled all the way over, and I had to slam on my brakes (left marks) and drive onto the shoulder to avoid contact. The only time I use the horn in my vehicle, is to honk at friends, and don't use it in these situations. Maybe it was the long day that had me so irritated, but I blared the horn, as I picked up everything that was spewed onto the floorboards. In fact, I missed my exit, because the Garmin was thrown onto the floor near the gas pedal.
I traveled several miles of two lane highway, which I enjoy. In fact, this was a stretch of road that I had never driven on. The first landmark I witnessed was in Latham, Illinois. I passed by the Korn Krib, a rustic looking wood restaurant sandwiched between....yup, you guessed it...two corn cribs. Just down the road, I drove through Mt. Pulaski, known for their high school volleyball success. What I didn't know about the town, was that it was home to John Schlitt. John who? John was the lead singer of Head East, the band that has the popular 1978 song, "Since You Been Gone". John was actually kicked out of the band in 1980, after struggling with a drug habit, but reformed, and joined the Christian-rock band, Petra.
Driving up I-155, I saw a sign for the exit to San Jose. It's pronounced, San Joe's, not like the city in California. I have two memories of the small town. The first was when I got lost heading to Bloomington/Normal on route 136, and had to use a pay phone at the Casey's in town. A couple years later, I was invited to speak at the San Jose Alumni Banquet, due to my work for the Illinois High School Glory Days website (www.illinoishsglorydays.com).
Outside of hearing non-stop Taylor Swift on the pop stations, one song stood out. I heard "Alejandro" by Lady Gaga a few times, and I feel this will be the big song for the summer of 2010.
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