American Legion Baseball Two-Fer

East Moline @ Monmouth American Legion Baseball
Moline @ Galesburg American Legion Baseball
6/30/10

One thing I have sorely missed in covering this summer has been American Legion baseball, taking in just one game earlier this summer. I needed to get over to Galesburg and cover Post 285, which is a stellar program year in and year out under head coach Steve Cheesman and a group of outstanding baseball men on his staff.

It just so happened that Monmouth Post 136 was at home, hosting East Moline at 5:30, and Galesburg was hosting a cancer benefit game under the lights, with a 7:30 first pitch. I talked with Coach Cheesman in the afternoon, and my interview can be heard on the sports page at www.1590waik.com. I also made up flyers last night that I will take out to schools and events I cover, so people will have more awareness of the video coverage at IHSSN.net. I had quite a few people come up and ask me who I was with (media) at last weekend's Monmouth College shootout, so I thought it would be a great idea to print some flyers with IHSSN information, and some teasers to garner even more interest.

The flyers I made last night are one page, two-sided. On the front page (I used a flyer/newsletter template from Microsoft Office), in bold reads, "Video Coverage Today", with a brief synopsis of what IHSSN does, and consists of online. Of course, the IHSSN logo is on the front, displayed prominently, and I also stuck the 1590 WAIK logo on the front, since I would be covering Post 285 for the radio station as well. On the backside, I posted a football preview (Galesburg) and volleyball preview (Antioch), which were teasers, using just a couple paragraphs, along with a quote from Streaks football coach Wes Olson on the conference race (this gains the Moline fans interest since they both are in the Western Big 6). I wanted to tailor the teaser previews to each side (Moline/Galesburg), but did not have any area volleyball previews complete to do just that. I printed off about 50, knowing that this could be a big crowd at the game at Jim Sundberg Field, due to the event (cancer benefit) and the rivalry between the two very strong Legion programs.

It had the makings of being one of those days from the get-go, as my workload kept getting delayed by interruptions, computer and studio problems, and extra work not planned for. By early afternoon, it seemed like it was all getting streamlined, but then...poof, it turned into a 10+ hour day.

Shortly after 5:00, I headed out to Sunnylane Field, to catch the first few innings of the Monmouth/East Moline game. Post 136 (Monmouth) has vastly improved over last year, coming into this game with a (8-5) record. East Moline has been struggling (3-15). Earlier in the season, Monmouth edged East Moline, 6-5 in District play. This game was not a District game.

When I first pulled up, I walked to the East Moline dugout and talked with head coach Derek DeClerck. He gave me his lineup card, and talked about his team, that includes mostly United Township players, but does have a couple Riverdale kids, and one Moline player. He has a few guys playing at the collegiate level; Sean Bealer (Knox), Davian Giles (Des Moines Area Community College), Todd Dempsey (Carl Sandburg College), Jim Granack (Carl Sandburg College), and Jeremy Rushing (North Central).

After my talk with coach DeClerck, I headed over to the Monmouth dugout. On my way over, I ran into Drew Cole, from the Post 136 baseball team. He had missed some time recently, playing baseball in Puerto Rico. I asked him about the trip, and he said it was really rainy. In fact, his team only got four of their 10 scheduled games in, and they had to play a tripleheader at the end of the trip just to get that many in. He also said it would start raining out of nowhere, and the temperature didn't drop at all.

Coaches Shawn Temple and Rick Chick talked about last night's game, a loss to Oneida. I had wondered about the game, because normally I get the results the night of each game, and hadn't heard much. Temple said he wasn't in much of a hurry to get those results in. Overall, though, the coaches were pleased with the 2010 season, and the progress the team has made.

There was a limited crowd, and in fact, I think I counted more East Moline fans in attendance than Monmouth fans. It could have been an equal amount, but there couldn't have been more than 20 people out at the ballpark on a beautiful afternoon.

Monmouth plated a run in the first inning, when Alex Temple led off with a basehit. He would score on a wild pitch. East Moline pulled off a nice, 6-4-3 double play in the bottom of the 2nd inning, with Tanner Adams hitting into it. Bealer to Esparza to Newbanks, just doesn't have the same ring as, Tinker to Evers to Chance.

Not much else happened in the game while I was there. I headed to my car as the game headed to the bottom of the 4th inning. As I was pulling away, I saw the Post 136 players huddling at home plate, at which appeared to be following a Blaine Robinson home run. Coach Temple later texted me that Monmouth had prevailed, 11-1, in 6 innings. That win ups their season mark to (9-5).

I gassed up at Casey's before heading to Galesburg, and picked up some Kitchen Cooked potato chips and a red Powerade. I never eat potato chips, with the exception of Kitchen Cooked, my kryptonite.

I got to Sundberg Field early, so I could talk with both coaches, get lineups, and make sure my flyers were posted at the concession stand. Everything worked out just fine, and talked with coach Cheesman for a few minutes. He showed me the special t-shirt jerseys they had made. They were pink with baby blue lettering. All proceeds raised during the game with raffles an 50/50 drawings went to the Knox County Relay for Life in the name of Erica Hunter. She passed away from cancer a few years ago and is the daughter of assistant coach Les Hunter.
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After talking with each coach, I positioned myself behind home plate, to gather the video of the game. Dave Hasley joined me, as he was there to take in a good baseball game. He told me that a good event to cover would be the Moline American Legion tournament this weekend. Moline, East Moline, and Augustana are all hosting games for the three-day tournament that begins Friday and carries on into Sunday. I mentioned to Dave that I would probably be up there one or two days, because I have found nothing else to cover, plus there is going to be some great baseball to be played. We also talked about sunflower seeds, and my latest new flavor, which I was chomping on, Chili Lime. It is a flavor I had seen before, but David must have just started making it, because over the last couple weeks, I have seen it pop up nearly everywhere I go that sells sunflower seeds. It's an alright flavor, but nothing to write home about.

Sunflower Seeds Flavor Rating
As far as the sunflower seeds battle goes, here is how I would rank my first five favorites.
1) Dill Pickle (one of those flavors that I didn't care for at first, but like Jamie Moyer, they get better with age)
2) Ranch (My old standby, never lets me down, though sometimes can be a little too salty for me -- I don't consume salt)
3) Barbecue (Another longtime familiar flavor)
4) Jalapeno Hot Sauce (It can give you a kick, and I always try to make sure I have something to drink nearby, as it has caused one of those tickling cough attacks before)
5) Nacho Cheese (Went through a whole bag and just wasn't a fan, maybe a second chance is in the offing)

Moline put numbers on the scoreboard right away, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Thomas Lindauer (University of Illinois) hit an RBI double that scored Grant Jasper, then Eric Ashcraft hit an RBI single, plating Lindauer.

That would be the only scoring until late in the game. In fact, Moline had a three-pitcher no-hitter going 5 2/3 innings in. Caleb Weaver had the first hit for Post 285 in the bottom of the 6th inning. Galesburg did have plenty of baserunners, though. Moline pitchers walked eight Galesburg batters in the game.

The Rally
It was the 6th inning that Post 285 scored their first run, when Chad Johnson came across the plate on an RBI single by Jacob Milligan. It was a 2-1 ball game heading into the bottom of the 9th inning. With one out, Nick Milligan hit a single and stole 2nd base. Chris Fields followed with a strikeout. With 2 outs, and facing a 3-2 count, Luke Ryan hit an RBI single to tie the game, scoring Milligan from 2nd base. Alex Lozano followed with a double, and Ryan was stranded at third base. Nate Olin then jacked the game-winning RBI single, scoring Ryan from third to win the game, 3-2, capping off an impressive 2-out, 2-run rally in the bottom of the 9th inning.

With the win, Galesburg Post 285 improves to (16-3), while Moline drops to (18-3).