Pride dropped in title game
By MARK TUPPER
DECATUR – Momentum swung Sunday in the instant it takes an umpire to raise his hand.
And it was Appleton (Wis.) The Bar that took advantage.
Immediately after the Decatur Pride failed to tie the game 1-1 in the top of the fifth inning on a bang-bang call at the plate, Appleton answered in the bottom of the frame with a five-run outburst that sealed its 6-0 victory in the championship game of the Herald & Review Shootout at Borg-Warner Field.
A two-run single by Chris Delorit came on a soft liner to center. Tom Crouch followed with a three-run homer to center off starting and losing pitcher Jim Hartman.
It was the second time in about 15 hours that Appleton knocked off the Pride, the first coming in a 2-1 thriller late Saturday night when The Bar pushed across the winning run in the seventh inning.
In both games, it was the effective pitching of tall, lanky Australian Andrew Blackshaw that quieted the Pride bats, and as a result Blackshaw was named the tournament’s most valuable pitcher.
“I’m shagged,” he said after wrapping up the title game in a high, hot afternoon sun. Blackshaw allowed just two hits and struck out 12 Decatur batters.
Appleton took a 1-0 lead in the first on singles by B.J. Gulick, Delorit and Crouch. And Blackshaw had a no-hitter until Blake Martin led off the fifth with a triple down the right field line.
Ty Morganthaler was the next batter and he hit a hard grounder to second. Martin appeared to slide under a high tag at the plate, which would have tied the game 1-1. But the call went in Appleton’s favor.
“That might have been a big momentum change right there,” said Pride Manager Scott Standerfer. “And we’ve got to go back out there and be ready.”
But in the bottom of the inning, Hartman issued a one-out walk to Gulick that paved the way to a big inning.
Josh Johnson, named the Shootout’s most valuable player, followed with a single. And when Pat Humphries singled, the bases were loaded.
Two runs scored on Delorit’s soft liner into center and Crouch knocked in three more with his fly that drifted beyond the fence in center.
The Pride won four games in the weekend fast-pitch softball tournament, but couldn’t solve Appleton.
Earlier Sunday, the Pride rallied to beat the Marshall (Mich.) Lightning 2-1 in eight innings. J.D. Arnold reached on a bunt single, went to second on an error, was sacrificed to third and scored the game-winner on a passed ball.
Karl Gollan was the winning pitcher for the Pride, allowing four hits and fanning 12.
The Pride reached the title game with a 4-3 victory over Aurora Dolan & Murphy, another game that turned on an umpire’s call.
Aurora led 2-1 going into the bottom of the second. Greg Morganthaler and Casey Spears singled for the Pride and Arnold moved the runners to second and third.
The Pride went ahead 3-2 on Drew Minton’s two-run single but during a stoppage when the home plate umpire called timeout, Aurora pitcher Ales Jetmar uncorked a warmup pitch that no one seemed prepared for. The practice pitch glanced off catcher Robert Reder’s shoulder and clipped the umpire, Lloyd Stewart, in his right ear.
Blood splattered onto Stewart’s shirt and it didn’t take him long to throw Jetmar out of the game.
Joe Crouch replaced Jetmar and Rick Minton was the first batter he faced.
Minton promptly singled to center, scoring his son, Drew. That turned out to be the winning run after Aurora scored its third run on Adam Perkins’ leadoff homer in the fourth.
Brent Stevenson was the winning pitcher, giving way in the sixth to Gollan.
When it was over, Rick Minton said he’d like to see a little more outward emotion from a Pride team that is still learning to blend new players with a core of returning players.
“If I’m being honest, I’d like to see more intensity,” he said. “A lot of our guys are pretty quiet.”
Indeed, the 52-year-old Minton and 61-year-old Larry Moffett are the loudest rah-rah guys on the team.
Standerfer gave props to Blackshaw, who leaps out of the pitching circle on the first-base side and uncorks a crossfire pitch that bears in on right-handed hitters.
Back in the day, umpires would have called an illegal pitch. But these days, the umpires are instructed to let pitchers do their thing.
“Nowadays, pitchers can do whatever they want as long as they throw it underhand,” Standerfer said. “And Blackshaw threw very well all weekend.”
mtupper@herald-review.com|421-7983
Editor’s note: I love that last quote from Scott Standerfer. It’s the best response to the oft-asked question, “Just what is the rule on crow-hopping?”
“Nowadays, pitchers can do whatever they want as long as they throw it underhand,”
-Scott Standerfer, Manager, Decatur Pride
…unless, of course, you happen to be pitching in the ISF World Championships. Ask BJ Hunhoff 🙂