Courtesy Southeast Missourian
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Decatur Pride’s David Boys touches home plate before the tag by Nokomis catcher Jeremy Beasley during the fourth inning of the championship game Sunday at the Kelso Klassic in Kelso, Mo. Photo by Fred Lynch
Decatur Pride’s Cole Koester is congratulated by teammate Rick Minton after hitting an inside-the-park home run against Nokomis during the fourth inning of the championship game. Photo by Fred Lynch
Monday, June 15, 2009 ~ Updated 12:17 AM
By Marty Mishow ~ Southeast MissourianKELSO — The combination of a talent-rich tournament favorite and a bone-tired opponent made for a lopsided Kelso Klassic final.
The Decatur (Ill.) Pride swept to the championship in the 25th annual men’s fastpitch softball event.
Decatur went 5-0 in the 14-team tournament, capped by Sunday’s 8-0, five-inning run-rule victory over Nokomis (Ill.) Bud Light for the title.
“We played well and scored a lot of runs,” winning pitcher Brent Stevenson said.
Nokomis dropped its tournament opener Saturday morning, which made for a grueling weekend.
Bud Light continually staved off elimination with six straight wins, including four Sunday before running into the Pride’s buzz saw.
“They played a great tournament,” Stevenson said. “To come back out of the losers bracket, they showed a lot of courage. You have to tip your cap to them.”
The Pride were a national fastpitch power, winning several national titles, before disbanding in 2001. They started up a squad again this year, and were making their first Kelso Klassic appearance as a unit.
“A lot of our guys have been here before with different teams,” Stevenson said. “It’s a good, competitive tournament.”
Rick Heuring, assistant tournament director who founded the event 25 years ago, didn’t hesitate in rating the Pride pre-tourney favorites after scanning their roster.
“They turned out to be everything we thought they would be,” Heuring said. “They’re an outstanding team.”
Led by several outstanding pitchers, including New Zealand natives Stevenson and Jeremy Manley.
Manley, named the tournament’s most valuable pitcher, went 3-0 with two runs allowed and 36 strikeouts in 17 innings.
“It was an enjoyable weekend,” Manley said.
Manley, regarded among the nation’s top pitchers, is not a regular member of the Pride, but “they had some injuries so I just helped them out.”
The veteran Stevenson, also among the nation’s premier hurlers, was a mainstay on some of the Pride’s previous top squads.
Stevenson, who notched Decatur’s other two tournament wins by allowing just one run, fired a two-hitter and struck out five in Sunday’s championship.
David Boys got the Pride started with a two-run homer in the second inning. A six-run fourth inning highlighted by three home runs — from Greg Morganthaler, Cole Koester and Blake Martin — punctuated the romp.
The rest of the tournament was not nearly as easy for the Pride.
It started routinely enough with a pair of 5-1 wins, before Decatur snuck past Pete’s Blues of Mascoutah, Ill., 1-0 in nine innings.
Decatur began Sunday with a 2-1 victory over Black Gold of Hermann, Mo., in the winners bracket final to advance to the title round.
Nokomis completed its trek through the losers bracket with a 5-3 win over Black Gold, before Decatur ended Bud Light’s impressive run.
“We had another great tournament,” Heuring said.
Casey Spears of Nokomis was the most valuable player after setting a tournament record with 15 hits. He batted .577 with 10 runs scored and four RBIs.
The only local entry, host Kelso Fastpitch, went 1-2. The team lost to Decatur 5-1, beat Elkville (Ill.) 8-6 and was eliminated by Nokomis 4-3.
Tournament scoreboard after the jump
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