By Steve Robinson | April 27, 2014 - 10:40 pm
Posted in Category: NCHS, Normal West HS, The Normalite

BaseballNormal Community West High School and rival Normal Community High School split their two-game baseball showdown at The Corn Crib in north Normal April 22 and 24, while also honoring a former Wildcats player in the process. Normal West needed nine innings to beat the Ironmen in the first game, 6-3. NCHS evened the slate two days later, coming away 2-1 winners.

Both sides in the two contests wore specially-made jerseys, all with the number “19” in honor of Michael Collins, a 2010 graduate of Normal West who lost his life in a car accident on April 2. In addition to each jersey showing Collins’ number, the front and back of each jersey had the Twitter-based hashtag “#MCStong” above the numbers on both sides in tribute to Collins.

NCHS Takes Game Two, 2-1: NCHS finished the two-game set with a 7-7 overall record including a 2-1 mark in the Big 12 Conference following completion of the two games, having beaten West, 2-1, in a game whose start time was moved up two hours in order to complete the game before a forecast rain storm.

After defense had been on display by both sides for the first three innings of the contest, NCHS scored their only runs of the game when a combination of a West wild pitch and a passed ball helped the Ironmen score. Ironmen second baseman John Megles crossed the plate, giving the Ironmen a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, West pitcher Reid Burlingmair walked NCHS first baseman Ryan Bouwman, giving NCHS, a 2-0 lead.

Normal WestWest (11-9, 2-1 Big 12 Conference after this game) earned their lone run of the game when junior shortstop Ben Lawyer rounded the bases after having been walked by NCHS sophomore pitcher Mike Shepard. Birlingmair singled after Lawyer, but junior outfielder Evan Mucciolo hit into a double play to end the inning, in effect giving the game its final score.

Shepard (4-1)got the win for NCHS, registering two strikeouts and giving up seven hits. Birlingmair (1-2) got the loss, despite having struck out 6 and walked two.

“That win was big for us,” NCHS head coach Ryan Short said. “You always want to play your best against your rival. I thought West played to their best today and we did, too, especially on the mound and defensively.”

Of Shepard’s effort, Short said, “Mike threw a lot of strikes late in the game, and defensively, we made good plays behind him.”

“Birlingmair got better as the game went on,” explained his coach, West’s Chris Hawkins. “I thought our offense had a lot of chances. We couldn’t do what we needed to do.”

Normal West Wins Game One, 6-3, In 9 Innings: Normal West (11-8, 2-0 Big 12 Conference after this game) got off to a fast start in the first of the two games the two Unit 5 School District teams played on April 22, courtesy of first inning runs scored by senior center fielder Ryan Frye and junior shortstop Birlingmair, both of whom were walked and advanced on a wild pitch. A single by sophomore catcher Mitch Fairfield helped put runs across the plate, putting West (10-9, 1-1 Big 12 Conference after this game) up, 2-0, before NCHS came to bat. Two innings later, Frye hit a double and rounded the bases on outs to up West’s lead, 3-0.

NCHSNCHS (6-7, 1-1 Big 12 Conference after this game) tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, exploding for three runs, as singles by senior left fielder Ben Wylde and senior Chris Perry helped score second baseman Megles, sophomore Alec Trela, and senior designated hitter Luke McCaw, tying the game at 3-3.

From there, pinpoint pitching and tight defense took over for both sides, forcing extra innings. Fairfield led the top of the ninth inning for West with a walk, followed by senior Mitch Thomas who was hit by a pitch. An NCHS fielding error put West senior third baseman Tanner Rutledge on base, and Frye and junior left fielder Reed Rogers scored go-ahead runs, putting West up, 6-3. Sophomores Dane Ruffin and Dave Watson served as pinch runners, crossing the plate for Fairfield and Thomas, respectfully.

On the mound, West’s Rogers registered 8 strikeouts, on walk, and six hits in 8.1 innings of work, boosting his season record to 4-2. Losing pitcher Aaron Armstrong, a junior worked 8 1/3 innings, striking out eight.

Pitch counts were a topic for West’s Hawkins following this game. “Rogers was probably close to 150 pitches, and NCHS probably had close to that, too,” he said. “”For us, it’s not a 160-game season like the big leaguers have. With our players, we have to be more careful.” But, Hawkins added he’s seen “guys throw 140-150 pitches in the rivalry before.”

Of the opposing pitcher, Armstrong, Hawkins said, “His ball moves a lot. It’s hard to bunt. We’re not making excuses in saying that. I thought he did a good job of keeping movement on the ball and made it tough for our bunting game.”

“I didn’t want to go into another half of an inning without a lead and our kids came through,” Hawkins added.

“It was just a good high school game,” NCHS’ Short said afterward. “The sixth, seventh, and eighth innings went so quickly. Both teams’ pitchers threw well. Armstrong and Rogers got stronger as the game went on. Both guys did a nice job. In the ninth, it came apart a little bit for us. We would have liked to have thought we could have gotten another run there.”

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