EXCUSE ME, IT’S MY TURN TO DRIVE

A Monday sweep of Illinois College has put the Scots baseball team back in the driver’s seat for a crack at their eighth straight Midwest Conference South Division title.

"We’re back where we expected to be," said Roger Sander. "We got the two games we needed to get. Now we control our own destiny."

Mike Reed (Lovington, Ill./Lovington) allowed two hits through seven innings of the Scots’ Game 1, 4-1 win. The freshman could have felt the weight of the world on his shoulders pitching the most important game of the year. Instead, he felt Sander, or should we say Sander’s advice. "I talked to him before the game," said Sander. "I just told him he’s pitched well all year and to just stay within himself and we’d be OK. He did and we moved back into first place by the end of the day."

Reed got some backing from his teammates, too. The Scots surrendered just four hits in the game and took the lead in the second inning when Chaz Baggio drove in Ryan Priola and Billy Herrin’s base hit scored Ryan Stubler.

"It was a really well-played game," praised Sander. "We played small ball, moved the runners over, we fielded everything and we got great pitching."

Sander was pleased with Game 2, despite the 9-7 score. "Drew Johnson (North Henderson, Ill./United) pitched seven strong innings for us," he said. "He was just as dominant and overpowering as Reed was in the first game."

Of course, the Scots’ eight-run fourth inning didn’t hurt. The inning started innocently enough. Brett Peterson led off the inning reaching on an error. Peterson was then able to walk home when Jake Bice blasted a two-run homer over the left center field fence. "Jake’s been hitting the ball extremely well," said Sander. "That two-run homer after IC took a 3-0 lead really got us going."

The Scots sent 14 batters to the plate in the inning and Bice drove in two more runs with a base hit his second time around. Monmouth had the bases loaded before a fly out ended the inning. Rally killer.

Three Blue Boy runs in the eighth made it interesting. With the Scots up 9-6, IC pushed a run across in the bottom of the ninth to make it 9-7 and had the tying runs at first and third with two outs. Enter Stubler. The senior struck out IC’s Clint Wherely to pick up his first save of the year.

The Scots hot bats continued the next day in a 14-12 loss to Illinois Wesleyan. "We had a plan where we wanted to use a lot of guys, and we did," said Sander.

When the dust had settled on the 3 hour 20 minute game, the Scots had used 24 players. It looked like it could be a short game after the Titans jumped out to a 12-3 lead going into the bottom of the fourth. That’s when the game slowed. Seven runs later it’s 12-10 and we’re settling in for a long day at the ballpark.

Priola followed his two-run first inning homer with a two-run double in the fourth and Nick Basala plated two with his second hit of the inning.

The Scots had a chance in the bottom of the ninth. Trailing 14-12 with the bases loaded and one out, IWU enticed a double play to end the game.

"Some good things came out of that game," reported Sander. "We wanted to get a lot of guys in and we did. We took advantage of some of their mistakes and rallied from nine down. We had a chance to win it and that’s the most you can ask for."

The Scots will be asking for a couple more wins this weekend as they travel to the always friendly confines of Knox College’s Blodgett Field. They’ll enter Saturday’s road game with the chance to put the pedal down and distance themselves from the rest of the pack.

Excuse the Fighting Scots softball team if their feet aren’t touching the ground, but what would you expect from a team as hot as the Scots right now.

Just four days ago, the Scots’ post season chances looked pretty bleak. The Scots were 5-12 on the year and 1-3 in the conference. They had just split, SPLIT, a double header with Knox and had the weather-shortened MWC Classic coming up where they were to meet the top two ranked teams in the North Division.

Sit down, you may get light headed reading this next part.

In order, after the Scots salvaged a split with Knox, they defeated Lawrence 6-0, Ripon (the No. 2 North team) 7-6, St. Norbert (the No. 1 North team) 9-0, Illinois College 3-1 and IC again 9-1. Wow! That’s a pretty good turnaround.

"We had a very good weekend," understated coach John Goddard. "I wish we had taped the games at the Classic. We did just about everything right. We moved runners over, got the key hit, made some outstanding plays on defense and the pitchers were nearly unhittable."

The Scots jumped on Lawrence early to win going away. It looked like the same scenario vs. Ripon, but the Red Hawks scored late to make it a nail-biter. The adrenaline was still flowing in the final Classic game against St. Norbert where a six-run fifth gave the Scots enough to end the game via the mercy rule.

Coaches always hold their breath waiting for a letdown. That could have happened Wednesday night when the Scots hosted Illinois College. What Goddard got instead was a team determined to win. Two freshmen gave Monmouth a spark in the fifth inning of Game 1 when Haley Lyons' base hit drove in Erin Fitzpatrick to put MC up 1-0. Val Mitchell’s pinch-hit two-run double gave the Scots a 3-1 lead for the win. The Scots became an offensive juggernaut in the nightcap, scoring nine runs in the first three innings. Lyons again provided the spark with a bases-clearing double for her second, third and fourth RBIs of the day. Maggie Dort, who had four RBIs in the game, supplied the second inning fireworks, driving in three runs with her home run that sailed over the center field scoreboard. Fitzpatrick added a solo homer in the third for good measure.

"We’re really on a tear right now," said Goddard of his players’ hot bats. "Emily Willems and Kristin Bickett hit exceptionally well in Wisconsin and last night Maggie, Erin, Val and Haley gave us a spark."

A check of the stats over the last five games shows some impressive numbers. Nine players are hitting .300 or better. Lyons and Ashley Parer, who took a pitch off the elbow vs. St. Norbert, lead the pack hitting .500. Willems and Bickett are right behind at .471 and .462, respectively.

But for Goddard, it’s not all about average. "Kembra Bell did a great job hitting in the No. 3 spot in Wisconsin," he said. "She laid down some great sacrifice bunts to get us is position to score. That’s a huge asset."

Let’s not to forget the pitching staff. Sarah Christensen’s ERA over the stretch is a miniscule 0.38. Amanda Murdock checked in with a respectable 2.21 ERA.

The MWC race is still up in the air, but Goddard feels better after the IC sweep. With one conference double header left, Goddard knows what his team needs to do. "We have to sweep Grinnell next Friday," he said.

Grinnell has yet to play any conference games so next week’s playoff picture may take a while to develop. The Scots know what they need to do and hope the split to with the Prairie Fire doesn’t come back to burn them.

(CAT) GUTSY PERFOMANCE ON THE COURT

You can call Ben Morrow (Peoria, Ill./Peoria) lots of things, just don’t call him a quitter.

With the Scots’ men’s tennis team guaranteed a team victory over St. Norbert Saturday, it would have been easy for Morrow to pack it in after rolling his ankle in the third set of his No. 5 singles match. Instead, Morrow tightened his shoe laces and played on to a 6-4, 5-7, 10-4. Playing in one of the final two matchups against the Green Knights, the match had no bearing on the team outcome, but that’s when Morrow became an inspiration. The gritty freshman rolled his ankle badly running down a shot and went crashing to the floor in pain. After an exam by trainer Bob Meade, Morrow laced his shoe and finished the match, winning on one good ankle.

Morrow’s toughness impressed coach Chad Braun. Keep in mind Braun also doubles as the defensive coordinator for the Scots football team in the fall, so a player has really got to be a tough guy to impress him.

"Our trainer checked him out and it didn’t look good," Braun reported. "When Ben said he was going to finish the match, I couldn’t believe it. The trainer asked him if he could go laterally and Ben said ‘I’m not going laterally, I’m only going forward.’ He laced his shoe up tight and finished the match. That was pretty incredible."

Incredible, too, is the roll (not the ankle roll variety) Kyle Korb (Quincy, Ill./Quincy) is on. After weeks of being close, Korb broke loose for a 3-0 week. The junior won his three matches in straight sets with identical 6-1, 6-1 scores over Beloit and St. Norbert. Only IC’s Michael Evans at No. 1 singles was able to win more than two sets. Korb defeated his Blue Boy counterpart 6-1, 6-2.

Likewise, Sam Graf was perfect in his matches at No. 3 singles, dropping only four games over the weekend. Kevin Kamenjarin at No. 2 singles survived three-setters Friday and Saturday to complete a 3-0 weekend. Eric Brandhorst had to feel like he was on vacation after last week’s epic journey. The junior swept all three of his matches and didn’t have to run between tennis matches and a theatrical production.

It wasn’t as easy a team victory as it looked for the Scots in their 7-2 win over St. Norbert. "This was a crucial match for us," said Braun. "We knew going in, it could go either way. We won two tie-breakers in doubles to put us up 2-1 heading into singles and that was a big lift."

Kamenjarin and Korb edged their No. 1 doubles opponents 9-8 (10-8) and Tony Castro and Graf battled to a 9-8 (8-6) win at No. 3.

"Tony and Sam played lights out in that match," praised Braun. "That’s probably the best match they’ve played all year. Kyle and Kevin came up with a big win in doubles. They held off match point and came back to win."

With the Scots’ 7-2 win over St. Norbert Saturday, the Scots completed a 5-0 campaign against the Midwest Conference North Division teams. Unfortunately, those matches don’t count in the conference standings, meaning Monmouth will not be among the field of four for the team championships in two weeks. The best the Scots can hope for is fifth place.

"It was a great week of tennis," said Braun whose team posted an 8-1 win over Beloit Friday night, followed by a 7-2 win over St. Norbert and a 9-0 victory over Illinois College Saturday. "We couldn’t have scripted it any better."

Don’t get Braun wrong, the Scots aren’t exactly happy about their post season situation. "We feel like we’re the third-best team in the conference, but we won’t be in the team portion of the tournament. Our 5-0 mark against the north proves we belong there. We’re frustrated by the current rules. I’m proposing a change in our code to take the top four teams in the conference – period."

Braun predicts the Scots may use their omission from the MWC tournament as motivation. "They’ll be pretty motivated," he said. "We should get a lot of high seeds and reap the rewards of their hard work this season."

GOLFERS PIN(NS) HOPES ON FRESHMAN

Dave Ragone’s preseason’s outlook on his men’s golf team expressed optimism about his team’s depth. One name stood out to Scots Scoop – Jason Pinns (St. Charles, Ill./Glenbard South).

Not that the Scoop knew anything about the freshman, but, to borrow a line from the Smuckers® jelly brand – with a name like Pinns, he has to be good.

Pinns lived up to his name at Monday’s 36-hole marathon at the College of Springfield-Illinois Invitational. The freshman fired a 72-78-150 for a third-place finish in the event that featured 36 holes in one day at Panther Creek in Springfield. Pinn’s total could have been even better. At one point in the second round he was at four under, but a quad on a par 3 negated four birdies over his final six holes. The Midwest Conference was impressed with his performance, naming him this week’s Performer of the Week.

Three of the Scots’ five golfers improved on the second round. Aaron Thiel carded an 81-73-154, an eight stroke improvement. Greg Jones shaved four strokes off his score with an 87-83-170 and the "consistent" Kyle Tour improved with an 82-79-161 total.

"It was impressive how the guys adjusted to the course for the second 18 holes," said Ragone. "Only two of our five had played the course before. It’s a challenging course, it’s got to be, they hold an LPGA event there."

While Jake Kilberg did not improve his second round score, he was the picture of consistency, carding an 86-87-173.

"They were fairly tired when they finished," said Ragone of the 36-hole day. "But, they like the course. We’ve done fairly well there the last few years. An added bonus to playing the course is that it’s a lot like the course where the conference tournament is held."

Speaking of the MWC tournament, has Ragone settled on the six he will take to the conference meet in a few weeks? "We’re still trying to iron out our top six," he reports. Did you catch that pun – "IRON OUT?" We didn’t know Ragone was such a funny guy.

There’s nothing funny about the coach’s job of determining his top six. "We’re eight to 10 players deep and nothing has been decided yet," said Ragone. "I think we’ll have a better picture after our next two meets."

FOUL WEATHER, FAIR RESULTS

The track team didn’t let little things like wind, occasional drizzle and sub-freezing wind chills bother their performance at the Lee Calhoun Invitational hosted by Western Illinois University Saturday. The Fighting Scots men placed fifth and the women seventh in a field that included numerous Division I programs.

"The weather was not ideal, a bit chilly, but not too bad," said coach Roger Haynes. "We had some mediocre results due to some of the athletes letting the weather affect them."

The weather did not affect the Scots pole vaulters who placed 1-2 for the third time in as many meets this outdoor season. Due to the wind conditions, the pole vault and high jump events were moved indoors, but still counted for conference and NCAA marks. Seniors Peter Sprecher and Jonny Henkins each improved their automatic qualifying height. Sprecher took top honors clearing a school record 17’4-1/2, which ranks him first nationally. Henkins’ second-place vault of 17’0-3/4 improved his national standing by more than six inches. Freshman Brock McAnally tied for eighth with a vault of 14’5-1/4.

Like the men, the pole vault was a high point for the Scots women. Senior Jessica White improved her national standing in the pole vault, clearing the provisional qualifying height with a vault of 12’5-1/2. The height tied her for first at the meet with a vaulter from WIU. Her improved height ranks her third nationally. Freshman Whitney Didier equaled her personal best with a vault of 10’11-3/4, tying her for fourth.

Sarah Stinson, Megan Clennon and Heather Hull were bunched together in the high jump as the top Division III jumpers. Stinson placed in a tie for fourth at 5’1, Clennon was sixth at 4’11 and Hull’s height of 4’9 tied her for seventh.

Zach Wilson had the best mark in the hammer throw, shot put and discus among Division III athletes. The senior thrower tossed the hammer a provisional-qualifying 175’5 to place fourth. He was also fourth in the shot put, heavign the shot 46’9-1/2 and his 142’5 discus mark was good for eighth. Sam Cokinos was sixth in the shot put at 43’6. Freshman Peyton Lumzy turned in a career-best 127’2 in the hammer throw, placing 16th.

Michael Blodgett and Sheridan Ray placed 7-8 in the triple jump. Blodgett jumped 39’5-3/4 and Ray turned in a mark of 38’5. Brad Gross scored for the Scots in the long jump, finishing seventh with a leap of 20’0-1/4.

"We had some outstanding individual performances," reported Haynes. "Jake Stott had a very good day by a long shot in the sprints."

Stott had a career day on the track turning in two lifetime bests. The junior placed second in the 200-meter dash, clocking a 22.10, just .42 behind the winner from Eastern Illinois University. His lifetime mark of 11.11 in the 100- was the fastest among Division III runners and seventh overall. The time was also just .42 back of the winner from Eastern. He and Gross were joined by Aaron Daverin and Luke Reschke to run to a third-place finish on the 4x100 relay in 42.66. Blodgett teamed with Patrick Mundschenk, Saidu Sesay and Kyle Prout to finish eighth in the 4x100 with a time of 44.66.

Daverin also placed fourth in the 200-meters recording a time of 22.41. Gross’ 51.47 placed him eighth in the 400- meters as the first Division III runner to cross the finish line. Brad Begyn and Scott Sheller finished 4-5 in the 5,000-meters. Only Division I runners bested their times of 15:48.41 and 15:49.78, respectively.

Clennon threw the javelin 105’10 to finish seventh. She led among Division III athletes. Jenny Babos placed fourth in the shot put at 40’2. Gloria Lehr’s shot of 39’6 was good for seventh. Tanesha Hughes’ discus mark of 133’4 placed her sixth as the top finisher among Division III.

On the track, Shannon Turczyn clocked another provisional time in the 100- hurdles. Her 14.60 was good for third. She also placed seventh in the 400- running a 1:01.21. Katie Staab ran a lifetime best in placing sixth in the 5,000-meters. Her time of 19:13.26 was the top time among DIII athletes.

"Katie ran a lifetime best by quite a bit," praised Haynes. "Overall, I think our distance runners, men and women did an outstanding job as a group."

Turczyn was joined by Katey Vaccarello, Morgan Leffel and Jae Moore to place seventh in the 4x100 relay with a time of 51.41. Moore drew praise from Haynes for her sprint performances. "Jae ran well in the 100 (12.73, 16th) and 200 (26.82, 12th) meters," he said. "Shannon also did a nice job with her provisional time in the 100 hurdles."

"I go to each meet hoping we do some things surprising well," he continued. "I definitely got that feeling Saturday. We weren’t good by our standards, but it was a meet well worth doing. We still have a few things to finalize before the conference meet in four weeks. We need to find that third performer in some events and develop a level of consistency."

One thing that has been consistent is the Scots ability to earn the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week honors. For the second week in a row the track teams swept the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week honors in men’s and women’s track & field. Stott and Sprecher were named the men’s track and field winners, respectively. Staab was named the women’s track honoree and White earned the women’s field honor. Sprecher was named MWC POW for the second consecutive week.

The Scots travel to the Illinois Benedictine Invitational in Lisle, Ill., for a meet this weekend.

DO THAT VOODOO THAT YOU DO

When we last left former Scots quarterback Mitch Tanney, he had Soul, as in Philadelphia Soul of the Arena League.

We now return to our regular programming and find Tanney is under the spell of Voodoo, the New Orleans Voodoo. Unlike geometry, in the AFL the shortest distance between two points is NOT a straight line.

Here’s how it happened.

What happened next can only be described as a whirlwind tour.

Here’s the thought process inside Tanney’s head at this point – "Let’s see, Tampa is 2-4, New Orleans is tied for first in the division at 5-2 and they want me to be their backup – really. OK, New Orleans it is."

Thurs., Apr. 17

Men’s Golf – at Indian Hills Invitational, 11:00 am