The Ottawa Voice

Pirates maneuver a 17-6 massacre

By Bryon Besse

YORKVILLE- At times the Ottawa Pirates pitching looked shaky.  There were moments when their defense was suspect.  Heck there were even at bats where their star hitter looked lost at the plate.  Yet, the Pirates managed to not only win Wednesday night in their opening round match up with Rochelle but win going away with a five-inning 17-6 massacre of the Hubs.

“The game was sloppy at times but we we’re able to hit up and down the lineup,” Ottawa skipper Don Heaberlin said.  “Not to take anything away from Rochelle but we are going to be facing a lot tougher team on Saturday.”

Jordan Jansen took the hill for Ottawa and had innings where he dazzled (3k’s in the second inning) and innings where he struggled to retire hitters (2 hits, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 4 R in the fourth) but in the end it was the senior right-hander that earned the W giving his team a shot at a Regional Title on Saturday.

Offensively, the Pirates put up crooked numbers in three of their four innings.  The first six spots in the batting order for the Pirates (Buddy Ahlstrom 3 Runs, Brazon Wheeler 3 Runs, Michael Hermosillo Run, Kyle Wahlbaum 3 Runs, Nick Harsted 3 Runs, Tabor Griglione  2 Runs) scored 15 runs in there first 18 at-bats.

Ottawa plated five runs in the bottom of the first with Jordan Jansen helping his own cause with a run scoring base on balls.  Griglione followed with an RBI walk of his own to extend the lead to 2-1.  Then Trager came up with a big three-RBI double to push the lead to 5-1 after one. 

Wheeler added an RBI double in the second, scoring Ahlstrom (single).  Jansen then doubled in Wheeler and courtesy runner Nick Harsted scored on a pass ball to make the score 9-1.

The Hubs rallied in the top of the fourth, touching Jansen for four runs but the Pirate offense answered in the home half of the inning batting around the order and scoring eight runs Trager, Wahlbaum and Wheeler all hit safely in the inning while Hermosillo doubled and tripled in the frame.

Dustin Dekreon came on in relief of Jansen to record the save.  Ottawa will now take on the winner of the Morris / Yorkville game tomorrow evening on Saturday at 11am in Yorkville.

Titans 9U win Rock Island tourney, move to 17-2

The Naplate Titans 9U baseball team went 4-1 to win the May Madness Tournament held in Rock Island over the weekend.  In their opening pool play game on Saturday, the Titans defeated Champaign 4-0 behind the one-hit pitching performance by Shane Reynolds.  Reynolds went the distance on the mound striking out 14 Champaign batters, allowing no walks in earning the win.  Offensively Luke Couch (RBI) and Levi Shoulders each had two hits and Kadon Harth added two RBI.

Next the Titans dropped a 4-3 decision to Quad City.  Sholders doubled and singled while Jalen Flavel and Jacob Serby each added a hit and RBI.  Serby struck out eight while allowing no walks on the mound in six innings.

In their final pool play game, the Titans bounced back with a decisive 10-0 victory in four innings over Rock Island.  Reynolds had two doubles and a RBI to lead the Titans at the plate, while Couch added two hits and an RBI and Lucas Hoffman had a hit and three RBI.  Couch threw a one-hitter allowing no walks while striking out nine batters in the four innings.

In their semi-final game on Sunday the Titans used a twelve-hit attack to claim a thrilling 10-9 victory over Champaign in seven innings.  With the Titans holding a 7-3 lead in the top of the fifth, Champaign’s bats came alive to plate five runs and take an 8-7 lead.  Naplate tied the game in the bottom half of the inning on Serby’s clutch two-out single.  After both teams failed to score in the final inning, Champaign scored once in the extra frame to take a 9-8 lead.  After two intentional walks to load the bases, with two outs and the score tied, Reynolds scored from third on a wild pitch sending the Titans into the championship game.  Offensively both Reynolds and Serby went 3-for-3 with a RBI while

John Hamilton had a double, single and RBI.  Serby struck out nine batters in five innings with Couch picking up the pitching victory.

In the championship, Naplate avenged Saturday’s loss to Quad City with a 6-1 win.  With the score tied 1-1 in the fifth inning of a tight contest, Christian Lara’s two-out single scored Logan Petre giving the Titans a 2-1 lead, propelling them to the title.  Reynolds turned in another solid pitching performance going the distance striking out eight, allowing no walks and only two hits.  Nick Melvin had two hits including a double and a RBI to lead the Titans at the plate.  With the win the Titans 9U moved to 17-2 on the season.

Ottawa Xplosion 14U win Ottawa Renegades Tournament, move to 22-3

By Dan Flavel

The Ottawa Xplosion 14U went 3-0 to win the nine-team Ottawa Renegades Spring Break tournament over the weekend.  In their opener, they defeated the host Ottawa Renegades 3-0.  Offensively the Xplosion were led by Zoe Smith who had two hits including a triple.  Lyndsay Madden had two hits while Maddi Carpenter had a hit and two RBI.  Katherine Dyche struck out 13 Renegades batters while allowing no walks and only three hits to earn the win.  For the Renegades, Madelyn Thompson doubled while Maddie Dougherty had six strikeouts in the circle.

Next they recorded a 4-3 victory over the Quad City Shockers.  Dyche went 2-for-3 with two triples while Lauren Walker and Carpenter each had two hits and an RBI.  Pazley Jensen had six strikeouts and no walks to earn the victory.

In the championship game, the Xplosion defeated the Bloomington Pride 2-1.  Smith, Dyche and Walker had two hits apiece with Dyche adding an RBI.  Dyche had seven strikeouts while limiting Bloomington to three hits and no walks to earn the pitching win.  With the wins the Xplosion improved to 22-3 on the season.

 

Jansen dominates the Panthers

By Bryon Besse (story and video)

OTTAWA- Can any of you remember what you did on your 18^th birthday?  I know that I can’t remember what I did this year let alone the nineteen I have celebrated since my 18^th.  Then again, I didn’t take the bump on senior day in my final regular season high school baseball game and throw 5 2/3 of no-hit baseball like Jordan Jansen did.  The senior right-hander treated himself and his teammates to 5-0 birthday-bash victory over the visiting Panthers of United Township in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader.

“Coach (Don) Heaberlin called a great game,” Jansen said of his skipper’s pitch selection.  “He had a lot of confidence in my breaking ball and we were able to keep the hitters off balance for the most part.”

Other then a base-on-balls in the top of the first, Jansen rolled through the United Township lineup through the first five innings.  Jansen threw three pitches for strikes, recording seven punch outs on the afternoon to go along with his one free pass before walking a trio of Panthers upon recording the first two outs in the sixth.  Fellow senior Buddy Ahlstrom came on in relief and set down United Township’s sixth hitter to get out of the bases loaded jam.

“In the past he has been a one-pitch pitcher,” Heaberlin said of Jansen.  “If he’s got his curve-ball and slider, his slider is a little bit quicker and doesn’t break as much as much as his curve-ball, that’s his ability to keep the batters off balance by throwing those two pitches.”             

Ottawa (24-10, 12-3) jumped on the Panthers in the first with Michael Hermosillo delivering a two-out single, stealing second and scoring on an errant throw from the UT catcher to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead after one.

Ottawa tacked on another run in the third with Jordan Grobe reaching on a base-on-balls and scoring on an RBI base hit from Hermosillo to stretch the lead to two.  Buddy Ahstrom added a run in the bottom of the fifth while Tabor Griglione and Will Hoffman added runs in the sixth from RBI’s off the bat of Grobe and Ahlstrom. 

Buddy Ahlstrom recorded the save in this one giving up the lone Panther hit in game one with two-outs in the ninth but manage to salvage the shutout.  Hermosillo (3 hits, RBI, run, SB), Colton Trager (2 hits), Ahlstrom (hit, RBI, run), Brazon Wheeler (hit), Kyle Wahlbaum (hit), Tabor Griglione (hit, run), Alex Miller (RBI), Grobe (RBI) all contributed offensively on this senior day.

“The Seniors have been great,” Heaberlain said.  “They are just a pleasure to work with all six of them (Jansen, Dustin Dekreon, Grobe, Ahlstrom, Wood and Noah O'Dell) and they understood their roles all six of them.  It was a great group of seniors and we had a great season.”

GAME 2
Ottawa dropped game two by the score of 6-4.  Hermosillo (2 hits, HR, 2 runs, RBI), Wahlbaum (2 hits, RBI, run), Griglione (hit, RBI, run), Ahlstrom (hit), Alex Miller (double, run) and Grobe (2 BB) contributed offensively.

Festivities Unlimited event to benefit family of Chris Strobel

Festivities Unlimited of Ottawa will host a quarter auction on Thursday, June 7th to raise funds for the family of the late Chris Strobel. Doors will open at 5:30 pm with bidding to begin at 6:30. Anyone bringing first time guests will receive an extra door prize entry for each guest that they bring.

Auctions will be 1 to 4 quarters. There will be $1 margaritas, sandwiches, chips, and sweet treats. All paddle and 50/50 money raised during the evening will be donated to the Strobel family.

Organizers Carrie Veal and Debbie Reoch encourage the public to come out early to get a seat, order food, shop with the vendors, and enjoy an evening of fun for a worthy cause.

Festivities Unlimited is located at 1504 Poplar Street in Ottawa, IL

Titans 9U improve to 13-1 with win over Princeton

By Dan Flavel

The Naplate Titans 9U travel baseball team recorded a 15-8 win over the Princeton 10U Thursday. 

Shane Reynolds led the way offensively with a triple, double and and an RBI.  Kadon Harth had two hits and four RBI, Levi Sholders had two hits and two RBI, John Hamilton a hit and three RBi while Jalen Flavel had a hit and two RBI.  On the mound Luke Couch, Nick Melvin, Flavel and Christian Lara combined for the pitching win. 

With the win the Titans improved to 13-1 on the season.  

 

Something new by Washington Park

Thursday afternoon workers erected a marker, through a collaboration of local, state, and federal efforts, at the intersection of La Salle and Lafayette on the Northwest corner of Washington Park, to promote tourism along the Illinois River Road National Scenic Byway.

The marker, identical to ones placed in Princeton, Peoria, East Peoria, Pekin, Havana, and Canton highlights points of interest along the Byway in each of these towns. 

Sunset Market at the Jordan Block

OTTAWA - Thursday evening brought the first Sunset Market to the Jordan Block of downtown Ottawa. Ten vendors, offering a variety of goods from jewelry, to cakes, to ball caps along with many other  items lined the North and West perimeters of the Jordan Block from 4pm until 8pm.

The series of Sunset Markets held every 3rd Thursday of the month from May through October is
sponsored by the Ottawa Downtown Merchants, the city of Ottawa, the Ottawa Visitor's Center, and WCMY am 1430.

 

 
 

Pirates shipwrecked by the Cavaliers

By Bryon Besse

OTTAWA - It took the Cavaliers just one inning of the long awaited conference title game to decide who would take home the trophy but that one inning was plenty enough for Mike Lynch.  The senior right hander was stingy the entire night.  Mixing speeds and keeping the Pirate hitters off balance, leading to a Cavalier 3-0 victory on Thursday.

Lynch dominated the Pirate hitters through six and two-third hitters to record the win for L-P.  With the win, the Cavaliers take the NIB 12 West title and take home the hardware for the conference title. 

LP started things the right way in the first, getting a lead off hit and hit-by-pitch in front of a two-RBI single from Heister, then Ericson would drive in another run with an RBI single to push the lead to 3-0.

That is where the score stayed.  Lynch made short work of Ottawa the entire night, allowing just two-hits through seven inning, one of which was an infield hit.  Without that hit, Lynch found himself in little trouble throughout this contest. 

Outside of the first inning, Jonah Morris dominated the Cavaliers through the final six innings of work.  Allowing just four hits through six innings, but it was the first inning that did the damage in this one.  LP plated three runs that the Pirates could not make up. Ottawa starter Jonah Morris settled in and calmed the Cavalier’s bats but the three runs were plenty in this one. 

LP takes the NIB 12 Conference crown with a 3-0 Cavalier victory.

Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble pack the auditorium

Ottawa High School Symphonic Band begin the 80th annual Spring Concert

OTTAWA - Before a nearly full auditorium, the Ottawa Township High School Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble performed their 80th annual Spring Concert. Conductor Sarah Reckmeyer led her State Champion musicians in a two-part performance Thursday evening.

The concert began with an offering of four songs by the Symphonic Band which included Incantations by Robert W. Smith followed by Regenesis (Song of the Planet) by John Higgins. The award-winning saxophone section took center stage to perform Saxophonia by Stephen Bulla. And the first part of the performance concluded with a composition of songs from Pixar movies arranged by Michael Brown.

After a brief intermission the Wind Ensemble filled the stage and led off with Festive Overture by Shostakovich followed by Morceau de Concert by Saint Saens. This selection featured a horn solo by senior Luke Parker. On a Hymnsong of Lowell Mason by David Holsinger was the next selection. An original composition by student and ensemble member Jake Killelea, titled Into the Abyss brought the auditorium to its feet in a standing ovation.

Several awards and scholarships were presented by Conductor Reckmeyer with the most prestigious award of the evening, whose recipient is chosen by fellow band members, going to senior Luke Parker.

The evening concluded with Vesuvius by Frank Ticheli.

The Ottawa Township High School Band has enjoyed it's 16th year as Class A State Champions.