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SOFTBALL: Pete's Blues win SIFL championship

Posted August 09, 2011 11:00 pm

Doug Daniels

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Pete's Blues are the first champions of the Southern Illinois Fastpitch League after a 9-4 victory over the regular-season unbeaten Pinckneyville Falcons in the finals of the SIFL post-season tournament on Monday.

Just six days earlier, Pete's had handed the Falcons their first loss in SIFL play, a 6-2 defeat highlighted by New Zealand sensation Penese Iosefo's seventeen strikeouts that sent the Falcons into the losers' bracket of the tournament.

On Monday, an estimated crowd of 150 gathered at Greg Hale Field for the rematch, and Iosefo belted a two-run homer at the dish and fanned ten in four scoreless innings in the circle to claim Outstanding Pitcher of the Tournament.

"He's got three pitches, they all move, he throws hard, he's one of the best pitchers we've seen all year," said Falcons' head coach Eric Saunders. "It's going to do nothing but help us in the state tournament this weekend."

Iosefo's two-run blast off of Pinckneyville starter Bryant Hale put Pete's up 2-0 after the top of the first, but the Falcons responded with three of their own in the bottom half off of Troy Downen, who began the game pitching for the Blues.

Haven Hicks singled to drive in Saunders, then Tournament MVP Mason Woodside crushed a two-run homer over the left field fence for a 3-2 lead.

A lead-off walk and an error hurt the Falcons in the top of the third as Pete's took the lead with a four-spot, then Woodside went deep again in the bottom of the fourth to cut the Blues' lead to 6-4.

After Woodside's homer, however, the Blues called Iosefo in from left field to pitch the remainder of the game. A single by Hayden Hicks in the fourth, another by Brandon Hardin in the seventh and a pair of walks were all the Falcons managed against the dominant hurler.

"Any count he had was a pitcher's count, there's no such thing as a hitter's count against him," Saunders said.

Pete's piled on three more in the fifth to provide more than enough for Iosefo. Only four of the sixteen batters he faced put the ball into play, and he struck out the side in both the fifth and sixth innings.

Woodside (2-2, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB), Saunders (1-4, R), Hardin (1-3), Hay. Hicks (1-2, BB), Haven Hicks (1-4, R) and Ricky Kasban (1-3) had hits against Pete's. Hale took the defeat with his five innings of work before John Kiselewski came on for a scoreless sixth and seventh.

Woodside's two homers gave him three on the day in just four official at-bats. The first baseman also homered in a 5-3 win over the Pinckneyville Relics in the losers' bracket final played just before the championship.

The Relics led 3-1 heading to the bottom of the sixth, but couldn't hang on as Kasban, Saunders and Lyle Winter all hit to start the inning. Adam Barczewski added a sacrifice fly to cap off a four-run frame for the Falcons.

Kasban (2-3, R), Saunders (1-3, R, RBI), Winter (1-3, R, RBI), Woodside (1-2, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB) and Garrett Breeding (1-2) hit safely for the Falcons in the contest. Hale got the win, Mike O'Rear the loss for the Relics.

The Falcons travel to Decatur on Friday night to begin play in the Illinois ASA Mens' "C" Fastpitch 2011 State Tournament in round one action against Jumpin Jimmy's (Teutopolis).

Play continues throughout the weekend with the finals beginning at around 4:15 p.m. on Sunday.

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