BUCKLEY – Archrivalries between two teams close in proximity are bound to produce some neighborly rivalries.
Less than a month ago, Charles Cambridge and Bryar Cosgrove played their final baseball game as Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School teammates.
On Sunday, Cambridge and Cosgrove were in opposite dugouts and in the starting lineup of the Eastern Illinois Baseball League’s Buckley Dutchmasters and Paxton Swedes, respectively. Johnny Rodeen and Conner Vaughn, who were also on that PBL team, were in the Swedes’ dugout as well.
With two 11-1 victories on Sunday, Cambridge, who is in his second season with the Dutchmasters, is 8-0 against the Swedes.
“It feels good to have a little bit of bragging rights, but it’s all fun at the end of the day,” Cambridge said. “I get it a little bit from them about playing on this team, but it is what it is. It feels good to have the upper hand on them.”
The Dutchmasters have won 19 games in a row over the Swedes. Their last loss to Paxton was on May 29, 2022.
“It’s always good for us,” said Buckley first baseman Tanner Tompkins, who is in his second year with the Dutchmasters. “I can’t complain.”
“The environment that we play in these weeks is as good as it gets,” Dutchmasters manager Jimmy Brandt added. “We’ve got fans that care a ton about both sides, so it’s really good to come out here in front of a good Buckley fanbase and get two more wins.”
The two 11-1 wins on Sunday propelled Buckley’s record to 5-1. The Dutchmasters, who have won the EI League’s regular-season and tournament championship in each of the last three years, are tied for first place in the league standings with the Royal Giants, who handed Buckley its only loss the previous week.
“It’s always good to get two games on a Sunday,” Brandt said.
When the Dutchmasters clinched the feat of back-to-back-to-back seasons with a regular season and tournament championship, they became the first team to do so since the Paxton Swedes – who lost to Buckley in last year’s title series – did it in 2002-04.
The two losses on Sunday dropped the Swedes to 0-4 after a bye week the previous week and forfeiting the season-opening series to the Giants.
“This is going to be a process of rebuilding a team,” Swedes manager Mark Prina said. “I told the guys this is part of the whole process. If we can keep this group together for the next 3-5 years, we can build something like Buckley has again. We’ve been there before. We can get back to being relevant every week. I think we were better on paper today than we were at the end of the year last year.”
The Swedes had five players in their batting order making their EI League debut.
“This isn’t the easiest place to play your first team – against the class of the league,” Prina said. “They have been for a while. It was just not the best situation for us, but it’s a great situation for them to see what this league’s about and what we’ve got to build to. We know where we’re at and where we’ve got to get to in order to get to their level, somehow, someway.”
***
After Hunter Brewer and Rylan Pheifer each drew a walk to start the first inning of Game 1 for Buckley, Jay Eshleman reached base on an error that resulted in Brewer crossing home plate. Another error on a Zach Price ground ball allowed Pheifer to cross home plate to make it 2-0 in favor of the Dutchmasters.
“We didn’t make some plays, and that cost us some big innings,” Prina said. “We’ve got to make the routines plays better defensively, but we’ve got a bunch of guys who have not played together before coming together, so the timing’s off defensively and the communication’s not there yet.”
After Josh Krumwiede drew a walk to load the bases with two outs, Tanner Tompkins lined a base hit to right field to send two runs across home plate to extend Buckley’s lead to 4-0.
“The guys are starting to get hot and put some bats on balls,” Tompkins said.
Tompkins finished the doubleheader with six hits as he went 3-for-4 in each game.
“I was seeing the ball well today and just put it in play,” Tompkins said. “It was a fun day.”
After Zach Price drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second base on a Drake Schrodt sacrifice bunt in the fourth inning, Krumwiede singled to left field to send a run home. Followinga Tompkins base on balls, Cambridge doubled to center field to send Krumwiede and Tompkins across home plate to extend Buckley’s lead to 7-0.
“The first two at-bats weren’t very pretty, so I tried to make an adjustment,” Cambridge said. “It worked, and I started to spread the ball around, so it felt good.”
The good feelings continued for Cambridge in Game 2 as he hit 4-for-4 with three RBIs, including a two-RBI single that clinched the game via 10-run rule.
The Dutchmasters enforced the 10-run rule in Game 1 as well via three runs in the sixth inning and one in the eighth.
After Ryan Bompes hit an RBI double for the Swedes in the top of the sixth inning, Tompkins, Cambridge and Brewer each drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Tuff Elson sent Tompkins home with a sacrifice fly ball to left field before Pheifer reloaded the bases with an infield single. Jay Eshleman then sent Cambridge and Brewer across home plate with a line-drive double to center field.
“We were able to put together a good offensive showing all day,” Brandt said. “A bunch of guys hit the ball on the barrel.”
In the eighth inning, Price drew a walk before Schrodt doubled to center field to send the game-clinching run across home plate.
“I wish we could have got out of there earlier, but it was a good team win,” Cambridge said. “Everybody hit the ball. Pitching was great. Guys just went out there and executed things. It came along nice.”
Braden Roesch struck out 10 batters and walked four while allowing no runs on one hit through five innings for Buckley. Collin Hartman allowed one earned run on one hit and three walks with five strikeouts through five innings.
“We were able of pitch and get ourselves out of some jams in the first game and make some really nice plays on the infield and keep some guys off second base when we needed to on balls in the outfield,” Brandt said. “We pitched it really well and we were able to get outs to finish innings when we needed to. It was a great day of baseball.”
Both of Paxton’s hits were provided by Bompes.
“Our timing was off at the plate,” Prina said. “We had good at-bats, but we didn’t have enough good at-bats in a row to string together a big inning.”
For the Swedes, Caleb Clutteur allowed six runs – two earned – on two hits and six walks with four strikeouts through 3 1/3 innings. Vaughn allowed five earned runs on seven hits and five walks with three strikeouts through 4 1/3 innings.
“I thought our pitchers, for the most part, threw some strikes,” Prina said. “We didn’t have tons of walks.”
***
Tompkins and Cambridge each hit line-drive singles with two outs in the first inning of Game 2 before Gavin Houchins belted a three-run homer past the left-field fence to give Buckley a 3-0 lead.
“I wasn’t thinking too much,” Houchins said. “I just wanted to hit the ball. It felt good off the bat.”
Houchins, a Moweaqua native, is in his first year with the Dutchmasters as he is playing for Millikin.
“It’s pretty fun,” Houchins said. “I like being here.”
Later in the first inning, Elson and Jay Eshleman each singled before Cole Eshleman lined a base hit to center field to send both runners home to extend the Dutchmasters’ lead to 5-0.
Two of the Swedes’ veteran players, Alex Barney and Caleb Atwood, contributed to helping the Swedes score their lone run in the second inning.
First-year player Charlie Hobbs drew a one-out walk before Barney advanced him to second base with a single to center field. After both baserunners advanced into scoring position via a balk, Hobbs scored on an Atwood groundout.
“They’re older, and they understand the league. If you can get some experience on your bench to help the young kids grow into this league, I think it can be a really good situation for us.”
Max Cook lined out to the first baseman Tompkins for the third out. The Dutchmasters finished the doubleheader without committing an error.
“We played some good defense behind our pitchers, who threw strikes,” Tompkins said.
In the bottom of the second inning, Tompkins hit a two-out double to left field before scoring on Cambridge base hit to left field. Elson reached base on an error in the third inning before scoring on a two-out single by Pheifer to extend Buckley’s lead to 7-1.
In the fourth inning, Tompkins reached on an error and Cambridge singled to right field to put runners on the corners with nobody out. With one out, Elson sent Tompkins home with a sacrifice fly ball to right field.
In the fifth inning, Schrodt and Krumwiede each hit a two-out single before Tompkins sent Schrodt home with a double to center field. Cambridge hit his game-clinching single in the next at-bat.
Austin Davy allowed one earned run on two hits and one walk with one strikeout through four innings for Buckley while Altin Nettleton allowed no runs on one hit and no walks with one inning. For Paxton, Payton Harwood pitched a complete game, allowing 11 runs – nine earned – on 15 hits and no walks with four strikeouts.
***
The Dutchmasters will face the Arcola High Power on the road next Sunday before facing the Danville Dirtbags on the road on June 29 and hosting the Giants on July 6.
“We just have to keep putting good at-bats together and keep throwing strikes and playing defense,” Brandt said. “We’re starting to get some guys in positions where we know they can be successful, and we’re going to keep doing that all the way down the road. It’s going to be a tough battle, like it always is. We’re going to keep trying to put our guys where they can be successfully.”
The Swedes will face the Dirtbags (2-2) on the road next Sunday before hosting the High Power (0-4) on June 22.
“That’s a chance for these guys to get to know each other and get some confidence and for me to learning where people fit to make us the best team possible,” Prina said. “Hopefully, that will help us get some confidence and get some rhythm together.”
On June 29, Paxton will face the Giants in St. Joseph.
“Hopefully we’re ready by the time we get to Royal and we’re hitting on all cylinders and every game is really competitive,” Prina said.
The Swedes’ and Dutchmasters’ next meeting will be in Paxton on July 13.
“Our goal, next time we play them, is to play two competitive games, and we’ve got about a month to get there,” Prina said. “Our goal is to be competing again at the end of the year and trying to make the championship series and seeing what happens.”
Game 1
Buckley Dutchmasters 11, Paxton Swedes 1
PAX 000 001 00 — 1 2 2
BUCK 040 303 01 — 11 9 0
W – Braden Roesch, 5 IP, H, 0 R, 10 K, 4 BB. L – Caleb Clutteur, 3.1 IP, 2 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 4 K, 6 BB.
Paxton – Dalton Busboom R, 2 BB. Ryan Bompes 2-4, 2B, RBI. Alex Barney 2 BB. Thomas Schwartz 2 BB.
Buckley – Drake Schrodt 1-5, 2B, RBI, R. Josh Krumwiede 1-3, RBI, R. Tanner Tompkins 3-4, 2B, 2 RBIs, 2 R. Charles Cambridge 2-4, 2 RBIs, R. Hunter Brewer 2 R,3 BB. Tuff Elson RBI. Rylan Pheifer 1-2, R, 3 BB. Jay Eshleman 1-5, 2 RBIs. Zach Price RBI, 2 BB.
Game 2
Buckley Dutchmasters 11, Paxton Swedes 1
PAX 010 00 — 1 3 2
BUCK 511 13 — 11 15 0
W – Austin Davy, 4 IP, 2 H, ER, K, BB. L – Payton Harwood, 4.2 IP, 15 H, 11 R, 9 ER, 4 K, 0 BB.
Paxton (0-4) – Bryar Cosgrove 1-3. Charlie Hobbs R. Alex Barney 1-2. Caleb Atwood 1-2, RBI.
Buckley (5-1) – Drake Schrodt 2-4, R. Josh Krumwiede 1-4, R. Tanner Tompkins 3-4, 2 2B, RBI, 4 R. Charles Cambridge 4-4, 3 RBIs, R. Gavin Houchins 1-3, HR, 3 RBIs, R. Tuff Elson 1-2, RBI, 2 R. Jay Eshleman 1-2, R. Cole Eshleman 1-3, 2 RBIs. Rylan Pheifer 1-3, RBI.