BUCKLEY — “You can’t write the script any better,” says veteran Buckley Dutchmasters player Jay Eshleman.
The script to Game 1 of the Eastern Illinois Baseball League Tournament championship series ended Saturday with the Dutchmasters rallying to a 6-5 victory over the Royal Giants. With the win, they are one win away from winning their 21st tournament title and becoming the first team to win four championships in a row since the 1967-70 Giants.
“We’ve just got a group of great guys. They’re never out of the fight,” Eshleman said. “They never count themselves out. That’s what this organization is and has been like through its entire existence. The name on the front of the jersey always means more than the name on the back. Any of these guys would go to war for one another, and that’s something we take pride in. Playing the game and doing things the right way is something we take pride in and expect to do year-in and year-out.”
Entering the bottom of the ninth inning, the Dutchmasters trailed 5-4.
Drake Schrodt led off by drawing a hit-by-pitch and Josh Krumwiede walked before an error on a ground ball hit by Tanner Tompkins loaded the bases with one out. Ty Cribbett tied the game by sending Schrodt home with a sacrifice fly ball to left field.
Before approaching the plate, Charles Cambridge had a message for Tuff Elson, who was in the on-deck circle.
“I turned and looked at Tuff and said, ‘This is my moment,’” Cambridge said. “I went up there believing that.”
Cambridge’s moment came on a 1-2 pitch that he lined to left field.
“I put a pretty good swing at a slider and walked off,” Cambridge said. “I was just trying to have a big day.”
The hit sent Krumwiede home from second base as Krumwiede slid across home plate.
“That’s just one of those situations where you’re trying not to fall when you round third base,” Krumwiede said. “When Chuck hit that ball on the screws, I knew that it was through and I knew I’d have a chance to score, but he hit it so hard. I’m not one of the fastest runners at this point, but I was able to get in there and beat the throw, so that’s all that matters.”
It was the last game Krumwiede will play at Scheiwe Field. Prior to Saturday’s game, Krumwiede and Eshleman were honored by the Dutchmasters in a ceremony as they both announced their retirement.
“There’s not a lot of better ways to finish the last game for me at home,” Krumwiede said. “To score the game-winning run on a walk-off hit was awesome, and I’ll remember that for a long time.”
“It was a great finish to an awesome day of baseball,” Dutchmasters manager Jimmy Brandt added. “It was a fun day of baseball and it was competitive all the way down to the wire.”
The magnitude of the retirement of Krumwiede and Eshleman was not lost on Cambridge, who is in his second year with the Dutchmasters and graduated from Paxton-Buckley-Loda last spring.
“It was a huge day with Josh and Jay retiring,” Cambridge said. “They were on the back of my mind. It feels good to get a win on their last home game. I wouldn’t want to do it for any other guys.”
Krumwiede retires after 15 years as Buckley’s second baseman.
The Carrollton native has accumulated over 340 hits in more than 285 games played, recording a career batting average of over .330 with more than 200 RBIs. In the field, he has turned a double play with 20 different shortstops.
Krumwiede helped the Dutchmasters win 10 regular season and eight tournament titles.
“It’s always been about the team first. The accomplishments I’ve had individually don’t even come close to being in (title contention) year-in and year-out, seemingly,” Krumwiede said. “I’m just grateful to play for this team and this program for 15 years. I’ve made a lot of memories here. I’ve gained a lot of friends that I call family. Some have come and gone, but this is the family now.”
Eshleman, a Loda native who is completing his 14th season with Buckley after playing six different positions on the field and hitting over .300 four times in his career, won nine regular season and eight tournament championships.
“It’s bittersweet. I’ve got a lot of memories here. I’ve grown up here my entire life,” Eshleman said. “It’s tough. It’s something that’ll be hard to walk away from, but I’ve been grateful.”
“We’re really going miss those guys and their ability to produce in situations where your back’s against the wall and you’ve got to have somebody to get a hit or make a play in the field,” Brandt added. “I’m glad that I had the chance to play with both of them. They’re some of my lifelong friends. We’re surely going to miss them. I know they’ve got a life ahead of them with kids and things like that. I wish them the best, and we’re going to keep plugging along like we always do.”
***
Buckley found itself trailing 3-0 after the first inning for the second time in as many weeks.
The previous Sunday, the Dutchmasters overcame a 3-0 deficit in a 16-4 win in the EI League Tournament semifinals over the Paxton Swedes.
In the first inning of Saturday’s game, the Giants’ Braxton Waller was hit by a pitch with one out before singled by Blake Hoveln and Tom Woken loaded the bases. Adam Price then lined a base hit to center field to send Waller and Hoveln home before Wolken scored on a sacrifice fly ball hit to center field by Jake Miller.
“I don’t think we played our best, but we kept battling,” Krumwiede said. “We found a way to do it at the end having baserunners and having guys come through. We talked about it all year.”
The Dutchmasters tied the game in the fourth inning as Tompkins reached base on an error with one out before Cambridge reached base on an infield single to put runners on the corners with two outs. Elson lined a single to left field to send Cribbett home before advancing to second base on the throw toward the infield.
After Andrew Zenner sent Elson home with an infield single, Eshleman lined a base hit to right field to send Elson home for the tying run.
“I was lucky enough to get a fastball there,” Eshleman said. “In an RBI situation, you’re just looking for a good pitch. We had good production out of everybody together. The bottom of the order kind of came through and put me in a good position to tie the game up.”
In the fifth inning, Hunter Brewer hit a one-out double to right field before Tompkins lined a base hit to left field to send Brewer home and give Buckley a 4-3 lead.
“It’s not always ideal to put yourself behind the 8-ball, but we were able to come back and tie the game with some really good offense, moving guys over and getting some timely hitting to score some runs,” Brandt said.
***
The Giants rallied back with two runs in the sixth inning.
Casey Dillman led off the inning with a single to left field before Trevor Ames drew a two-out walk and Waller belted a fly ball past Eshleman in right field that resulted in a double and two runs scored.
Buckley’s back-and-forth battle was no surprise to Brandt. After all, they were playing against the EI League’s regular-season champion.
“They were as competitive as they always are,” Brandt said. “We knew they were going to keep battling. They came back and punched us in the mouth again. They’re never going to do down quietly, and you’ve got to be able to respond, and we were able to do that today.”
Buckley finished the game outhitting the Giants 13-8 as Cambridge hit 3-for-4 while Krumwiede, Elson and Eshleman each hit 2-for-4 and Brewer hit 2-for-5.
“You can’t ask for anything better offensively,” Brandt said.
Rylan Pheifer earned the win in a relief effort on the mound, striking out one batter and walking none while allowing no runs on two hits through the game’s final two innings. Starter Austin Davy allowed five earned runs on six hits and six walks with six strikeouts through 5 2/3 innings pitched while Noah Steiner allowed no runs on no hits and one walk with one strikeout through 1 1/3 innings.
“Our pitchers kept us in the game (after the first inning),” Krumwiede said. “They gave us a chance.”
***
Game 2 will be played at Meier Field in St. Joseph at 1 p.m. Sunday.
“Hopefully, we can get two in a row,” Cambridge said. “It’d be a good introduction to the league.”
Game 3, if necessary, will also be played on Sunday at Meier Field in St. Joseph.
“We’ve still got work to do tomorrow,” Krumwiede said. “Let’s try to take that first one tomorrow and not let it get to Game 3 if we can help it.”
Buckley Dutchmasters 6, Royal Giants 5
ROY 300 002 000 — 5 8 4
BUCK 000 310 002 — 6 13 0
W – Rylan Pheifer, 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, K, 0 BB. L – Holden Cargo, 1.2 IP, 12 H, 4 R, ER, 5 K, 2 BB.
Royal (13-4) – Trevor Ames 2-4, R. Braxton Waller 1-4, 2B, 2 RBIs, R. Blake Hoveln 2-2, R, 3 BB. Tom Wolken 1-5, R. Adam Price 1-3, 2 RBIs. Jake Miller RBI. Casey Dillman 1-4, R.
Buckley (11-5) – Drake Schrodt R. Josh Krumwiede 2-4, R. Hunter Brewer 2-5, 2B, R. Tanner Tompkins 1-5, RBI. Ty Cribbett R. Charles Cambridge 3-4, RBI, R. Tuff Elson 2-4, RBI, R. Andrew Zenner 1-4, RBI. Jay Eshleman 2-4, RBI.