JOHNSTON CITY — It took 31 years to get here, but the Zeigler-Royalton-Christopher Tornadoes (22-10) have finally won their first Regional championship with a 5-3 win over the Vienna Eagles (18-5) in the final game of the Johnston City 2A regional on Saturday.
The Tornadoes took the early lead after Steven Anderson hit a leadoff double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Gabe Schimpf in the top of the first. The Eagles came back to tie things up in the bottom of the inning, and then ZRC wrestled away the lead one more time in the top of second on a leadoff knock by Clay Humerickhouse and another sharp single by Hunter Wheeler.
Schimpf gave up his first earned runs of the season off of a two-run homer by Jakob Breeden which put the Tornadoes in a 3-2 hole in the bottom of the second. Schimpf pulled himself together quickly though, and held the Eagles off the scoreboard the rest of game despite giving up eight hits overall.
With the game all knotted up at three in the top of the sixth, Vienna hurler Jarrad Wiggs beaned Clayton Humerickhouse for what was the third straight time in the game, leading to his ejection and setting up ZRC for the big rally. Ricky Tochtrop and Logan Giles both scored on hits by B.T Broadway and Anderson to put ZRC up 5-3.
Schimpf cruised through the first two batters of the final half-inning with just four pitches, but then Ryan Bradley singled with two strikes, and Nathaniel Ross followed with another two-strike, two-out knock to put both the tying and winning runs on base for the Eagles. Schimpf once again had a Vienna batter,this time Trenton Hyde, down to his final strike, but Hyde managed to work the count full, until finally taking one on the outside corner that ended the game and sent catcher Shane McCowen, along with the entire Tornadoes team rushing the mound to embrace their star pitcher and celebrate the momentous occassion.
Schimpf fanned 11 batters and was 3-for-3 at the dish with two RBIs, while Anderson was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI. Also scoring hits in the game for ZRC were Kaeleb Pedigo, Humerickhouse, Wheeler, and Broadway.
"It's like a weight has been lifted," said ZRC coach Page Kirkpatrick after the win. "We haven't won a Regional for 31 years, and it's one of those things where every year that's our number one goal. To get that plaque is just like it hasn't even happened. It's not even real at this point. I hope it settles in for everybody and they realize what we've done, and what we've accomplished, and all we've been through. It's surreal right now."
Kirkpatrick added, "That was the longest seventh inning of my life. We're all sitting there on pins and needles and your just waiting for that reaction to finally happen, and when it did, everybody just blew up, and it was a great feeling."
With this win, ZRC improves its record to 22-10, setting a new benchmark for best win-loss record in school history, and advances to the Du Quoin Sectional on Wednesday where they are set to play Murphysboro at 4:30 p.m.
