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Era ends for Panthers, Stoll in loss to Butler
North loses lead in sixth, then game in seventh on a passed ball in final game before merger of schools.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
SPRINGFIELD — Mitch Monke pitched as if it were his last game, his team's last game, his coach's last game. It was all three.
"I was trying to not let it be my last game," the North senior said.
North's Joey Borders reacts as Mike Radominski of Vandalia Butler leaps up from home plate after scoring the winning run in the seventh inning of the Division I sectional baseball title game on Friday, May 16, at Carleton Davidson Stadium. Butler won 3-2. Staff photo by Barbara J. PerenicThe end had to come sometime. But Monke, the No. 4 seed Panthers and departing head coach Mark Stoll hoped it would come after a sectional championship.
Instead, Vandalia Butler's Mike Radominski scored on a passed ball with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday, May 16, at Carleton Davidson Stadium. The run gave the No. 1 seed Aviators a 3-2 victory and a Division I sectional title.
The tears flowed for Stoll, the head coach for 25 years, in the dugout minutes after the game as his wife, Debbie, consoled him. The tears flowed for many Panthers.
It wasn't just the loss, or the way in which they lost, but what the loss meant — the end of not just a season, but of an era for a school that will become part of Springfield High School in September.
"It's been a great time," Stoll said. "I hate for it to end like this is all."
North (20-9) took a 2-1 lead into the sixth inning, and Monke was coasting. He finished with nine strikeouts against a team that lit him up in a 17-5 loss April 9.
Junior Justin Williams drove in North's first run with a double in the second. Senior Joey Borders gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead with an RBI single in the third.
An error by the Panthers in the sixth let Butler tie the game. A failed sacrifice squeeze in the seventh stopped North from taking the lead.
Monke gave up a single to Radominski to start the seventh. Borders replaced him, but Radominski stole second, moved to third on a bunt and scored on the passed ball.
The combination of all those mistakes doomed the Panthers.
"When you get this far in the tournament, you have to play fundamental baseball and execute," Stoll said.
Stoll said he had no regrets. Monke will be able to look back with pride on the final season, too.
"I'm just proud of our whole team, our coaches, everybody," Monke said. "To win 20 games, you don't just do that by putting together a team. You have to work hard every single day, and we had fun every single day, and that was the best part of this whole season."
