Broncos split with TMP

 By DAVID THOMPSON Daily News Sportswriter
 RUSSELL - On Tuesday, April 24, the Russell Broncos Played host to the Thomas More Prep-Marian Monarchs.
Ryan Feil was on the mound to do the pitching duties in the first game, and had a fairly uneventful first inning, as he gave up only one hit to TMP shortstop Luke Dreiling, who ended up on second base. Feil then got TMP pitcher, Jeremy Schumacher, to hit the ball to the first baseman, Jacob Schulte, to get the third out.
In Russell's half of the inning, Adam Irwin drew a leadoff walk, and stole second base. Irwin scored off a double base hit by Steven Walters.
Irwin scored the only points in the inning as Blaise Kaufman hit the ball back to the pitcher, who in turn threw Kaufman out at the first base.
In the top of the second, TMP came back to tie the score as second baseman Luke Flax scored off a double base hit from third baseman, Chris Klaus.
It got a bit tense as Andrew Hedge, the right fielder, drew a base on balls, putting two runners on the bases.
Feil, not being scathed, got TMP left fielder, Luke Gottschalk, called out on strikes to end the top half of the second inning.
Schulte got things started for the Broncos in their half of the second inning as he was hit by a wild pitch, then stole second base.
Feil hit a pop fly back to the pitcher, and Nathan Ryan grounded out to second.
On a fluke play, left fielder Cody Hamlin was called out swinging at strike three, however, the catcher dropped the ball, allowing Hamlin to advance to first base. Schulte also advanced to third base on that play.
With Irwin batting, the pitcher threw the ball past the catcher, allowing Schulte to score, putting Russell back up by one point.
Neal grounded out to second base for out number three.
Dreiling started off the third inning with a home run over the left field fence to again tie the score at two runs apiece, which was the only damage done in the inning.
Walters was left stranded at third base in the bottom half of the inning as Nuss hit a fly ball to center field to sacrifice the runner to second base.
Kaufman was called out on strikes, and Schulte hit a fly ball to left field to end the inning.
There was no scoring by TMP in the fourth inning, and Russell also was held scoreless in the inning, however, Feil was left on base in scoring position.
TMP did a little damage in the fifth inning by scoring two runs, one by Hammerschmidt, and the other by Schumacher.
Schippers was accredited with the RBI single, and was called out at third base trying to steal home.
Hedge got the third out of the inning, however TMP had taken a four to two lead in the game.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Neas was advanced when he got hit by the pitch, then Walters hit a fly ball to the center fielder to advance Neal. Tyler Nuss was called out on strikes.
Kaufman was up next and hit an RBI shot over the right field fence for a two run homer and more importantly, tying the score back at four points apiece.
Schulte made the third out by lining to the second baseman.
TMP was held scoreless in their half of the sixth inning, as Russell was sent down in order to end the sixth.
With the score tied at four, things went sour for the Broncos.
Schippers made it to first base on an error, then Flax mae the first out, hitting the ball back to the pitcher, Feil, who threw Flax out at first base.
The designated hitter, Matt Allen drew a base on balls, and Shawn Zimmerman, who replaced Klaus, also made it on base because of an error.
Hedge became the second out, popping up to the shortstop, Steven Walters.
A throwing error allowed Schippers and Allen to score, then Dreiling drew a walk. Next, Hammerschmidt hit a double, scoring Zimmerman, and Hammerschmidt scored on a throwing error.
TMP ended up with five runs on three hits. There were five Russell errors in that inning.
Adam Neal was brought in to pitch in relief of Feil, in the seventh inning.
TMP defeated the Broncos 9-4, handing Russell its second defeat of the season.
The second game began pretty much the same way as the first game, with TMP being held scoreless in the first inning as Jeremy Grizzle took the mound to begin the second game.
Irwin got on base with a single, and scored on a double base hit off Walters.
Kaufman drew a base on balls, however, the Broncos third out came when Schulte popped out to the short stop.
TMP sent only three batters up in the second as Schippers hit a single to start things off. Flax was called out on strikes, and Zimmerman hit the ball back to Grizzle, who gunned down the runner at second, then Neal got the double play to first base to end the top half of the inning.
Feil opened the second inning with a solo shot over the right field fence to give the Broncos a 2-0 lead.
Nathan Ryan, who was playing right field for the second game, advanced to first base after being hit with the pitch. Ryan was then thrown out at first while attempting to steal.
Jared Biles, playing DH for the second game, was called out swinging at strike three, and Irwin grounded out to shortstop.
TMP threatened in the top half of the third inning when Klaus hit a single, then Gottschalk hit a fly ball to second baseman Adam Neal.
Dreiling hit a double, then Hammerschmidt hit a pop fly that was caught by Irwin, who alertly threw the ball to third base, where Kaufman made the out.
In the bottom of the third Russell went on a scoring binge as Neal started things off with a singel, then advanced to second base after Walters was hit by a pitch.
Nuss made it to first base after Walters was thrown out at second, then the shortstop overthrew the first baseman, allowing Nuss to advance to second base, and Neal to third.
Kaufman hit a single, scoring Neal and Nuss. Next up was Feil, who hit his second RBI home run almost to the exact same spot as the previous at bat... over the right field fence. The four runs scored in the third would seem to be a decent cusion, however, TMP was not going to go away.
In the top of the fourth inning, Schumacher hit a single to get on base, then Schippers was thrown out on a fielder's choice as Schippers hit to the pitcher.
Flax drew a walk, and advanced to second base on a single by Zimmerman, which allowed Schippers to score.
Klaus hit an RBI single scoring Flax and Zimmerman.
Gottschalk hit a fly ball to the first baseman for the third out. But TMP had pulled within three runs at six to three.
Russell wasn't ready to panic, as they still had a three run lead, and Irwin started things off drawing a walk, then scoring off a long single by Neal, to put a four run cushion in the score.
In the top of the fifth inning, Dreiling advanced when he was hit by a pitch, and then scored on a wild pitch.
Schumacher drew a base on balls.
Russell switched pitchers, bringing Walters in, in relief of Grizzle.
Schippers advanced when he was hit by the pitch, and Zimmerman made it safely to first base on an error by the Broncos.
Dusty Washburn, the catcher, hit a double which scored Schumacher and Schippers.
Zimmerman scored off Klaus' single, before Gottschalk was called out swinging at strike three.
Russell was unable to score in the bottom half of the inning.
TMP threatened to score again in the top of the sixth, but relief pitcher Tyler Nuss shut them down.
Russell had two outs when Irwin advanced on a hit pitch. Neal, however, popped out to the catcher to end the inning.
TMP was again held scoreless and had only one runner threatening when the final out was called.
The Broncos were down to their last at bat or go into extra innings.
Having their first two outs, Kaufman came to the plate and hit a double into the gap in right field, to bring up Jacob Schulte, who hadn't reached base the entire game.
With Kaufman on second, Schulte hit a double up the middle scoring Kaufman and securing the victory for Russell.
The Broncos, who are now 10-2, won't get to relax a lot because Pratt will be coming into town on Friday, April 27 with a 4 p.m. start time.