BNGSA Angels : Welcome

More info to come but the Angels swept the Metamora Flames tonight winning the opener 9-0 before coasting home with a 12-2 win in the nightcap.  Rebecca Rupard (11-4) and Taylor Tjaden (11-2) got the wins in the circle.  The Angels will take a 28-6 mark to Starved Rock on Thursday where they will play their rival Bandits who swept the Angels in their first doubleheader of the season. 

The Angels have now won 13 straight.  Their last losses came to the 14U BNGSA Bengals on May 29th. 

On a day that was made for softball the Angels played two great games and came away with a hard fought doubleheader sweep of the always tough Milan Aces.  With the wins the Angels moved to 26-6 on the season and are in the midst of an 11 game win streak.  After the doubleheader they went and watched TEAM USA match their sweep at Champion Fields.  Just an overall great day for ball! 

In game one Rebecca Rupard moved her record to 10-4 on the year in a hard fought 8-7 thriller.  Annie Heineman drove in Rebecca Rupard with the game winner in the bottom of the 5th.  Kaitlyn Crossen was the hitting star going 3-3 on the contest. Taylor Tjaden added an rbi triple on the game. 

In game two it was a three run first and an outstanding pitching performance from Tjaden (10-2) which led the Angels to their 11th straight triumph.  Heineman, Tjaden and Megan Holderby all scored for the Red and Blue.  Tjaden scored two runs on the game.  She ended with 12 strikeouts on the contest.  

Next up for the Angels is a doubleheader against the Metamora Flames in Metamora on June 17th. 

It was not the greatest team performance on the year for the Angels but behind great pitching from Kaitlyn Crossen (4-0) and Lauri Riddell (1-0) the Angels moved their record to 24-6 with 8-0 and 12-0 wins against the BNGSA Ice.  Crossen tossed her third no-hitter of the season and Riddell got her first win by tossing a 4 inning perfect game. 

Eight different Angels scored in the first game.  Samantha Collins broke open a 0-0 game with a 2 run single in the 3rd. Crossen had an ribi triple in the win and Taylor Tjaden doubled for the Angels in the win.  Crossen had 10 K's in the win.  In game two Riddell struck out 9 of the 12 Ice batter she faced. 

Annie Heineman, Renee Ariola and Rebecca Rupard had two hits each for the Angels.  Heineman and Ariola both scored twice. 

The BNGSA Angels rolled through the St. Louis Invitational like the stormy weather that greeted them on the drive down on Friday night.  The Angels outscored their five opponents by an impressive 45-4 margin and rolled to the title unbeaten. The following is the recaps on the tournament games. 

BNGSA Angels 10     Illinois Undertakers 1  -   The heart of the Angels order did the damage in this one.  Megan Holderby (3 hits), Kaitlyn Crossen (2 hits), and Taylor Tjaden (4 hits) sparked the Angels to the win as Tjaden moved her record to 8-2 on the year with a 9 strikeout performance.  Tjaden had 3 runs batted in while Ali Wiegand had two hits and an rbi to her credit as well. 

BNGSA Angels 4   Missouri Outburst 1  -   In what proved to be the biggest challenge of the weekend for the Angels they rallied for a 4-1 win over a very good Outburst squad.  The Outburst had grabbed the lead in the top of the 1st against on an unearned run against Rebecca Rupard.  It stayed 1-0 until the bottom of the 4th when Kaitlyn Crossen singled and then scored on a wild pitch with a great slide into home to avoid the tag.  In the bottom of the 5th the Angels tallied 3 times on 3 more passed balls/wild pitches to come away with the win.  Annie Heineman, Renee Ariola and Megan Holderby plated the runs.  Crossen had two hits on the game. Rupard moves her record to 8-4 on  the year. 

BNGSA Angels 13   St. Louis Wild Bunch 1 -  Kaityln Crossen moved her record to 3-0 on the season as the Red and Blue rolled over the Wild Bunch and finished pool play at 3-0 as well.  Taylor Tjaden and Ali Wiegand led the hit parade with 2 hits each.  They both scored twice as did Samantha Collins and Rupard.  Emily Wertz scored three runs on the game to lead the way.  Crossen had three strike outs on the contest. 

BNGSA Angels 10  St. Louis Wild Bunch 0  -  Taylor Tjaden tossed a 5 inning perfect game striking out 12 as the Angels strolled into the championship.  Wertz had two hits on the game as did Wiegand.  Renee Ariola,  Crossen and Megan Duffy all scored twice against the over matched Wild Bunch.  Tjaden moved her record to 9-2 on the season. 

BNGSA Angels 8  Missouri Outburst 1  - Rupard threw a fantastic game and the Angels rolled in the finale scoring 4 runs in the first two innings and taking the wind out of the Outburst sails early.  Rupard (9-4) strike out 5 and kept a good hitting Outburst team off balance all game.  They scored in their final at bat to keep from being white washed.  Kaitlyn Crossen had 3 hits and was on base on 4 times she batted to lead the Angels. Samantha Collins was 3-3 in the championship game and scored twice as did Crossen.  Annie Heineman had two hits and was on 3 of 4 plate appearances. 

Next up for the Angels is a doubleheader against the BNGSA Ice on Tuesday night at Illinois Wesleyan. 

Rebecca Rupard (7-4) tossed a one hitter, striking out six batters as the Angels rolled to an impressive 11-0 win over the Tazewell County Outlaws.  The Outlaws had several players who played high school ball this past season including the pitcher in the loss. 

With it scoreless headed into the bottom of the 3rd the Angels scored 4 times and then ended the suspense of any comeback with 7 runs in the 4th and moved to 2-0 on the year.  Annie Heineman, Rene Ariola and Kaitlyn Crossen all scored twice.  Lauri Riddell had 2 runs batted in.  Taylor Tjaden had a double for the Red and Blue as they moved to 17-6 ahead of a trip to St. Louis and the 16th annual St. Louis Invitational this coming weekend. 

The second game was washed out as severe weather moved through Central Illinois in the bottom of the second in game 2.  The Outlaws led 2-1 but the Angels had two runners on and nobody out in their half of the 2nd. 

Samantha Collins scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 8th inning as the Angels capped off a 7 run rally against the Chillicothe Phantoms in a Heart of Illinois League opener.  Things looked bleak heading into the bottom of the 4th with the Phantoms leading 6-0 but the Angels were not to be denied.

Six different Angels scored on the game with Annie Heineman leading the way with 2 tallies.  Taylor Tjaden, Rebecca Rupard, Collins, Lauri Riddell and Erica Matheis all plated runs for the Red and Blue.  Rebecca Rupard (6-4) got the win in relief.  The Angels moved to 16-6 on the year with a 1-0 HOI record in the 14U B Orange Division.  

Chillicothe opted not to play the 2nd game of the scheduled doubleheader as they had just finished up a weekend tourney and were short on pitchers. 

Ten days off and playing a tough 14U team was too much for the Angels to overcome in 6-0 and 6-2 losses to the BNGSA Bengals.  In the first game Annie Heineman and Kaitlyn Crossen had hits for the Angels and Heineman reached base in 2 of 3 plate appearances.  But the Angels could not score a run off Alexis Satterwhite in the 6-0 loss.

In game two the bats were a little more alive but the Angels spotted the Bengals three runs in the 1st and never were headed although the Angels did cut it to 3-2 before dropping the nightcap.  Heineman once again led the way with two hits.  Crossen, Taylor Tjaden and Samantha Collins also collected hits but it was just not the Angels night.  Angels dropped to 15-6 on the season with the losses.

Once again weather was the winner as the Heart of Illinois game and scheduled doubleheader was washed out against the Chilicothe Phantoms.  The Angels and Phantoms hope to get the doubleheader made up later in the season.  With all the rainouts in the area; field and umpire availability become more of the issue than if they can find a date that works for the two teams. 

Next up for the Angels is the BNGSA Bengals; a very good 14U A team.  The Bengals have already captured a tourney title in East Peoria.  Last year they beat the Angels 2 of 3 during the campaign.  Hopefully the weather cooperates and the Angels are not too rusty from a 10 day lay off!   

A six run first started the evening off right for the Angels as they rolled to 11-0 and 11-2 wins over the BNGSA Magic.  The Magic is a 14U team.    Taylor Tjaden was one hit batter from a perfect game in the 5 inning opener improving her record to 7-1 on the year.  She also had two hits including her 2nd home run of the season in the win.  Renee Ariola had 3 hits on the game for the Red and Blue.  Lauri Riddell added two hits and two runs batted in.  Kaitlyn Crossen was on base all three times and scored 3 runs.  Ariola had the defensive play of the game as she threw out a runner from right field keeping Tjaden's no-hitter in tact. 

In the nightcap it was Rupard (5-3) keeping the Magic off balance as the Angels manufactured a lot of runs off Magic walks and miscues and rolled to the 11-2 5 inning win.  Tjaden was the hitting star blasting her 3rd round tripper on the season.  Crossen had a double and a single and was on base 3 of 4 times again for the Angels.  Rupard struck out 6 and walked none on the game.  

The Angels played in their first really strong tourney field of the season and came away with a 3-2 record and played very well in all 5 games.  The tournament champion ended up being the always tough Quad City Firebirds.  Followed by the team that knocked out the Angels on Sunday -- the Northern IL Ice.  Third place went to the Heartland Mayhem who tripped the Angels up in pool play on Saturday.  4th was the Starved Rock Bandits.  So the Angels four 2008 losses have come to the 2nd thru 4th place teams.  In the four losses the total run differential is 8.  Shows how competitive the games have been.  Here is a capsule look at the Twin City Classic games: 

Heartland Mayhem 3   BNGSA Angels 1  -  The Mayhem scored an unearned run in the 1st and added 2 more unearned runs in the 5th to edge the Angels 3-1 in a game called due to the time limit rule after 5 innings.  Rebecca Rupard (3-2) was the hard luck loser in the game. She struck out 5 and did not issue a walk.  She allowed 5 hits.   Annie Heineman was 2-2 for the Red and Blue and scored the only run.  Kaitlyn Crossen had the run batted in.  The Angels left 9 runners on base against a very good Mayhem pitcher. 

BNGSA Angels 7  CIGS Rebels Gold  0  -  Taylor Tjaden (5-1) tossed a one-hitter, striking out 6 in 4 innings as the Angels evened their pool play record at 1-1.  Megan Holderby had a pair of hits for the Angels on the game.  Rupard scored twice on the contest as well.  Crossen, Heineman, Tjaden and Ali Wiegand had runs batted in on the contest.  Tjaden's run batted in came on a double. 

BNGSA Angels 8   Southwest Sluggers 3  -  Rupard moved her record to 4-2 on the year with a win in the circle against the SW Sluggers.  The Sluggers with the 10U Northern National champions in 2007.   The Angels scored 5 runs in the first and were never really threatened in the game.  Lauri Riddell had 3 hits to pace the Angels.  Rene Ariola, Crossen, Rupard and Crossen chipped in two safties each.  Rupard had 3 RBI's to her credit against the Sluggers.  With the win the Angels finished 2nd in their 4 team pool for the day.

BNGSA Angels 11  Downers Grove Dolls  0  -  Tjaden (6-1) tossed a 3 inning no-hitter and the Angels made quick work of the Dolls in a game ended by the 10 run rule.   Holderby was 3-3 on the game including a triple and drove in 3 runs while scoring 3 times as well.  Rupard drove in 4 more runs on the game with two more hits.  Tjaden and Samantha Collins had runs batted in ed and Blue as they moved to the quarterfinals.  Tjaden was 3-3 on the game as well for the victors. 

Northern IL Ice  4  BNGSA Angels 2  -  The Ice did not hit the ball hard too often but their hits seemed to find holes and helped them knock the Angels out of the tourney with a 4-2 loss.  Holderby continued her hot hitting with 2 hits and a walk in her three plate appearances.  Rupard added two more hits as well as her bat continued to heat up.  Crossen drove in a run in the 1st inning on a ground out.   Rupard (4-3) struck out two on the contest without issuing a walk.  She kept the hard hitting Ice off balance with an array of pitches.  The Angels are now 13-4 on the season.  

Two more games were lost to bad weather on May 15th as the doubleheader against the Blast was cancelled due to a cold drizzle from 3:00 pm on in Bloomington-Normal.  The two teams hope to be able to get something scheduled for later in the season.

Taylor Tjaden struck out the side in the top of the 1st inning for the Angels against the BNGSA Ice.  Then 5 straight Angels reached base on their way to a 4-0 lead before the teams were pulled off the field due to lightning.  Rain and hail came shortly after the decision to call the game was made and a quick start was wiped out in a few minutes of hard rain and pea sized hail. 

Annie Heineman had led off the game with a bunt single and then Ali Wiegand followed that up with an infield single.  Heineman scored on a wild pitch and Wiegand scored on a Megan Holderby single.  Kaitlyn Crossen walked and then after Taylor Tjaden singled in Holderby Crossen scored on an error. 

The two teams will meet later in June and hopefully see some better weather.  The Angels meet up Thursday with the BNGSA Blast who finished 4th in the Angels Classic a couple weeks back.  

The Angels cruised to a doubleheader sweep over the BNGSA Angels 11's to run their win streak to seven games on the year.  They are 10-2 overall.  Final scores of the two games were 16-0 and 13-0 and both were shortened by run rules.

Rebecca Rupard and Lauri Riddell combined on a 1-hitter in the first game as Rupard moved to 3-1 on the year.  The only hit of the game saw the runner erased by Megan Holderby throwing her out trying to steal.  Rupard faced just 6 batter and Riddell retired all three she faced including two by third strike calls.

Riddell and Renee Ariola had three hits for the Angels in the romp.  Holderby had two doubles and drove in 5 runs.  Ali Wiegand had 2 hits and scored three runs for the winners. 

In game 2 it was Crossen throwing a 4 inning no-hitter against the younger Angels. She walked the first batter of the game who was erased on a steal attempt as well this time by Emily Wertz.  Wertz later threw out another runner who had reached base on a dropped third strike.  Holderby continued her hot hitting with yet two more doubles and 3 more runs batted in.   Wertz, Annie Heineman and Rupard all scored two runs in the win  Crossen (2-0) struck out 7 and walked only one while tossing her 2nd no-hitter of the season. 

Taylor Tjaden moved her record to 4-1 on the year and Rebecca Rupard came in to get the save as the Angels moved to 8-2 with a hard fought 5-4 win over the BNSGA Venom.  The Venom is a 14U squad.  One of many the Angels will play in 2008. 

Tjaden doubled in 2 runs in the first to get the Angels off and running.  Lauri Riddell doubled in a run later in the contest for the red and blue.  Rupard had two hits in two at-bats.  Five different Angels scored on the contest including Riddell, Renee Ariola, Erica Matheis, Kaitlyn Crossen and Megan Holderby. 

The Angels won their own Classic Tournament title May 3rd and 4th at Maxwell Park.  But not without a very close call against the Oly Fire in their 3rd pool game.  Trailing 5-1 going into the bottom of the 2nd the Red and Blue rallied for 4 runs to tie things up.  It stayed tied as the game timer went off and the Angels coming up in the bottom of the 5th.  After the timer was turned off Taylor Tjaden made the Angel faithful go crazy with a drive over the centerfield fence and a "walk off" 6-5 come from behind win.   The Angels went 4-0 on the weekend on their way to title.  Here is a capsule look at the weekend:

BNGSA Angels 12   BNGSA Angels 11's   0   - It was all the older Angels in the first game of the tournament.  Taylor Tjaden (2-1) and Lauri Riddell combined on a 1-hitter.  Kaitlyn Crossen had two hits, two runs and an RBI for the winners.  Annie Heineman scored three runs as a courtesy runner for Emily Wertz who was on base in all three of her plate appearances. 

BNGSA Angels 7  LGSA Lasers 0  -  This game was a forfeit win for the Angels as LGSA was not able to field a full team for scheduled contest.

BNGSA Angels 6  OLY Fire 5 -  Tjaden not only got the walk off home run but pitched 3 innings of scoreless relief to move her record to 3-1 on the year.  She struck out 5 in the three innings of work.  Tjaden, Kaitlyn Crossen and Megan Holderby all had two hits against the Fire.  Both teams came into the game at 2-0 in pool play so the winner moved the finals.  The loser of the battle would be left to play for 3rd place.

BNGSA Angels 12  CIGS Rebels Blue - 1 - Rupard was perfect until 2-out triple in the 5th spoiled her run at perfection but by then the game was well in hand as the Angels rolled to a 12-1 championship win.  The Red and Blue had their hitting shoes on and the combination of that and Rupard's masterey in the circle was too much for the younger CIGS group.  She ended with 9 strikeouts and moved to 2-1 on the season.  Ali Wiegand and Tjaden each went 4-4 at the plate while Kaitlyn Crossen added 3 hits.  Renee Ariola also had three safties on the contest and scored 3 runs.   The Angels moved to 7-2 on the year. 

Every year the Angels and Starved Rock Bandits tend to play in very close ball games.  When the Bandits came to Champion Fields on May 1st it was more of the same.  Unfortunatley for the Angels they came out on the short end of of both contests losing 3-2 in the first one and dropping the nightcap 5-2. 

A less than stellar start was the downfall for the Red and Blue in game 1.  After 6 batters had come to the plate for the visitors the Angels were down 3-0 with the bases full of Bandits and nobody yet retired.  Rebecca Rupard then took control of things retiring the next three batters without allowing another run to score.  She then blanked the Bandits the next 5 innings but still suffered the loss.  She dropped to 1-1 on the year.

Annie Heineman singled in Kaitlyn Crossen in third inning and Ali Wiegand singled in Renee Ariola in the 4th for the Angels runs.  They had the tying run on 2nd in the last inning but a ground out ended the contest. 

In game two the visitors broke open a 1-1 game with three runs in the 4th and another in the 5th and kept the home team at bay for the sweep.  Megan Holderby had three hits and drove in both runs for the Angels.  Annie Heineman had a hit, two stolen bases and scored both the teams runs.   Angels next action if May 3rd and 4th in their own Angels Classic Tournament.   

The Angels kicked off their 2008 season in fine style winning all three of their contests in the Pontiac Invitational on April 20th at the Rec Plex Diamonds.  The Angels ended in 2nd place due to a runs allowed formula used to determine the champion.  The Starved Rock Bandit 95's were declared the champions due to allowing one run in the tourney.  But what this first time out was about was seeing where we were as a team after a long winter of workouts and a very tough spring to get practices in.  Overall, the Angels came through in flying Red and Blue colors!   Here is a recap of the three games: 

BNGSA Angels 6   Plainfield Power 2  -  Rebecca Rupard (1-0) got the Angels off to a great start by retiring the first 12 batters she faced on the season including 7 by strikeouts.  Meanwhile the Angels plated two runs in the second as Renee Ariola reached on a walk and stole a base. And 2008 newcomer Emily Wertz singled in her first ever Angel at-bat.  Both runners scored eventually on wild pitches. 

The Power would tie things up in the 5th on a swinging bunt, a walk and later a double --the only ball it to the outfield the whole game off Rupard.  The Angels got out of the inning and then went to work for four runs in their half of the 5th to seal the win that was stopped with two outs due to the time limit. Wertz ended the game 2-2 while Crossen and Megan Holderby had runs batted in for the Angels.  Wertz scored twice while Annie Heineman, Samantha Collins and Rupard also tallied runs for the Red and Blue. 

BNGSA Angels 8  Lincoln Chill 0 - Crossen (1-0) tossed a 4-inning no hitter coming up just a walk short of a perfect game against the Chill.  She struck out 4 while only allowing the one walk in the 3rd.  2008 edition Taylor Tjaden sparked the offense going 2-3 and reaching base in all three of her plate appearances.  Her big blow was a long triple deep over the leftfielder's head driving in a run in the 4th.  Collins and Rupard both added 2 hits to the cause. Rupard drove in a pair of runs while Collins, Ariola and Holderby also plated runs for the Angels.  Tjaden and Ariola scored twice in the contest. 

BNGSA Angels 1  Warren Wave Silver 0  -  This time it was Tjaden (1-0) tossing a masterpiece in the circle holding the Silver to one bloop hit in the 5th inning.  The Angel offense could only muster a single run of its own but it was enough to send the Angel faithful home happy with a 3-0 first weekend showing.  Heineman singled and Crossen drove her in in the 1st.  Heineman and Tjaden had the only hits for the Angels on the game.   The big play defensively came in the 2nd when Wertz picked off a Silver base runner with bases loaded and two outs to end the scoring threat.  Tjaden had 3 strikeouts on the game. 

Ironically, the Angels will next be in action at Champion Fields on May 1st against the Starved Rock Bandits 95's.  These two teams tend to play nip and tuck contests whenever they get together.  The Angels of course would like to prove they deserved the Pontiac title while the Bandits we are sure would like to avenge the 6-5 State Tourney loss from a year ago the Angels handed them that ended their 2007 season.