Published: July 26, 2008 04:32 am         

Speakers win in tourney

MARSHALL — Once Ty Montgomery found his groove, he was in total control on Friday night.

The Danville Post 210 right-hander went eight innings, allowing just five singles and two unearned runs as the Speakers defeated Post 764 of Toledo 12-2 in the District 18 Tournament.

Montgomery allowed four hits and both runs in his first four innings as well as walking one and hitting two.

After that Toledo (19-6) managed just two baserunners against the Commercial-News Player of the Year.

“I felt good warming up, but when I got onto the mound, it just became a struggle for me,’’ Montgomery said. “I really couldn’t find my rhythm out there. They were getting some bloop hits off of me, and thankfully, my defense helped get me out of a jam in the second.’’

Montgomery needed 74 pitches in his first four innings and Danville coach Adam Decker admitted that he thought about taking him out.

“He got up in his pitch count pretty quickly, but right at the point that I thought about taking him out, it seemed like he was just starting to hit his groove,’’ Decker admitted.

The former Danville High standout needed only 57 more pitches (131 total) for the final four innings. During that stretch he struck out six, allowed one hit and walked one batter.

“Ty just kept getting stronger and stronger as the game went along,’’ Danville catcher Michael Kasper said. “I think he threw some of his best pitches in that last inning.’’

Montgomery finding his rhythm on the mound seemed to coincide with the Post 210 offense getting to Toledo starter Nick Wendling.

The Speakers (28-14) overcame a 2-1 deficit in the bottom of the fourth with runs on a Kasper double and a sacrifice fly from Blake Wadsworth.

“Ty wasn’t the only one that didn’t get off a good start tonight,’’ Kasper admitted. “When we took infield, it looked like we were not 100 percent ready to go and it took us a while to get things started.’’

While Danville took the lead in the fourth, Decker said he felt the real turning point for the Speakers came in the fifth.

With two outs, Post 210 first baseman Jordan Barney launched a 1-1 pitch from Wendling over the light standards in left.

Montgomery followed that with another towering blast on a 1-2 pitch.

Back-to-back home runs gave Danville a 5-2 lead.

“When Barney hit the ball out, you could see a big difference in the dugout,’’ Decker said. “It got our guys rolling and that’s when we started to do the things we expect to do in this tournament.’’

Kasper didn’t get a chance for a third straight homer as he drew a walk, but Post 210 catcher scored the third two-out run of the frame on Wadsworth’s single to right.

“As a team, you get two quick outs in an inning and you think that you are just one pitch away from getting off the field,’’ Kasper said. “We not only got two quick runs on blasts from Jordan and Ty, we also added another run on Blake’s hit. That’s a backbreaker for a lot of teams.’’

Danville put the finishing touches on its victory with a three-run seventh and a three-run eighth.

The trio of Barney, Montgomery and Kasper had big roles in each inning.

Barney had his second home run — a two-run shot to center — in the eighth, Montgomery had a pair of singles and Kasper had a run-scoring single in the seventh and the game-ending RBI double in the eighth.

The Post 210 Speakers will play Watseka for the District 18 Championship at 12:30 p.m. today in Marshall.

Danville has won every district tournament in the 21st Century.