TERRE HAUTE —
Going into Saturday’s regular-season finale against the Danville Dans at Bob Warn Field, the Terre Haute Rex faced a potential woulda, coulda, shoulda scenario when it came to qualifying for the Prospect League baseball playoffs.
The Rex had to defeat Danville or Springfield would need to lose to Hannibal for Terre Haute to qualify for its first-ever playoff bid.
Terre Haute made it clear from the first inning that neither woulda, coulda nor shoulda would have anything to do with the Rex’s fate Saturday.
Terre Haute took control with a two-run first, scored in each of the first three innings and defeated Danville 8-3 in a shortened game in front of 1,960 spectators.
The rest of the results in the league were favorable to the Rex too.
As a result, not only did the Rex clinch a playoff bid, the team won the Prospect League second-half West Division title outright by one game over Quincy.
Terre Haute will travel to Quincy to play the Gems in a Prospect League semifinal game at 7:30 p.m. Monday. The Gems will host because they had a better overall season record.
If the Rex defeat the Gems, they would host the Prospect League championship game against a East Division team Wednesday.
The game against the Dans ended in the fifth inning when Danville informed the umpiring crew that it had run out of pitching. Danville’s problems were compounded by a 1-hour, 15-minute rain delay in the bottom of the third inning.
The call to finish early was fine with the Rex, who celebrated their sixth consecutive victory, needing all of the wins to clinch their playoff bid.
“It’s incredible. Two years of working to put a team on the field that could compete in the Prospect League, you can just see by the reaction here how much it means to everyone,” said Rex general manager Roland Shelton from a jubilant Rex dugout.
“We knew we had to win out, we didn’t want to put our destiny in anyone’s else’s hands. We came out, did our thing, now we go to the playoffs,” said Rex center fielder Ronnie Mitchell, who was 3-for-3 with four RBI and a double.
Even with a loss, the Rex would have made the playoffs. Hannibal defeated Springfield 7-1, which knocked the Sliders out of contention. Still, it was satisfying for the Rex that they took the bull by the horns and controlled their own fate.
“We struggled early in the season. We knew we had to win the last six games and we did it for the fans. Our emotions are high. We wanted to come out swinging and that’s what we did. Good things happened,” said Rex right fielder Nick Johnson, who was 2-for-3 with an RBI Saturday.
The Rex drew blood early. Ronnie Mitchell led off with a single and advanced on a bunt single by Jacob Hayes. After a fielder’s choice by Stephen Bruno, Koby Kraemer knocked in Mitchell with a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.
Bruno then scored easily on a Johnson double into the right-field gap. The Rex led 2-0.
The lead ballooned to 5-0 in the second. Chace Mitchell led off with a walk, stole second and scored on a double by Mike Schroeder. After a Jordan Pearson single, Ronnie Mitchell drove in Schroeder and Pearson with a single to right. All came with no outs, but Danville settled down and retired the Rex without further damage.
After looking as if it was in play-out-the-string mode in the first two innings, Danville charged back in the third. The Dans were more patient against Rex starter Erlin Santos, drawing a leadoff walk and a single. The reward was a two-run triple by Andrew Vallejo to make it 5-2. It was followed by an RBI double to make it 5-3.
But the Rex offense was indefatigable. The Rex quickly loaded the bases with one out. Pearson drew a walk to make it 6-3 and Ronnie Mitchell slapped a double off the left-field wall to drive in Chace Mitchell and Schroeder. It was 8-3 and Danville would not muster another response.
“They were short on players, so we wanted to knock their guy out by being as aggressive as we could. He left some pitches up in the [strike] zone and we were able to score in bunches,” Ronnie Mitchell said.
The Rex offensive deluge was followed by the real thing. A storm cell and its lightning caused the above-mentioned delay.
Because of its dearth of pitching, Danville played until the the middle of the fifth inning. At that point, it became an official Prospect League game.
Rex manager Brian Dorsett watched the last three games outside the dugout due to a suspension levied upon him for an argument during a game at DeKalb County. He marveled at what his players accomplished and had high praise for coaches Darrin Barton, Ronnie Prettyman, John Howes and John Gardner, who ran the team in his absence.
“There’s not been one guy in that dugout that’s ever given in when we’ve been down. We’ve had a bunch of different guys coach. It’s been fun to watch. I can’t say enough for everybody,” Dorsett said.
The Rex’s average regular-season attendance of 1,014 per game ranked fifth in the Prospect League.
“The community has supported us through thick-and-thin. That was evident by them waiting through the delays tonight. It’s exciting times for the Terre Haute Rex,” Shelton said.
Terre Haute Rex
Related Photos
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Tribune-Star/Rachel Keyes At any cost: Rex�s outfielder Ronnie Mitchell dive for a ball Saturday night against the Danville Dans.
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Tribune-Star/Rachel Keyes Sacrifice bunt: Terre Haute Rex's Jordan Pearson bunts the ball in order to move base runners Saturday night.
Discussion
Rex earn playoff spot with 8-3 win against Danville
- Terre Haute Rex
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2012 an up, down season for Rex
The Terre Haute Rex went through plenty of trials and tribulations during the summer of 2012.
The team got off to a sluggish start to settle for third place during the first half of the Prospect League race, but manager Brian Dorsett rallied the troops to a second-half title. -
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Rex out of playoffs
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The first-place Terre Haute Rex picked up a 6-4 victory Wednesday at Hannibal, Mo., against the Cavemen.
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Rex win first game of Saturday doubleheader
Terre Haute maintained its stronghold on first place in the Prospect League West Division on Saturday, the Rex defeating Dubois County 6-1 in the first game of a doubleheader.
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Strunc fans 10, Rex win 12-10
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Starting role suits Cunningham as Rex win
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Rex fall at Danville, maintain two-game division lead
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High drama, but no win
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Rex cool off against Springfield
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Rex roll to lead in division
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Rex bounce back, dominate Dans
Terre Haute reaped the bounty of three Danville errors in the second inning. The Rex made the Dans pay for each of their errors with eight base hits in the inning and Terre Haute never looked back on its way to an 11-4 victory in front of sweltering crowd of 669.
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Rex open second half with victory at Quincy
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Head coach could be next stop for Prettyman
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Cunningham, McCurdy pace Rex to win over league leader
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Rex score 4 before getting first hit, then hang on for win
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Rex duo working overtime
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Rex fall 7-1 to Hannibal
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Rex have winning streak snapped
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Rex move within four games of first-place Dubois County
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Rex take third straight, move to 12-11 overall
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