A charter bus caught fire early Friday as it was transporting a professional baseball team from Iowa to a game in a Chicago suburb.
Members of the Sioux City Explorers made it off the bus safely, although several lost their gloves when the overhead bins melted.
Click to Gallery
A charter bus caught fire early Friday as it was transporting a professional baseball team from Iowa to a game in a Chicago suburb.
In this photo provided by J.D. Scholten, a bus carrying the Sioux City Explorers to a baseball game in Illinois caught fire early on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, near Earlham, Iowa. State Rep. J.D. Scholten, who is a pitcher for the team, wrote in a Facebook post that he was grateful no one was hurt. (J.D. Scholten via AP)
In this photo provided by J.D. Scholten, a bus carrying the Sioux City Explorers to a baseball game in Illinois caught fire early on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, near Earlham, Iowa. State Rep. J.D. Scholten, who is a pitcher for the team, wrote in a Facebook post that he was grateful no one was hurt. (J.D. Scholten via AP)
In this photo provided by J.D. Scholten, a bus carrying the Sioux City Explorers to a baseball game in Illinois caught fire early on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024 near Earlham, Iowa. State Rep. J.D. Scholten, who is a pitcher for the team, wrote in a Facebook post that he was grateful no one was hurt. (J.D. Scholten via AP)
In this photo provided by J.D. Scholten, a bus carrying the Sioux City Explorers to a baseball game in Illinois caught fire early on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, near Earlham, Iowa. State Rep. J.D. Scholten, who is a pitcher for the team, wrote in a Facebook post that he was grateful no one was hurt. (J.D. Scholten via AP)
The fire started as the bus approached the 1,400-person town of Earlham, Iowa, about a third of the way into its 490-mile drive to Geneva, Illinois, where the game was being played. Earlham Fire & Rescue blamed a mechanical issue for sparking the fire, which rapidly spread from the engine to the passenger area, where many of the players were sound asleep.
“I was woken up to guys walking past me saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got to get off the bus. There’s smoke back here,'" said J.D. Scholten, a 44-year-old pitcher who also serves in the Iowa Legislature.
The flames broke the windows of the bus, but firefighters were called around 2:45 a.m. and quickly extinguished the blaze, volunteer firefighter Blake Boyle said.
He said the driver, realizing something was wrong, had gotten off the interstate and was heading toward town on a smaller highway. The bus left a a trail of oil.
“It was probably spraying oil all over the motor," Boyle said. “And then once they stopped it, it caught fire.”
Another charter bus was able to pick up the team, which arrived at their hotel around 11 a.m. — about three hours later than expected, Scholten said.
Batting practice was canceled. But the team, which is a member of an independent league called the American Association of Professional Baseball, was proceeding with the game scheduled for Friday evening against the Kane County Cougars in Geneva, Illinois.
Scholten lost only a couple hats, a pillow and a water bottle because most of his gear was stowed in the relatively undamaged bins below the bus. He said he didn't know what his teammates whose gloves were destroyed were going to do.
“We’re just kind of playing it by ear,” he explained, as a group text pinged his phone. Teammates were off to Target and wanted to know if anyone needed anything.
The blaze came during a season that has been full of surprises. After going years without touching a ball, Scholten started obsessing over YouTube videos on pitching mechanics in the early days of the pandemic. Then he bought a dozen balls and a net.
Last month, the team had a pitching emergency. There was a music festival that day and Scholten had already drank a beer. But he pitched anyway and got the win. Now he is part of the rotation, sometimes throwing to a catcher half his age.
“That’s part of, minor league baseball is there’s always weird things that happen," Scholten said. "Notorious bus issues. But this kind of takes the cake when it comes to all of that.”
In this photo provided by J.D. Scholten, a bus carrying the Sioux City Explorers to a baseball game in Illinois caught fire early on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, near Earlham, Iowa. State Rep. J.D. Scholten, who is a pitcher for the team, wrote in a Facebook post that he was grateful no one was hurt. (J.D. Scholten via AP)
In this photo provided by J.D. Scholten, a bus carrying the Sioux City Explorers to a baseball game in Illinois caught fire early on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, near Earlham, Iowa. State Rep. J.D. Scholten, who is a pitcher for the team, wrote in a Facebook post that he was grateful no one was hurt. (J.D. Scholten via AP)
In this photo provided by J.D. Scholten, a bus carrying the Sioux City Explorers to a baseball game in Illinois caught fire early on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, near Earlham, Iowa. State Rep. J.D. Scholten, who is a pitcher for the team, wrote in a Facebook post that he was grateful no one was hurt. (J.D. Scholten via AP)
In this photo provided by J.D. Scholten, a bus carrying the Sioux City Explorers to a baseball game in Illinois caught fire early on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024 near Earlham, Iowa. State Rep. J.D. Scholten, who is a pitcher for the team, wrote in a Facebook post that he was grateful no one was hurt. (J.D. Scholten via AP)
In this photo provided by J.D. Scholten, a bus carrying the Sioux City Explorers to a baseball game in Illinois caught fire early on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, near Earlham, Iowa. State Rep. J.D. Scholten, who is a pitcher for the team, wrote in a Facebook post that he was grateful no one was hurt. (J.D. Scholten via AP)
Vanderbilt's stunning upset of No. 1 Alabama that led to crazed fans marching the goal posts through the streets of Nashville was just the appetizer.
Saturday proved to be one of the wildest days in the AP poll in years.
Four teams ranked in the top 11 in the latest poll were upset by unranked teams Saturday, the first time that happened on a single day since Nov. 12, 2016, when five teams did it, according to Sportradar.
What looked on paper to be a calm day with only one matchup between ranked teams turned out to be anything but calm with No. 1 Alabama, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 10 Michigan and No. 11 Southern California all losing to unranked teams. One other top 10 team lost Saturday with No. 9 Missouri getting blown out 41-10 at No. 25 Texas A&M.
No. 8 Miami rallied to avoid falling, too, escaping with a 39-38 victory at California. The Hurricanes overcame a 25-point deficit in the second half, taking the lead with 35 seconds left in the game that ended near midnight on the West Coast. This marked the first time two SEC teams ranked in the top five lost to unranked conference opponents on the same day and was the fifth time in the past 20 years that at least five teams ranked in the top 11 lost on the same day.
Vanderbilt got it started in surprising fashion by knocking off the Crimson Tide 40-35 just a week after Alabama vaulted into the top spot in the poll with a 41-34 win over Georgia. The Commodores had been 0-60 against teams ranked in the top five, according to Sportradar, which was the most games for any team that had lost every game against a top-five team. Temple now takes over that title with an 0-25 record.
The fans then tore down the goal posts and carried them just over a couple of miles toted the goal post just over a couple miles before tossing them into the Cumberland River.
“This is the dream, right here,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said. “And for the next 12 hours, I’m going to enjoy the dream. We’ve got more ahead of us, but this is what Vanderbilt football needs to be about: Big wins on big stages. We’re going to go get some more.”
The upsets and thrilling games were far from over.
The Volunteers were the next highest ranked team to go down when Malachi Singleton scored on an 11-yard run with 1:17 remaining to lift Arkansas to a 19-14 win at home.
Tennessee still had a chance by driving to the Arkansas 20, but Nico Iamaleava was pushed out of bounds on fourth-and-5 at the 16 as time expired. Arkansas fans immediately stormed the field.
“You get into coaching for moments like what just happened, and it’s to see the kids and the smiles on their face and the hard work that they do, because there’s a lot of teams that can’t get to that feeling,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. “We did tonight.”
There two other field stormings in the Big Ten following wins that weren't nearly as shocking.
Washington beat Michigan 27-17 in a national championship rematch that was missing both coaches from the title game and most of the key players.
“It feels good. You lose to them in the championship and then to come back and win and beat them, it feels good,” said Washington safety Kamren Fabiculanan, one of the few holders on the Huskies roster from the championship game.
The loss snapped Michigan’s 24-game Big Ten regular-season winning streak. The Wolverines had not suffered a Big Ten loss since falling at Michigan State on Oct. 30, 2021.
Minnesota then knocked off USC when Max Brosmer powered into the end zone for on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 56 seconds left for a 24-17 win.
The officials on the field ruled him short, but the replay review resulted in a reversal the entire stadium knew was coming.
The game ended when Miller Moss' heave into the end zone was intercepted.. The crowd streamed onto the field to engulf the Gophers in a raucous celebration of their first victory over the Trojans since 1955.
A version of this story was corrected to change the last time this many teams ranked in top 11 lost to unranked teams to 2016 in third paragraph
AP college football: Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Washington players celebrate on the field after a 27-17 win over Michigan in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)