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| Southern Maine catcher Matt
Verrier had four RBI to help the Huskies' bats warm
up. Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com |
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| Kyle
Chontos walked, stole two bases and came in on an infield grounder
to give Baldwin Wallace an early lead. Photo by Pat Coleman, D3sports.com |
By Jim Dixon
D3sports.com
GRAND CHUTE, Wis. – On a day where offenses start to dominate, it took a while for the bats to warm up as Southern Maine advanced with a 11-5 comeback win in Game 9 of the NCAA D-III World Series at Fox Cities Stadium.
"It is good to keep going on," said Southern Maine head coach Ed Flaherty. "You survive and advance. There is pressure every game. We are in the World Series and they have a loss under the belt. Just as long as it does not flame out of control."
The game started out as an old-fashion pitchers duel with Baldwin Wallace taking a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning with both pitchers dueling with matching one-hitters.
"I thought [Logan Heffernan] did very well as he was giving us a great opportunity," said Baldwin Wallace coach Brian Harrison. "For a freshman to throw like he did, that was a special moment for the kid."
"Heffernan is a good one," said Flaherty. "He throws pitches for strikes and mixes in his pitches well. Lucky we chased him out of it."
After the fourth inning it was the Southern Maine bats that dominated as the Huskies outscored the Yellow Jackets 11-2.
"When we got the big inning, it takes a bit of pressure off," said Southern Maine center fielder Forrest Chadwick. "We started to be more patient and trying to just get our pitch. When we got our pitch, we did something with it."
"College athletics is about momentum," said Harrison. "You try to create momentum and try to stop it. If you stay away from the big innings, you give yourself a chance. We did not do that."
Baldwin Wallace first baseman Kyle Chontos manufactured the first run of the game in the third inning. Chontos walked and stole second. As the Southern Maine third baseman started to shift for designated hitter Hunter Handel, Chontos took the extra base when the shortstop made no move to cover. Chontos then scored on a groundout to the third baseman playing between second and first.
They run the bases really well and look for openings," said Flaherty. "I was worried for a couple innings about the coach causing a 1-0 loss. Thank God the team covered for this mistake."
Postgame news conferences |
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Baldwin Wallace tacked on two in the fourth inning. Shortstop Eric Murphy singled and scored on left fielder Jerry Scholle's double down the left field line. This ended the day for Tyler Leavitt with Flaherty bringing in Andrew Richards in relief. Scholle stole third and scored on right fielder Alex Green's sacrifice fly.
With a runner on first and two outs, the Huskies rallied in the
fifth inning. Second baseman Paul McDonough walked and was followed
by first baseman John Carey's right field single, scoring right
fielder Jake Glauser. Shortstop Sam Dexter walked to load the bases
for Chadwick, who scored Carey and McDonough with a single back up
the middle. This ended the day for Yellow Jackets starter Logan
Heffernan with Mark Zimmerman moving to the mound from second base.
Catcher Matt Verrier greeted him with a two-run single to complete
the scoring in the inning.
Baldwin Wallace got one run back in the sixth inning. Scholle
doubled for the second time in the game and scored on Green's
single after a theft of third base.
Southern Maine added four runs in the seventh on RBI singles by
Verrier and designated Hitter Matt Bender.
Baldwin Wallace picked up a run in the seventh. Zach Ferster hit a
pinch-hit double to deep center and scampered home on a throwing
error on the Huskies catcher on a stolen base attempt.
Forrest Chadwick increased the Huskies score to 11-5 with a two
run double in the eighth inning to complete the scoring.
Richards (7-1) picked up the win for the Huskies, pitching four innings, allowing two run, on earned, on five hits. The Southern Maine starter, Leavitt gave up three runs, all earned, on three hits. Ryan Browner finished the final two innings, with no runs allowed on two hits.
Chadwick led all players with three hits and four RBI. Verrier also drove in four with Carey and Dexter scoring three times.
"I always thought Forrest was a special young man," said Flaherty. "It has taken some time to realize what his talents are and it is coming into play now."
Heffernan took the loss to even his record at 4-4. He allow five runs, all earned, on four hits. In all eight pitchers took the mound, two off the World Series record set last year by Southern Maine.
Brad Gugliotta, Murphy, and Scholle were the only Yellow Jackets with multiple hits in the game. Green led all Baldwin Wallace players with two RBI. Scholle scored twice.
"I am proud of our guys," said Harrison. "We are blessed and fortunate to be around tough and competitive guys. They competed to the best of their ability. What a ride."
Southern Maine will play the winner of the Cortland-Emory game on Monday at noon CT. Baldwin Wallace ended their season 30-20.