By Steve Marovich, Athletics Staff Writer/2022 Baseball Contact
The Carthage College baseball team (2-1) ended a brief, three-game trip to the 2022 RussMat Central Florida Invitational on Sunday, Feb. 27 with a 12-10 loss to Bates College (2-1) at the Chain of Lakes Park Stadium in Winter Haven, Fla. Carthage opened its season on Saturday, Feb. 26 by sweeping a doubleheader from Northern Vermont University-Lyndon (0-5), 10-1 and 8-3, also at the Chain of Lakes Park Stadium. The stadium is the former spring training home of the Boston Red Sox (1966-92) and the Cleveland Indians (1993-2008).
Sunday's game was a three-hour and 40-minute donnybrook. Colton Klein singled in a run in the top of the first inning, giving the Firebirds a quick, 1-0 lead. Bates tied the game with a run in the bottom half of the inning. Carthage took a 5-1 lead in the third. Another RBI-single by Klein opened the scoring in the third, with Austin Prybylinski subsequently scoring on a wild pitch. Chase Gibson singled in the third run of the inning, and Joe Zuleger doubled in another.
The Bobcats score twice in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 5-3. In the fourth, Bryce Prybylinski connected on an RBI-single, giving Carthage a 6-3 lead. Bates scored again the bottom of the fourth to make it 6-4, but the Firebirds came right back with three runs in the fifth to extend their lead to 9-4, their biggest lead of the game. Cody Tostrud singled in the first two runs in the fifth, with Jake Snider also adding a run-scoring single. The Bobcats score a single run in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 9-5 contest. Bates was not done, though, as the Bobcats scored three in the sixth to narrow the margin to 9-8.
The Firebirds' defense let them down in the seventh, as the Bobcats scored three more to take an 11-9 lead, their first lead of the game. Bates scored its game-tying and go-ahead runs on an error Carthage left fielder Cody Tostrud, with the 11th run scoring on a wild pitch by Iyan Pelfree. The Bobcats added another run in the eighth to go up by three, 12-9.
There were some Carthage dramatics in the top of the ninth. The Firebirds loaded the bases with two outs, and Colton Klein scored on a wild pitch to cut the Bates lead to 12-10. Joe Zuleger worked the count full and then walked to re-load the bases. Unfortunately, Matthew Felber, also with a full count, flied out to left to end the threat and the game.
Christopher McGrail (1-0), the fourth-of-seven Bobcat hurlers, picked up the win with three and two-thirds scoreless innings. Ian McAslan collected his first save by retiring Felber with the bases loaded in the ninth. For Carthage, starting pitcher Nick Hamilton worked the first four innings and allowed four runs on six hits, a walk and six strikeouts. Jake Hartman Jr. followed in the fifth, Chance Roach in the sixth, Iyan Pelfree (0-1) in the seventh and Nick Vitritti in the eighth.
Bates collected 12 hits off the five Firebird pitchers, and Noah Jankowski drove in three runs. Carthage had 16 hits, with Cody Tostrud leading the way with four hits in six trips to the plate, along with three runs scored and two RBI. Colton Klein went three-for-five with two runs scored and a pair of RBI. Bryce Prybylinski, Joe Zuleger and Evan Devine added two hits apiece.
"It was unreal," said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV. "We lost the lead in the seventh inning on a routine fly ball to left that went into Cody Tostrud's glove and then came out with the bases loaded. The inning continued, which blew up our freshman pitcher, Iyan Pelfree, who just kind of wore down. We hit the hell out of the ball today, but we just didn't play well. We pitched well enough and certainly hit enough to win, but we didn't play well enough in the field. The seventh was a horrible inning, which shouldn't have been that bad. Bates also turned a pair of key double plays late in the game. The ninth inning was a typical Carthage rally, but Mathew Felber was facing a curveballer who got him on an easy fly ball to end the game. We also weren't prepared for a lot of situations that came up, and that's on us as coaches to correct. We have to make sure that everyone is prepared for situations that happen in a game, and that's what we'll be working on this week."
Carthage travels to Topeka, Kan., next Saturday-Sunday, March 5-6 for a pair of doubleheaders at the Bettis Family Sports Complex. On Saturday, March 5, the Firebirds take on Simpson College in a 2 p.m. twinbill, followed by a Sunday, March 6 set with Luther College, beginning at Noon.