By Patrick Coleman
D3sports.com
EASTLAKE, Ohio - Sam Paden walked into the room, beaming.
Players walk into postgame news conferences at the Division III World Series carrying dugout props on occasion, whether it’s a monkey, or a sombrero. At the end of the event, someone gets to walk in carrying a huge Walnut and Bronze trophy.
But it’s actually pretty rare that someone will walk in carrying a baseball. Even when you’ve just hit that ball out of the ballpark to end the game.
Paden got lucky.
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| UW-Whitewater had a lot to celebrate down the stretch. Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com | More photos from this game at d3photography.com |
“I’m walking out of the stadium, and there was a 10-, 11-year-old kid.” He had the baseball, and asked Paden to sign it.
“He said, ‘yeah, this is your home run ball. Can you sign it for me?’ I'm like, I might need that one.”
That young person will get a newly signed ball tomorrow. For tonight, Paden has his trophy, and UW-Whitewater has its chance to advance.
UW-Whitewater came up in the bottom of the ninth needing a run to end the game and all the Warhawks needed was one pitch. That pitch was a hanging breaking ball which Paden jumped on and mashed out of the ballpark, lifting UWW to a come-from-behind 11-10 win, and ending the incredible ride that has been Birmingham-Southern’s postseason.
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Whitewater (42-10) moves on to play Salve Regina on Monday afternoon in a game scheduled for 1:15 p.m. ET. If UW-W wins, it will play Salve a second time in a winner-take-all for a berth in the best-of-three Division III Championship Series.
The lightning shot off the bat of Paden, his second home run of the game, capped a Warhawk comeback which saw them score two in the seventh, three in the eighth and one in the ninth.
“We just want to play tomorrow. That’s it,” said UW-Whitewater coach John Vodenlich after the game.
The big rally came after the Panthers (33-16) put up two in the third, three in the fourth, four in the fifth and one in the sixth to build a 10-5 lead. And it was a lead built on the long ball. Center fielder Eli Steadman went deep to right center with a two-run shot in the third inning. Jackson Webster led off the fourth inning with a solo shot as well, his third of the tournament.
Following Webster’s blast, Ian Hancock lined a ball down the right field line that rattled around in the corner. Charlie Banks followed with a triple in the gap in left center that was just out of the reach of the diving center fielder, Dominik McVay, and Jakob Zito single to left to bring Banks home for the third run of the inning and a 5-3 lead.
Matt Scolan hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to tie it, but that didn’t last long, as the Panthers embarked on another big inning. Aided by a catchers interference and a bunt single, Andrew Dutton double to left center to drive in a run. After hitting a loud, long foul ball, Webster shortened up his stroke and smacked a single to right, bringing in Steadman. Zito later smashed a ball off the third baseman for a single, and Ty Truett capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly, making it 9-5. Webster added an RBI double for a 10th run in the sixth.
But that was the last of the scoring. Whitewater pitchers went the final five innings allowing just one run, with Max Huseboe giving up one run and striking out two in three and two-thirds innings, and Logan Eisenbarth following by getting the final four outs and earning the win, to improve to 2-1.
“I'm very proud of the staff,” Vodenlich said. “Down the stretch, early in the season, we were able to get a lot of guys innings and kind of figure some things out. Late this year, we've been fortunate to get a bunch of complete games. And so some of these guys that you saw today were on the shelf, so to speak. Obviously not Jack Hagan, but the rest of them haven't pitched a lot coming into this tournament, and it's not because we're not confident in them.
“I think it's really rewarding for me because they've performed well.”
The Warhawks, who averaged 10.5 runs per game entering the World Series, had every confidence they would be able to come back from the 10-5 deficit. And they got to work against the Panthers bullpen. Andy Thies had the big blow in the seventh, ringing a double off the wall to score Scolan and Danny Hopper. Then McVay opened the eighth with double to left, Scolan hit a two-out double and Eli Frank launched a two-run homer that tied the game.
“The entire game, we knew that we were confident in every pitch that we saw,” Frank said after the game. “We had the ability to hit it where the fielders weren't. And in that eighth inning, I don't think any of that changed with any of us. It was just a matter of stringing hits together, regardless of the situation.”
And then in the ninth, there was no stringing hits together. No further buildup of the tension. Paden saw a pitch and hit it out. And it was a no-doubter.
“I was on deck and I saw the launch angle and I knew it was out,” said McVay.
And the celebration was on.