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Dylan Thomas pitched the first complete game of the
2012 D-III World Series. |
By Pat Coleman, D3sports.com
GRAND CHUTE, Wis. – Dylan Thomas turned in a masterful performance on the mound for St. Thomas and the Tommies handed the defending national champion its first loss at the 2012 Division III World Series, defeating Marietta 3-1.
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With the win, St. Thomas improves to 40-8 and will face Wheaton (Mass.) in the winners bracket championship game, scheduled for 4:30 Central Time on Monday afternoon. Marietta (44-8) will face Webster in an elimination game, scheduled for 1:15 p.m.
St. Thomas survived a Marietta threat in the top of the ninth as the Pioneers got the first two runners on, then loaded the bases with one out. But Thomas recovered to strike out pinch-hitter Braden Park and survived a liner by Kirby Becker that went just foul, striking him out to end the game.
“Dylan threw a hell of a game,” said Tommies’ coach Chris Olean. “A few too many pitches for my liking but he did a great job, kept us right there (against ) a really good ball club.
“I figured it’d be a little-stuff type of game, one-run ballgame, a couple big hits here and there and then again, Dylan has been one of our top three guys if not our best,” Olean said. “Their coach told me they were expecting our lefty (Bryce Gapinski) today, so I don’t know if that threw them off at all, but certainly we were going to start Dylan against Marietta no matter what.”
Thomas went the distance for the Tommies, improving to 8-2, allowing seven hits and one run, striking out seven.
“He shoved the fastball all day and did a great job doing it,” said Marietta coach Brian Brewer. “In the end he was better than us, for nine innings. We tip our cap to him. Great effort and a really gutsy performance.”
With Thomas at 121 pitches through eight innings, Olean asked him how he felt and he said he was ready to go. He finished the game with 149.
“It’s what I wanted,” Thomas said. “You start a game, and I have 100 percent faith in my bullpen, but it’s that feeling that you want to finish what you started. When Olean asked me how I felt, I felt great, I still feel great, even though I did throw so many pitches. I would do it over and over and over again.”
After Thomas faced the minimum through three innings and didn’t allow a ball to be hit out of the infield, the St. Thomas offense staked him to a pair of runs.
Jon Kinsel led off the bottom of the third with a single that bounced high in front of Marietta shortstop Tim Saunders. He was sacrificed over to second with one out and came around when freshman center fielder Jack Hogan smacked a 2-2 pitch to center field for the first run of the game. Senior third baseman Charles Bruchu continued his hot hitting, lacing a triple to the 325 sign in the right field corner to bring Hogan all the way around for the second run.
Cruising through four innings, Thomas got into a jam in the fifth. After Aaron Hopper lined out to open the inning, Mitch Geers laced a single to center field to end Thomas’ no-hit bid. Evan Brockmeier worked a nine-pitch walk and Alex Toth lofted a Texas Leaguer over first to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Niko Stanislav struck out swinging for the second out of the inning, but Bryan Gregorich worked a walk to get the Pioneers on the scoreboard. Kirby Becker worked the count full before grounding out to second to end the threat.
The Pioneers missed a prime scoring opportunity in the top of the seventh inning. Geers led off with a single to left and advanced on a sacrifice bunt. Dan Reichert collided with Justin Novak trying to field a grounder to second, allowing Alex Toth to reach on an infield single. But as the ball rolled untouched in the infield grass, Geers tried to come all the way around from second and was gunned at the plate by a throw from Thomas. The Tommies tacked on a run in the bottom half of the inning, as Hogan rang a double off the left field wall to open the inning off reliever Logan Lewis and Thomas followed with a one-out RBI single to bring Hogan around.
Marietta left nine runners on base, including leaving the bases loaded in the sixth and ninth innings. The Pioneers have left 25 runners on base in their two games in the tournament. They’ll come back Monday afternoon to face Webster which had Sunday off after beating Kean in dramatic fashion before the rains washed out the rest of Saturday’s schedule.
“We forget about what just happened,” Brewer said. “Our theory is always until you put your head on the pillow, think about what you did. Once your head’s on the pillow, forget about it and move forward.”