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Chico State
Outlasts Eagles, 8-4 in 13 Innings |
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Not too far from Paterson Field in Montgomery, AL, Shakespeare Park can be found. The park includes a museum and playhouse and throughout the summer, attracts talented thespians from around the country. One of this summer’s performances is Harper Lee’s, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” It’s a certainly that this summer’s productions will be top of the line, but for drama, intensity and passion, nothing at the fine arts park will top what took place at the ballpark Tuesday (May 30) at the NCAA Division II Baseball Championships. In 13 innings which took four hours and 27 innings to complete, Chico State stopped Ashland, 8-4. It could be argued that Chico State has authored, “To Kill an Eagle,” but that’s not the case yet. Tuesday’s loss was the first for Ashland (47-16) in this double-elimination tournament. The Eagles, who have made a living coming back all season, will play Franklin Pierce in an elimination game Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. (Central Time). On Sunday, AU pounded the Ravens, 14-4. Chico State (45-20) is 2-0 in the tourney. The only other team that can make that claim is Tampa. Emporia State and Francis Marion have been eliminated. Six teams are still alive for the 2006 national title. The tournament runs through Saturday. The Eagles trailed Chico State, 2-0 after one inning, 3-0 after four-and-a-half innings and were behind, 4-3 entering the bottom of the ninth inning. AU tied the game with a run in the ninth and the teams remained deadlocked until the Wildcats scored four times in the top of the 13th. AU went down in order in the bottom of the 13th. “It’s a tough loss for us,” said a somber AU head coach John Schaly. “We had some opportunities. Their pitchers made the big pitches when they needed to. Give them credit. We came back twice and sent it to extra innings. It was a great ballgame, you have to give them the credit.” In the 13th, Jesus Luna led off with a double down the right-field line off of lefty Ryan Douglas (5-2). Luna received second life during the at bat when the Eagles failed to catch a foul popup in foul ground behind third base. Moments later, he reached out and drove the ball down the line. Catcher Trevor Weedon showed bunt and the Eagles played to cut down the runner at third. Weedon pulled the bat back and slapped a ground ball through a wide open hole at shortstop to bring home Luna to give the Wildcats a 5-4 lead. “We’re going to sacrifice there until they take the lead out,” explained Chico State coach Lindsay Meggs. “Trevor knew when I yell, ‘Slash,’ he’ll try to hit the ball on the left side of the infield. That’s his job and he did it perfectly.” James McCarthy put down a sacrifice bunt that got Weedon to second and Douglas walked Shane Cauley. Jerin Harper then drilled a triple off the left field wall to drive in both runners. Left fielder David Waters nearly caught the ball as he ran into the fence. For his trouble, he got stuck underneath the wall as the ball rolled back toward the infield. Douglas was removed in favor of freshman righthander Todd Schlenkerman, who allowed a single to designated hitter Daniel Code. That brought home the fourth run of the inning and the final tally of the game. The Eagles didn’t find a way to solve Code all night – he was 3-for-6 and drove in four runs. The final line on Douglas reads 4.2 innings and four runs – three earned – on five hits. Those numbers don’t do him justice. He took over for AU starter Cody Castle with two outs in the eighth inning and put the Wildcats back on their heels. In the ninth through the 12th innings, he allowed one hit and consistently worked ahead of hitters. “He threw well, he gave us a chance,” Schaly said. Ashland sent the game into extra innings when catcher Eric Zattlin drew a walk from Marcus Martinez, the Chico State closer, to begin the ninth. Chase Beatty pinch ran for Zattlin and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Tyson Rowland. Waters then dumped a single into right field off of lefty Steven Johns to get Beatty home. “It was a two-strike hit,” remembered Waters. “I was trying to shorten up and make something happen. It found a hole over the second baseman’s head.” With Waters on second with one out, Chico State intentionally walked shortstop Jim Barry who was 0-for-4 at that point. That brought to the plate second baseman Justin Randall, the region player of the year, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference player of the year and AU’s leading run producer with 64 RBI. Chico State wanted a lefthander-vs.-lefthander situation and the move worked when Randall hit a fly ball in foul territory in left field for the second out. The Wildcats then turned to righthander Reid Horton, who came on and got cleanup hitter Casey Jirsa to fly out to center field. That wasn’t AU’s only missed opportunity. In the 11th, AU loaded the bases with one out. Beatty started the inning by getting hit by a pitch from Horton. Another Rowland sacrifice moved him to second. Waters was intentionally walked and Barry walked. But Horton escaped the jam by striking out Randall and getting Jirsa out on a flare to first base. Those are two second team All-Americas who between them have 116 RBI. Horton retired them with pitches to perfect locations. “No, I didn’t,” answered Waters, when asked it he ever thought he’d be answering questions about a loss with Randall and Jirsa up and three runners on base. “Your three, four hitters up, especially those guys, you think you’re going to score. They’ve been the dogs for us.” “We were trying to get in on somebody and try to get them to pop it up,”said Meggs. “We discussed whether we should play back and get the two ball. We wanted to force them to do something. You have to give Reid a lot of credit. He just kept throwing pitch after pitch. Once again he came through.” Horton didn’t get the win, that went to Billy Spottiswood (10-5), the last of five Chico State pitchers. Spottiswood worked two innings and didn’t allow a hit. AU starter Cody Castle went 7.2 innings and permitted four runs – three earned on 10 hits. Castle got in trouble in the first inning when Code belted a two-run homer to left field. The Wildcats added a run in the fifth on Christopher Sweeney’s RBI single. Sweeney was 4-for-5. “He left a changeup in the middle of the plate,” said Code of his ninth homer in 2006. “Then he started to throw it down and away.” “He made a mistake in the first inning and then he settled in,” offered Schaly. “He threw well.” AU had tied the game with three runs in the fifth inning. Zattlin drove in one with a double and Waters brought in another on a ground ball to first base. The third run came\ home on a wild pitch by Chico State starter Nick Bryant, who pitched seven innings. Waters was 3-for-6 with two RBI and designated hitter John Hosgood went 2-for-5. |
Over
his last three postseason games AU catcher Eric Zattlin is
5-for-8 with three RBI and four runs scored. He’s
provided clutch hitting from the eighth spot in the batting
order and his defense has been outstanding. What makes this
all the more impressive is that Zattlin is playing basically
on one leg. This story and more in the AU Championship
Notebook.
