St. Thomas Outslugs Vanguard at NAIA World Series
LEWISTON, Idaho – (Box Score) Junior catcher Steven Fischer’s RBI single up the middle proved the difference in a game that featured a combined 24 runs and 27 hits, as No. 9 St. Thomas (Fla.) outlasted No. 10 Vanguard (Calif.), 14-10, Monday afternoon in the elimination bracket of the 2015 Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series. The 59th annual event is being played out at Harris Field on the campus of Lewis-Clark State (Idaho).
Fischer, who entered the at-bat hitless on the game, squibbed a grounder up the middle and past a drawn-in infield, which scored David Quintero and Eric Santamaria. The Bobcats two additional insurance runs came a few batters later via a bases loaded walk and sacrifice fly.
With the win, St. Thomas improves to 46-17 on the season. The Bobcats next opponent will depend on the outcome of tonight’s two evening games.
“We don’t get caught up in what the other team is doing, we just try to play one inning at a time,” said St. Thomas head coach Jorge Perez. “If they concentrate on that enough, you give yourself a good shot to comeback and a good shot to be in the game. We’re going to have to play better than we played today to keep moving on.”
The Bobcats continued to show why they are one of the top hitting teams in the NAIA. After today’s performance, the club from Miami Gardens, Fla., is hitting .348 (39-for-112) at the World Series, including 10 extra base hits. Arguably more impressive has been St. Thomas’ ability to hit in the clutch. The Bobcats are 11-for-28 (.393) with runners in scoring position at Harris Field.
Shortstop Cesar Ramirez and left fielder Jerry Downs led the offensive charge for St. Thomas. Downs ended the game 3-for-5 at the dish with three runs scored and two RBI. Two of Downs’ three hits were home runs – his team leading eighth and ninth of the year.
Ramirez was 2-for-6 with three RBI and a run scored. The Miami, Fla., native also went deep in the game.
St. Thomas wasted no time lighting the scoreboard with two home runs in the bottom of the first en route to a 3-0 lead. Ramirez opened the inning with a two-run home run, followed by Downs’ solo shot. The long-balls were the first of the World Series for the Bobcats.
Vanguard loaded the bases with no outs in the third. Justin Davis, who was pinch hitting for Dylan Ramie, set the table with a leadoff single through the hole at second base. A St. Thomas error allowed Brandon Sandoval to reach, followed by a walk of Paul Keating.
Brock Eissman plated the first run of the game for the Lions via a sacrifice fly to shallow right-center. Two hitters later, David Stone rippled his 15th double of the year – second-most on the club – to cut the deficit to 3-2. Vanguard tied the game, 3-3, on the next pitch, as a Brett Collins grounder back up the middle that bounced off the pitchers glove and into the hole at shortstop. Jose Rojas scored on the play.
St. Thomas’ Paul Chacin hit the clubs third home run in the game to put the Bobcats back on top, 4-3, after three full innings. The Bobcats scored again with one out in the frame to push the lead to 5-3, when on a single to right field the Vanguard outfielder airmailed a throw into the bullpen.
The Lions edged closer once again in the fifth inning, cutting the St. Thomas lead to 5-4 on a David Stone RBI single that landed just beyond the glove of the diving center fielder. Paul Keating, who reached earlier on a walk, scored from third on the hit.
Three, two-out wild pitches for Vanguard relief pitcher Michael Jordan lead to three runs, as the Bobcats extended their lead to 8-4 in the fifth. Two out of the three errant pitches came with the bases loaded, while the other came with runners on second and third.
St. Thomas added a ninth run – fourth of the inning – on a Ramirez RBI single, which scored Michael Centeno from third base. The two-out rally ended two pitches later on a diving play in left field by Vanguard’s Sandoval.
The Lions refused to layover, answering with three runs in the sixth to cut the St. Thomas lead to two, 9-7. Vanguard scored three runs on three hits, and was aided by an error on a pickoff attempt by the Bobcat reliever. Kevin Bettencourt’s RBI double off the left field wall highlighted the offense for Vanguard in the inning.
The bottom half of the sixth opened with a solo home run by Downs – his second long-ball of the game. The next three St. Thomas hitters were retired in order, leaving the score at 10-7.
The back-and-forth scoring continued, as the Lions registered one run in the seventh to make it 10-8, before Eissman tied the game, 10-10, in the eighth with a two-run home run. Stone kept the inning alive with a two-out double, however the Bobcats ended the threat with a ground ball to second base.
Both teams emptied the bullpens in this elimination game, as the two programs set a new NAIA World Series record for total pitchers used in a game (14).
Chris Rodriguez, who pitched the final 1.1 innings for the Bobcats, earned the win on the afternoon to improve to 3-0 on the season.
Sam Franks (0-3) took the loss for Vanguard.
Offensively, nine of Vanguard’s 13 hits came from Stone, Collins and Taylor McKnight, as all three concluded the game 3-for-5 at the dish.
The two teams combined for nine errors, which is the most in a single game at this year’s championship.
Vanguard ends the year with a 39-22 record and falls to 3-4 all-time at the World Series. The Lions were making their first appearance since 1985 – the longest drought among teams in the field that had previously qualified.
Stretch Internet, the NAIA’s official video-streaming company of 17 select NAIA national championship events, will be broadcasting the first 15 games of the 2015 Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series. The All-World Series package can be purchased for $20. Visit
www.NAIANetwork.com for more information.
The Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series is a 10-team, double-elimination event hosted by Lewis-Clark State (Idaho). For more information on the 59th annual event, click
HERE.