St. Thomas Eliminates Top Seeded Oklahoma Baptist in Walk-Off Fashion
LEWISTON, Idaho – (Box Score) Michael Centeno’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth was the difference, as No. 9 St. Thomas (Fla.) downed top-seeded Oklahoma Baptist, 5-4, Tuesday afternoon in elimination bracket play at 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) for the 16th-straight year.
Moments after closer Chris Rodriguez blew his chance at a 13th save of the season, Brandon Canizares gave the Bobcats new life with a leadoff double to open the bottom of the ninth. An errant pick-off throw that went into center field allowed Canizares to reach third with no outs. That error proved ever more costly, as on the very next pitch Centeno lifted a fly ball to center field to give the Bobcats their 47th win on the year and more importantly keep them alive in the World Series.
“There’s a fine line between hero and goat,” said St. Thomas head coach Jorge Perez. “Cani (Canizares) didn’t put his head down. He got a huge hit, and he picked the right time.”
St. Thomas (47-17), which is appearing at the event for the first time since 2007, reaches uncharted territory. The program has never won three games at the World Series.
“It’s hard to describe that game,” said Perez. “We didn’t quit. The guys did really great. We’ve gotten this far because we play inning-by-inning and haven’t given up. We’ll come out tomorrow and compete and hopefully come out on the good end.”
Despite receiving the no decision, Bobcat ace Marcos Barrios rebounded from a rough World Series opening start. The junior right-hander allowed three runs and six hits in eight innings. Additionally, he walked one and struck out two. In his first start at the event against No. 8 Concordia (Calif.), Barrios allowed eight runs on nine hits in only 3.1 innings of work.
“You not going to get back-to-back bad starts from Barrios,” Perez said. “I think the rest in the hotel and the extra work he put in helped him today.”
Designated hitter Paul Chacin, who entered the game as the top hitter for the Bobcats at the World Series with a .462 batting average through three games, was one of six St. Thomas fielders with one hit on the afternoon. Chacin also had one run scored and one RBI.
For the third-straight game, St. Thomas drew first blood in the game via a Chacin ground out to third. The batted ball scored Nico Hernandez, who reached two hitters earlier on an Oklahoma Baptist misplayed ground ball.
The 1-0 score line lasted until the bottom of the fourth when Jerry Downs, who found himself at the dish with runners on second and third with no outs, lifted a sacrifice fly to deep center field. Cesar Ramirez scored to make it 2-0 in favor of St. Thomas.
Eric Santamaria pushed the St. Thomas lead to 3-0 on a single – the first hit of the game for the Bobcats – through a drawn-in infield, scoring Chacin from third.
One inning later, St. Thomas’ Michael Centeno hit his eighth home run of the season, making the score 4-0. The blast is the fifth of the World Series for the Bobcats – the most among the 10 qualifying teams.
Leadoff hitter Shakeel Newton opened the sixth for Oklahoma Baptist with a double to shallow left field – only the Bison’s third hit of the game. A fly ball to right field advanced Newton to third with one out for designated hitter Yariel Gonzalez. Gonzalez put Oklahoma Baptist on the board, 4-1, with an RBI ground out to the right side.
Oklahoma Baptist made things interesting in the ninth, cutting the Bobcats’ lead to 4-2 on a Colt Bickerstaff single to left that scored Landon Coon from third base. Additionally, the single put runners on first and second with no outs.
The St. Thomas reliever loaded the bases and put the potential winning run on first base with a five-pitch walk of Ryan Joyce. Garett Gallacher hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Joey Szczepanski from third and cutting the deficit to 4-3. It also left runners on the corners. A two-out error by the St. Thomas third baseman on a Newton grounder tied the game for the Bison, 4-4.
The Bison, who entered the World Series as one of the top hitting teams in the NAIA, tallied only four hits through seven innings. Oklahoma Baptist’s final three hits all came in the ninth.
Coon was one of the bright spots for Oklahoma Baptist. The junior Dale, Okla., native, had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. Bickerstaff was also 2-for-4 at the plate for the Bison.
Relief pitcher Les Northcutt took the loss and fell to 3-1.
Oklahoma Baptist ends the year with a 53-8 record and a 6-10 all-time at the World Series.
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.