Submitted by By Jeremy Woznick, Star-Herald Sports Reporter
A long season of hard work and dedication will come down to just one game for the Western Nebraska Community College and Trinidad State Junior College baseball teams.
The two squads will meet in the deciding game of their Region IX first-round playoff series today at 1 p.m. at Cleveland Field in Scottsbluff to decide who will meet Lamar Community College in next weekend's championship round.
Today's third game was made necessary after Trinidad State held on for a 7-6 win over WNCC in Saturday afternoon's game two. WNCC won the first game of the series on Friday.
Despite not being able to close out the series in two games, WNCC coach Mike Jones said his team remains confidant entering today's contest.
"This team's hungry. They want this series," Jones said. "They want to move on and they want the opportunity to play for a regional championship. I know we'll come out and give it our best effort [today]."
With its season on the line, Trinidad State took early control of game two by plating three runs in the top of the third inning. Derek DiCarlo drove in Adam Anderson with a single to open the scoring before Gavin Purvis later pushed home two runs with a double.
"Trinidad was playing for their season today," Jones said. "They came out and played really well. I expected them to and I expect them to do it again [today]."
After stranding runners at third base in each of the first two innings, the Cougars got the clutch hit they needed in the fourth when Scottsbluff High School graduate Trace Marsden lined a single into center to score Elvis Garcia and Camilo Baldelomar. Both Garcia and Baldelomar reached with singles.
WNCC continued to threaten in the inning with runners at second and third with just one out. However, Trinidad State first baseman Vinnie Mattivi came up with a web gem of a double play to end the threat. After making a diving catch of a foul ball beside the Trojan dugout, Mattivi had the quick sense of mind to jump to his feet and fire home to gun down Josh Parker, who was trying to tag up from third on the play.
The Trojans rode that defensive momentum into the top of the fifth. After a single by Jacob Anderson, Bryer Mueller deposited a hanging breaking ball over the leftfield wall to make it 5-2. Trinidad State's advantage grew to 7-2 in the seventh on run-scoring hits by Mattivi and Luke Rodi.
Just when it looked like the Trojans had things on cruise control, WNCC mounted a thrilling rally to make things interesting. The Cougars' charge began in the bottom of the seventh when Shane Wade blasted a two-run home run over the leftfield fence. Jared Baros scored on Wade's long ball, which cut the Trojan lead to 7-4.
WNCC continued threatening in the bottom of the eighth. After Marsden walked and Kevin Sanford reached on an error, WNCC's Baros roped a double off the wall in left to score both base runners. Baros then moved to third on a wild pitch with two outs.
It looked like Baros would stroll home with the tying run a couple pitches later when Wade lined a rocket into left. But Trinidad State's Mueller flew through the air to make a diving catch for the third out.
Down to their last out, the Cougars managed to get the tying run on base again in the bottom of the ninth. After fouling off a number of good pitches, Baldelomar worked his way to first with a sharp single. Parker then followed with a hot shot to third that was snagged by DiCarlo. DiCarlo threw across the diamond to first for the final out.
"We struggled offensively early in the game and then we really came alive there late. We just came up one run short," Jones said. "It was a good effort. We got real aggressive there late in the game so let's hope that it carries over."
Wade paced WNCC at the plate. He went 3-for-5 with two runs batted in. Baldelomar was the only other Cougar with multiple hits in the game as he went 2-for-5. Jacob Anderson led Trinidad State offensively by going 3-for-5. Both teams had nine hits.
Bo McLavey earned the win on the mound. The side-arm hurler struck out four in seven innings of work. Kevin Hand pitched the final two innings for the Trojans.
JC Morales took the loss on the mound for WNCC. Morales struck out eight and scattered seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. Armani Gonzalez went the rest of the way out of the bullpen. Gonzalez allowed just two hits and struck out seven. He retired the final seven Trojans in a row.
"I thought our pitching was good again," Jones said. "We just made a few mistakes with some off-speed pitches. We left them up in the zone and Trinidad was able to put some good swings on them."
Sophomore Rodil Martinez will get the starting nod in today's game for WNCC. The southpaw has plenty of big-game experience for the Cougars.
"He's been good for us all year," Jones said of Martinez. "The key for Rodil is to come out and throw a lot of strikes early."
Today's winner will travel to Lamar next weekend for the regional championship series. Lamar swept its first-round playoff series with McCook Community College Saturday with an 11-9 win.
Trinidad State 003 020 200 - 7 9 2
WNCC (23-35) 000 200 220 - 6 9 0
WP - Bo McLavey. LP - JC Morales.
HR - Shane Wade, Bryer Mueller. 2B - Wade, Jared Baros, Jacob Anderson, Gavin Purvis, Vinnie Mattivi.
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