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The rain came
An approaching storm delayed Wednesday's feature game at 9:43 p.m. Seattle led Casa Grande (Ariz.) 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth when the umpires waved players off the field. Rain blew in from behind Lawrence-Dumont Stadium a few minutes later.
Not quite all in
Richard Stock of the Santa Barbara (Calif.) Foresters feels comfortable as a pinch-hitter. That was his main job as a freshman at Southern Cal.
"You've got to be like a mellow focus and just wait for your time," he said. "You stay plugged in, but you try and not be 100-percent emotionally invested in the game."
Stock came through with Wednesday's big hit in a 7-6 win over Hutchinson. His ground-rule double led off the 10th inning.
"If you're a pinch-hitter, they usually don't respect you too much," he said. "You might get a fastball first pitch. I got that, and I hooked it foul."
Stock waited on an off-speed pitch and smacked it to right field, where it bounced off the artificial turf and over the fence. The Foresters bunted pinch-runner Christian Summers to third. He scored on Jeff McNeil's squeeze bunt, which caught the Monarchs by surprise.
"It did," pitcher Cory Roper said. "He put it in a perfect spot, down the first-base side. We didn't have much of a play at the plate."
Stock, who will be a junior at Nebraska after transferring from a junior college, pinch hit for heat-impaired shortstop Shane Kroker.
"He was dizzy," Foresters coach Bill Pintard said. "I was going to replace him earlier, but then I would have burned the spot. He went out and gutted it out that inning and we're glad they didn't hit it to him."
Stopping power
Hutchinson knocked Foresters starter Austin Kubitza around early. The Monarchs led 4-2 after three innings.
Kubitza, a sophomore at Rice, didn't let the struggles get to him. Starting in the third, he retired 13 straight batters and gave his offense time to rally. He didn't give up another hit until the eighth.
"His slider and his two-seamer _ they started disappearing," Pintard said. "Those balls were disappearing when they got to the strike zone."
Kubitza struck out seven and didn't walk a batter. He wasn't happy with his accuracy in the early innings.
"I tried not to think about it too much," he said. "I've just got to put that behind me and go out and try to find the zone."
Kubitza let the Monarchs back in the game in the eighth, allowing two runs to tie the game 6-all. Reliever T.J. McGreevy, from Wichita State, pitched scoreless ninth and 10th innings, striking out three and not allowing a hit.
Running all the way
Valley Center's Tyler Coughenour runs fast for a guy built like a linebacker, as Wichita State fans can attest.
His speed and hustle paid off in the ninth inning of Wednesday's 4-3 win over St. Joseph (Mo.). With the bases loaded and two outs, he fouled off two two-strike pitches Then he chopped a ball high off the artificial turf.
"You know that 100 percent of the time he's going to give you everything he's got," Valley Center coach Pat Hon said. "I didn't even have to look. I knew he was running hard."
Coughenour beat the throw from the shortstop by a half-step, driving in a run and cutting St. Joseph's lead to 3-2. Kale Gaden followed with a single that tied the game.
Coughenour went 4 for 5 with two doubles.
Recovery time
Valley Center starter Lance Day needed an inning to get comfortable. That's not surprising when you know the circumstances.
Day, a junior at Texas-Arlington, hasn't pitched much this summer because he is taking summer classes.
"He drove up (Tuesday) night," Hon said. "He's kind of been doing not a whole lot."
Day figured out the Mustangs quickly. He faced the minimum over the next three innings and didn't give up another run until the fifth.
Not quite enough
Jeff Finlay's triple made the ninth inning dramatic in Wednesday morning's game between Clearwater and Clarinda (Iowa).
Finlay drove in Mark Landwehr, cutting Clarinda's lead to 4-2 with no outs. With one out, Clearwater's Nick Cocking drove in Finlay with a groundout. A walk put Tyler Spencer on first with the tying run.
That is where the rally ended for the Cowboys. Chris Cox popped up to end the game and eliminate the Cowboys.
Worth noting
Gaden, a utility player, will not attend Wichita State as a walk-on. He has accepted a scholarship to NAIA Oklahoma City. Gaden played at Missouri as a freshman and at Seminole State as a sophomore. . . San Diego Force pitchers Trevor Longfellow and Keegan Yuhl combined on a four-hitter in a 3-0 win over Omaha Diamond Spirit late Tuesday. Yuhl struck out four and didn't allow a hit in 3 1/3 innings of relief.... Hutchinson third baseman Mace Krol, brother of former Shocker Noah Krol, is transferring from Nicholls State to Fort Hays State for his senior season.
—Paul Suellentrop
