Diamond Dawgs, Patriots advance to NBC championship week

It took three wins to get to the NBC World Series’ first week semifinals. Advancing further required daring base running and nearly unhittable pitching Friday night.

When it was all sorted out in the early hours of Saturday morning, the Cheney Diamond Dawgs and Mulvane Patriots had survived. Both earned hard-fought wins – their fourth each – and advanced to championship week.

Mulvane (4-0) will play the San Diego Waves Sunday at 1:30 p.m., while Cheney (4-0) will meet the Seattle Studs at 4 p.m.

The two west coast opponents didn’t have to fight through three rounds of pool play and an additional elimination game. Mulvane and Cheney did, but that’s not necessarily an obstacle.

“I think it’s a little bit of an advantage,” Diamond Dawgs second baseman Grant Devore said. “It’s keeping us fresh while some of the other teams might not be playing. They’re coming in on bus rides, and we’re already here. So I definitely see it as an advantage.”

The Cheney Diamond Dawgs, who have played in past NBC tournaments as the Valley Center Diamond Dawgs, have been here before. They won their pool play last year, and they know what it’s like to face teams that have had a week off.

“It’s good and bad. I’ve been on both sides of it,” manager Pat Hon said. “When you’re off that first week, you can’t simulate real baseball. You can scrimmage or whatever, but you can’t have that same in-game, on-the-line atmosphere. So from that aspect it’s great to be in these ballgames. The downside of it is these guys are tired. Especially when you have some hard-fought ones like tonight, you’re going to be a little bit tired.”

The Diamond Dawgs had scored more runs (39) throughout the week than any of the other 15 teams competing in pool play, but it was two runs on wild pitches that gave them a 5-3 win and put them through to championship week.

Devore’s .544 batting average helped the Diamond Dawgs many times throughout the week, but perhaps the most crucial moment came when he just stood at the plate Friday night. With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the 10th, Devore watched as two wild pitches brought home two runs in the same at bat to break the tie and ultimately make the difference in the deciding game.

The wild pitches from reliever Andrew Repp ruined a strong outing from starter Gyenonglu Kim, who masterfully mixed an 85-mph fastball with a change-up that at times dipped to 56 mph on the stadium radar gun. The strategy kept Cheney’s batters swinging at air – and scoreless – through the first five innings.

“He does a great job keeping you off balance, mixing it up and attacking the zone,” Hon said.

Left-hander Bradley Demco through 5 1/3 shutout innings of relief to help Cheney advance.

The excitement of the first elimination game gave way to even more drama in the second game. A pair of ugly throwing mistakes from Mulvane in the fourth inning handed the Austin Shockers an early 1-0 lead.

The Patriots responded by tying the game on a Dalton Dinkle RBI singe in the fifth. But a tie-breaking run didn’t come until the top of the ninth.

Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases with two outs for Mulvane, and Channing Williams boldly stole home on an 0-2 count to grab the lead and highlight a wild inning. Dinkel, who was at the plate for the stolen run, promptly drove in two more runs two pitches later and the Patriots ran away with a 5-1 victory.

Mulvane Patriots starting pitcher Ryan Erickson turned in the top pitching performance of the tournament so far with a complete game, one-hit gem. Erickson, his teammates and the fans at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium thought he had pitched a no-hitter when he struck out his 10th batter in the bottom of the ninth to seal the win. But the scoreboard didn’t reflect a scoring change on a single from the fourth inning, and the correction wasn’t made until after the game.

Regardless of the hit total, Erickson’s complete game resulted in a well-rested pitching staff as the Patriots enter championship week.

“It’s going to give us a huge boost going into week two,” Erickson said. “We’ve got a lot of confidence going in, and I think we’re going to make a run the second week. For us, playing this week is an advantage, because we’ve got some endurance going in, but I feel like we’re going to be a little bit tired and we’re just going to have to overcome it.”

This story was originally published July 29, 2017 at 8:55 AM with the headline "Diamond Dawgs, Patriots advance to NBC championship week."