Wellington powers up to advance to NBC bracket final

The Wellington Heat hit roughly 63 home runs in 42 games before entering the NBC World Series, a fitting tribute to the way Chief Twyman liked to play baseball.

“My old man … he lived and died by the three-run bomb,” Wellington coach Rick Twyman said. “We’re not doing that, but I went with a little more juice in the lineup this year.”

The Heat has yet to homer in the NBC, but its offense is rolling after Tuesday’s 10-5 win over Liberal in a winners bracket semifinal. The Heat (3-0) can advance to the tournament’s championship week with a win on Wednesday. Liberal (2-1) must win Wednesday afternoon against San Diego to stay alive with a chance to come through the losers bracket and earn a spot in championship week.

Wellington is hitting .389 with eight doubles and two triples and six stolen bases to average 8.6 runs in the NBC. Through three games, the Heat is combining the speed of recent seasons with the power favored by the late Chief Twyman, who died in 2011 after years as an NBC fixture and a title in 2007.

“We’ve been swinging it pretty well,” said third baseman Chase Rader. “Everything is starting to click at the right time.”

A year ago, the Heat went 1-2 in the NBC and punched out with a .250 batting average.

“Last year in the World Series, those little rabbits got shut down and I decided it was time to change,” Rick Twyman said. “Normally we run. This is an offensive club, not like the last couple years where we slap the ball, put the ball in play and run all over the place.”

On Tuesday, the Heat rapped out two doubles and a triple, stole two bases and put pressure on Liberal’s defense in a variety of ways. Austin Krajnak’s leadoff triple started a five-run fourth inning that also featured back-to-back doubles by No. 8 hitter Austin Orth, driving in two runs, and No. 9 hitter Kyle Lacy.

When Liberal cut the lead to 5-4 on a three-run home run by Brady Cox, Wellington responded with three runs in the top of the seventh.

In all, Wellington battered three pitchers for 14 hits and three walks. Two errors by the Bee Jays contributed to four unearned runs.

Rader, a senior at Wichita State, went 2 for 4 and is 9 for 13 in the tournament. Krajnak went 2 for 4 and is 6 for 12 in the tournament with three extra-base hits.

“We came into the tournament a little hot and it kind of rolled over,” shortstop Ben Mauseth said. “We had quality at-bats and that helped open up good pitches for us to hit.”

Krajnak sat out the 2015 college season to recover from knee and elbow injuries after playing at Grayson (Texas) College. It took the first half of the summer before he rediscovered his swing.

“I struggled,” he said. “The first 10 games it was new to me. By the end of the season, I was back on point.”

Twyman intended to start Jinny Parra, before a dizzy spell benched him about an hour before the game. Twyman turned to Anthony Caenepeel, who held Liberal to four runs over six innings.

“We played a lot of meaningful games down the stretch for the Jayhawk League, so we were ready for this kind of stage,” Caenepeel said.

This story was originally published July 28, 2015 at 10:52 PM with the headline "Wellington powers up to advance to NBC bracket final."