Studs finish pool play with comeback win
Trailing by four runs with nothing on the line other than pride and quarterfinal seeding, the Seattle Studs summoned the mentality that helped them win the National Baseball Congress World Series last year.
Even with key players on the bench, Seattle’s multi-faceted offense and versatile bullpen helped the Studs trim the lead, then tie it with three runs in the sixth.
Joel McKeithan’s solo home run in the seventh inning was the difference in Seattle’s 5-4 win in a pool-play game at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.
The Studs advanced to Thursday’s quarterfinal with a 3-0 pool-play record. San Diego, with a 2-1 record, also advanced.
“We still want to win that game,” Seattle manager Barry Aden said. “You don’t want to ever think that losing is OK. You never want to coach to lose and you never want to put a lineup out there that you don’t think can win a ballgame for you.”
San Diego took a 4-0 lead with a run in the first, spurred by Andy Smith’s leadoff triple, and three in the fourth.
After pulling closer with a run in the fifth, Seattle scored three runs in the sixth without a hit.
Two walks, an error, a hit batter, a passed ball, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly created Seattle’s runs – true to the Studs’ style. Their specialty is situational hitting predicated on bunts and moving runners a base at a time, along with making the defense work.
“We try to score in more innings than the other team does,” Aden said. “If we score in five or six innings … we’re going to win most of those games at the level at which we pitch.”
McKeithan, who was injured most of the summer, estimates he played about 15 games before the tournament. His impact on Wednesday helps make up for missed time.
McKeithan hit the second pitch of his at-bat against Brandon Bentson near the scoreboard in left-center field.
“That’s all I’m trying to do is be here for these guys who have been here,” McKeithan said. “They always come down and put on a good showing and I’m just here to help them out.”
Seattle’s bullpen closed out the game with three scoreless innings, with the save from Taylor Thompson, a longtime Stud who will be inducted into the NBC Hall of Fame on Thursday.
It’s a formula the Studs have used to win two recent titles, but with several other teams – including the Kansas Stars – capable of winning, Seattle is relatively under the radar.
“I’d rather hide out,” Aden said. “Hide out until it matters. It starts to matter (Thursday) night.”
San Diego | 100 | 300 | 000 | — | 4 8 2 | |
Seattle | 000 | 013 | 10x | — | 5 8 2 |
W — Howard. L — Bentson.
San Diego batting – Smith 1-4, Nakasoto 2-5, Zaharian 1-5, Deroche-Duffin 0-2, Tunnell 1-4, Sawelson 0-4, Owen 1-4, Baeckel 0-3, Oshiro 2-4.
San Diego pitching – Orozco 5 IP-1 ER, Chen-Hu 1/3-0, Bentson 1 1/3-1, McLaughlin 1 1/3-0.
Seattle batting – Savage 0-4, Hull 3-5, Boe 0-4, McKeithan 1-4, Kerrigan 2-2, Sutherland 1-4, Backes 0-3, Arrington 1-2, Holm 0-0, Prater 0-3.
Seattle pitching – Viydo 3-1, Watson 3-2, Howard 2-0, Thompson 1-0.
Liberal 11, Sterling (Colo.) 0
Liberal | 026 | 03 | — | 11 11 0 | |
Sterling | 000 | 00 | — | 0 3 3 |
W — Petty. L — Phelps.
Liberal batting – Reinschmidt 1-3, Robinson 0-3, Knauth 0-2, O’Donnell 3-4, Bogart 2-4, Jenkins 1-2, Taylor 1-3, Ortiz 1-1, Urquizo 2-3.
Liberal pitching – Petty 4 IP-0 ER, Schwulst 1-0.
Sterling batting – Sanchez 0-2, Mora 0-2, Lingreen 0-1, Bissell 0-2, Balman 1-2, Baasch 1-2, Sparks 0-1, Blood 0-1, Jacobs 0-1.
Sterling pitching – Phelps 2 2/3-6, Rockwell 1/3-2, Moreno 1 1/3-3, Jay 2/3-0.
This story was originally published August 11, 2016 at 6:40 AM with the headline "Studs finish pool play with comeback win."