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Columbia City’s season ends in sectional semifinal |
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Friday, May 30 2008 |
By MARK PARKER
for The Post & Mail
For the first inning and a half of Thursday’s game, the Columbia City Eagles and the Wawasee Warrriors played their IHSAA baseball sectional semifinal to a draw, but the Warriors used a six-run bottom of the third inning and a walk-off home run in the bottom of the fifth to take an 11-1 win to end the Eagles season in five innings and advance to Saturday’s championship game.
The Warriors struck first in the top of the first inning, converting the first of five Columbia City errors into a run. The Warriors’ lead-off batter hit a shot to third that Columbia City’s Aaron Martin could not come up with.
Two batters later a Warrior double deep to left field gave Wawasee runners at second and third with one out. Warrior left fielder Dan Dingeldein singled to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead after one inning.
The Eagles tied the score with one swing of the bat by Columbia City right fielder Eric Trabert who drove the ball out over the centerfield fence to knot the score at 1-1.
The Columbia City defense put the Warriors down in order in the second but went down 1-2-3 themselves in the top of the third.
In the bottom half of the inning is where the Warriors took control of the game, pushing across six runs after the Eagles recorded the first two out of the inning.
Following a fielder’s choice and a single, first baseman Jake Goldenberg lofted a fly to right field. Columbia City right fielder Trabert and second baseman Kenny Steele collided, knocking the ball loose. When all was said and done Goldenberg was safe at second and two Warrior runs had scored. The Warriors used four consecutive hits including a double and three singles to push across four more runs and take a 7-1 lead after three innings.
In the Columbia City half of the fourth inning with two outs, Eagle designated player Jack Wagoner hit a line-drive double into the right field corner. The following batter, Kenny Steel was hit by a pitch giving Columbia City two base runners, but a fielder’s choice putout at third ended the Eagle threat, and Columbia City’s best shot at scoring for the rest of the game.
“They hit the ball well, and then we made mistakes and gave their hitters an opportunity to hit again, and eventually that is going to catch up with you, and tonight it did,” Eagle head coach Todd Armstrong noted.
The Warriors drove in three more runs in the bottom of the fourth on five hits and a Columbia City throwing error that allowed a run.
With Wawasee leading 10-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Warrior shortstop Jose Rodriquez ended the game with a walk-off home run over the left centerfield fence that invoked the 10-run rule and ended the contest.
“There are only four teams that don’t end their seasons with a loss, but you always hope that your last game of the season is your best, but that certainly wasn’t the case with us tonight, and that is what is really disappointing,” Armstrong commented.
The Warriors scored their 11 runs on 13 hits and five Columbia City errors, while the Eagles scored one run on three hits. The loss ends the Eagles’ season at 9-19.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, June 03 2008 )
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