Long time between baseball titles for Lewis-Clark State
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LEWISTON - Six full seasons had come and gone since the Lewis-Clark State Warriors won the last of their 16 national championships, the longest stretch since they claimed their first crown in 1984.
And for much of late Friday's title tilt, that drought seemed destined to stretch to a seventh season.
But then Mother Nature, as she has done so often during the 2015 edition of the Avista-NAIA World Series, produced yet another lightning delay. The break must have given the Warriors time to refocus because they furnished a significant jolt of their own when action resumed.
The Warriors generated a six-run salvo in the eighth inning to rally for a 10-7 triumph over St. Thomas of Florida in Game 19 of the World Series. The comeback, occurring in front of 4,975 fans at Harris Field, gave the Warriors their long-awaited 17th national championship.
"I'm so proud of my guys," LCSC coach Jeremiah Robbins said. "They deserve to end the season on their field, dogpiling on the field they built. You couldn't ask for anything better."
The Warriors, who finished the year 46-12, were playing in the championship game for the third consecutive year and the 24th time in program history. They finished second at the Series each of the last two seasons.
The Warriors' 17th title is "an assurance to everybody that the program is still moving forward," Robbins said. "We've knocked on the door a couple of times, but we kicked it through tonight."
Early on, it was St. Thomas doing most of the kicking. The Bobcats, who were playing in the title game for the first time in school history, roughed up LCSC starter Nick Sagendorf for five runs in the first inning.
Even after the Warriors scored a run in the third on a Seth Brown double, cutting the margin to four, the Bobcats answered with two more scores in the fifth. When the Bobcats chased Sagendorf in the fifth, they held a 7-1 advantage.
RBI doubles in the sixth by Michael Sexton and Cabe Reiten pulled LCSC within 7-3.
Lightning then delayed the game for 44 minutes. The contest didn't restart until 9:33 p.m. local time.
Brown, who went 2 for 5 with two RBIs, led off the seventh inning with a double and eventually scored on a groundout by Max Whitt. That made the score 7-4 heading into the eighth.
Robert Smith Jr. started that inning with a double to right center. Two batters later, Reiten singled to center to slice the Bobcats' lead to 7-5. Reiten finished 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Brown then reached base on a fielding error by St. Thomas, which allowed another Warrior run to score.
Whitt lashed a two-run single up the middle to put LCSC on top 8-7. Julian Ramon followed with an RBI double and Smith capped the outburst with a RBI sac fly.
LCSC hurler Cameron Pongs then retired the final six St. Thomas batters to secure the Warriors' championship. The senior lefty picked up the win after holding the Bobcats scoreless in his 4 2/3 innings of relief. Pongs allowed just one hit and one walk to go with six strikeouts.
St. Thomas starter Ben Ancheff, a 300-pound righty, actually stifled the Warriors in his 4 1/3 innings of work. The junior held LCSC to just two hits while tallying five strikeouts. But he left the game in the fifth with tightness in his shoulder.
"What a reward for a lot of hard work this year, not only on the field but in the cages and in the community," Robbins said. "It's proof that when you really buy into something and invest the time, good things are going to happen."
NAIA Baseball World Series
All-Tournament Team
1B - Hunter Bruehl, Embry-Riddle
2B - Max Whitt, Lewis-Clark State
3B - Enderson Velasquez, Embry-Riddle
SS - Cesar Ramirez, St. Thomas
INF - Eric Santamaria, St. Thomas
C - Matt Molbury, Tabor
C - Steven Fischer, St. Thomas
OF - Chris Madera, Faulkner
OF - Jerry Downs, St. Thomas
OF - Seth Brown, Lewis-Clark State
OF - John Doering, Concordia
DH - Randy Joung, Faulkner
P - Beau Kerns, Lewis-Clark State
P - Stetson Nelson, Embry-Riddle
P - Chris Rodriguez, St. Thomas
P - Russell Longworth, Tabor
Charles Berry Hustle Award - David Stone, Vanguard
Gold Glove Award - Chris Madera, Faulkner
Most Valuable Player - Beau Kerns, Lewis-Clark State