Down 3 and coming to bat for the final time in the 7 inning nightcap, our never say die Golden Bears 🐻 rallied to tie the game at 8 – 8 and force extra innings for the second time on the day.
Both defenses stiffened in the eighth inning before the Bearcats plated to go ahead run in the top of the ninth. Once again, down to our final at bat, we loaded the bases with nobody out ! Brescia kept the score at 9-8 by recording the first out of the inning on a force out at home.
Carson Crigger came to the plate for the sixth time in the contest and everyone who had been watching baseball ⚾️ for just over eight hours knew that a base hit would earn the home team a much needed split of the River States Conference league game.
Crigger turned on a pitch and sent a line shot down the third place line. The pitch was headed down the left field line and I was ready to start my game winning call!! Houston Flynn was playing the Hot Corner all weekend for Brescia and he made a nice attempt to snag the ball.
In one blink of the eye, Flynn found the ball in his glove and the glove on top of the bag for a game ending double play. Eighteen years together and close to 100 years combined around the game, I am not sure that one play will stand out more than this one.
In the opener, we entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 13 – 8. No problem, Tyler Mackey delivered a pinch hit two run single to make it 13 – 13 before Brescia recorded the 27th out. In this one what followed was one scoreless inning before the Bearcats plated one in the top of the 11th.
First Pitch took place at 12 :03 and the last pitch, incredibly hard hit last pitch took place at 8:13. 490 minutes of Baseball ⚾️ that included 44 runs 🏃♂️ and was an eyelash from being 46 runs.
The scorebook will show that we ended the day 0-2 and those are the facts. But our Student Athletes went hard for all 490 minutes and their announcer left it all on the field as well. As tough for it was for me to witness the ending from the Press Box, Skipper had to absorb it from five feet away.
The upside is that we will live to fight another day….
A.S.P.N on The Hill 