By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – It was business as usual for William Carey University Tuesday afternoon, and business was good indeed.
The Crusaders dominated Ave Maria (Fla.) from start to finish for an 11-2 victory in the NAIA Hattiesburg Opening Round Regional at Milton Wheeler Field.
Eighth-ranked (NAIA) Carey (46-9) advanced to the championship round at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday against an opponent to be determined. The Gyrenes (35-17) will battle Houston-Victoria at 10 a.m. Wednesday in an elimination game.
If the Crusaders win Wednesday, they will advance to the NAIA World Series for the fourth time in program history, including a national title in 1969. A loss forces a winner-take-all game at 11 a.m. Thursday.
“We beat a good team today,” said veteran Carey coach Bobb Halford. “We beat a team from a good league that plays with the No. 1 team in the country (Southeastern , Fla.), and plays everybody tough.
“So I give them a lot of credit. It was hard to put them away, and we finally did late.”
WCU rode the effort of three of its seniors, A.J. Stinson, Bobby Lada and Patrick Lee, to the brink of a trip to Lewiston, Idaho, site of the World Series.
Stinson had another ironman effort on the mound for Carey, going seven innings and allowing just two runs on four hits. Lada went 3 for 5 at the plate with two home runs and three runs-batted-in. And Lee was 2 for 4 with a single and a homer.
“I came out today, and I knew a couple of guys on their team,” said Lada. “So I wanted to come out and have some fun. Nothing changed.”
For Stinson (7-2), it was a typical day for the big right-hander: five walks and three wild pitches, but also nine strikeouts on 140 pitches. For much of the afternoon, Stinson’s fastball was blazing in at 90-plus mph.
“I was just focused today,” said Stinson. “I tried to do the same thing I always do when I come to the mound. It just worked again today. My fastball was good, but my out pitch is always my change-up. So having a live fastball today really helped me out.”
The Crusaders took command right from the start. Carey was playing as the visitor because they had been home in their previous game, while AMU was visitor in its game on Monday, and it didn’t take long to get the offense going.
With one out against Gyrene junior right-hander Ryan Schroeder , Lada singled into leftfield, stole second and reached third on a wild pitch.
Junior Jake Lycette drew a walk, and Lee drove in the first run with a single. Junior Preston Ratliff followed with an RBI single to left for a 2-0 lead.
Lee, the five-year veteran in the Crusader program, is back in the lineup after missing several weeks with a hamstring injury and he was glad to be back.
“It’s really indescribably, honestly,” said Lee. “I feel like a whole new person when I’m out there. Baseball has been my love for my whole life, so it’s always good to be on the field, especially with this group of guys.”
Lee has been in the cleanup spot since he returned to the lineup this week, with Lada in the 2-hole, and that’s seemed to be a winning setup for the Crusaders.
“Lada just keeps doing what he’s been doing the last month or so,” said Halford. “When you’re in the middle of the order, they’re working on you a little bit, and you’re not getting as many quality pitches because there’s men on base.
“So Lada’s able to jumpstart us, and we feel good about Pat hitting in the 4-hole because he doesn’t do the running he normally would coming off the hamstring injury.”
Leading off the top of the third, Lada pounced on a 3-2 fastball from Schroeder and sent it into the trees beyond the leftfield fence.
Lycette followed with a single up the middle, stole second, reached third on a wild pitch and came home on a two-out triple by junior Rigoberto Hernandez of reliever Brandon Willoughby. Schroeder (4-5) gave up four runs on five hits, two walks and a strikeout.
The Carey defense did a fine job of supporting Stinson through occasional control problem. He surrendered a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first and immediately picked the runner off the base.
“I think it’s just being aware of the situation, of how big these games are,” said Lada. “The last time we practiced, we made sure to focus on making good plays, making routine plays on defense.”
In the second, junior catcher Braydon Coffey and Lada teamed up to erase AUM senior Francisco Barbieri trying to steal second after a one-out single.
The Gyrenes had runners on base in each of the seven innings Stinson worked, but he wriggled off the hook with minimal damage.
“I don’t think about walks too much,” said Stinson. “It’s a distraction. If I think about it, it starts to get in my head. So I just turn the page and go on to the next pitch.”
AMU chipped out a run in the third on a leadoff walk, a single and a double steal that resulted in a run when the throw to second skipped into centerfield for the only error of the game.
The Gyrenes also scored in the fifth after two were out. Junior Tanner Kelly, in the leadoff spot in the AMU order, dropped a bunt down the third base line for a single, stole second and came all the way in to score on a wild pitch.
Otherwise, Ave Maria had trouble getting key hits in clutch moments.
“A.J. was A.J. today,” said Halford. “Of course, he’s going to have a high pitch count, because that’s who he is. He battles and he’s throwing the ball really hard early, and he maintained it for most of the game.”
The Crusaders manufactured a run in the top of the fifth, when Lycette was hit by a pitch, and after Lee walked, Lycette reached third on a double steal and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Hernandez
Lee made it 7-2 with one out in the seventh, smacking a solo home run to leftfield. On the previous pitch, a strike, Lee developed a cramp and stepped out of the batter’s box for some brief medical attention, then stepped back in and delivered a big blow.
“The first pitch was a slider,” said Lee of his team-leading 14th home run of the season. “I started cramping on that pitch, because I thought it was going to hit me.
“I stepped out of the box and started thinking about my approach (at the plate), as well as my cramp, so when I got back in, I just sat on the slider.”
Carey broke it open in the eighth with four runs on two hits. The Crusaders opened the inning with two walks and a hit batter. A wild pitch got one run home and a balk made it 9-2 ahead of Lada’s two-run bomb to left.
“We’ve got one more to go tomorrow,” said Halford. “We may be playing a team we’ve played already. So you never know.”
Freshman right-hander Lane Jarreau pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth for Carey, and sophomore right-hander Hayden Nored got a game-ending double play to erase a leadoff walk in the ninth.
Besides the national championship season of 1969, William Carey has played in the NAIA World Series in 1978 and in 2017, where the Crusaders finished third after getting eliminated in the semifinal round.
“We just have to focus on taking it one game at a time,” said Lada. “Once we get out there, we just play the game like we’re supposed to.”
Carey Baseball Linescore
NAIA Opening Round Regional
Tuesday at Milton Wheeler Field
William Carey 11, Ave Maria 2
Carey 203 010 140 – 11 11 1
AMU 001 010 000 – 2 4 0
WILLIAM CAREY (46-9): Bobby Lada 2 HR (solo, 2-run), 1B; Jake Lycette 1B; Patrick Lee HR (solo), 1B; Preston Ratliff 2 1B; Rigoberto Hernandez 3B, 2B Brady Wilson 1B. WP – A.J. Stinson (7-2), 9 Ks.Also pitching – Lane Jarreau; Hayden Nored.
AVE MARIA (35-17): Tanner Kelly 1B; Francesco Barbieri 1B; Jimmy Coffey 2 1B. LP – Ryan Schroeder (4-5). Also pitching – Brandon Willoughby, 8 Ks; Kevin Figueredo; Brennan Dolwick.
NAIA Opening Round Regional
At Milton Wheeler Field, Hattiesburg
(Single bracket, double-elimination)
Monday
Houston-Victoria (Texas) 10, Union (Ky.) 7
Ave Maria (Fla.) 20, Texas Wesleyan 8
William Carey 7, Houston-Victoria (Texas) 0
Tuesday
Texas Wesleyan 12, Union (Ky.) 8, Union eliminated
William Carey 11, Ave Maria (Fla.) 2
Houston-Victoria (Texas) 9, Texas Wesleyan 3, Texas Wesleyan eliminated
Wednesday
10 a.m. – Houston-Victoria, Texas (28-26) vs. Ave Maria, Fla. (35-17); 1:30 p.m. – William Carey (46-9) vs. Houston-Victoria/Ae Maria winner winner.
Thursday
11 a.m. – Game 8 winner vs. Game 8 loser (if necessary).
