By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – There was never a doubt.
William Carey University capped off a dominant performance for the ages Thursday afternoon in the NAIA Hattiesburg Opening Round Regional at Milton Wheeler Field and can start booking for a trip to Idaho for the NAIA World Series.
The Crusaders roared into the World Series with a 27-4 victory over Ave Maria (Fla.) in the tournament championship round, advancing to the Series for the fourth time in school history, as they seek to add another championship to the one they won in 1969.
Carey (47-9), ranked eighth in the final NAIA Coaches Poll of the season, opens play in the World Series at Lewiston, Idaho as the fifth seed in the 10-team field, beginning action on May 26. Ave Maria completed its season at 36-18.
“This is like a dream,” said Crusaders senior Patrick Lee, who arrived at Carey in 2018 after his high school career at Resurrection Catholic in Pascagoula. “And I don’t think we’re done yet. We just have to stay humble and take each game as it comes.”
For longtime Carey head coach Bobby Halford, it will be his second trip to Idaho, having taken the Crusaders to the World Series in 2017, where they finished third.
“We knew when we started this season that we were going to be pretty good,” said Halford, now in his 38th season as head coach.
“These guys have worked so hard, not only on the field but in the weightroom. They’ve gotten a lot bigger, a lot stronger, and, of course, you’ve got guys who’ve played together two, three, four years. They’ve been there.”
The Crusaders started their onslaught on Wednesday night, scoring nine runs in the first inning and a half before heavy thunderstorms forced play to be suspended, then they picked right back up when play resumed on Thursday.
Thursday’s demolition derby was just a continuation of the dominance Carey showed all week. In three games in the regional, the Crusaders outscored their opponents 45-6, outhit them 40-15 and never trailed at any point in the tournament.
“Man, I’m just speechless; it’s amazing,” said junior Brady Wilson, who continued his hot hitting, going 2 for 4 with three runs-batted-in. “I couldn’t think of a better group of guys to do it with. We were fired up yesterday and today.”
WCU took command right from the start in the clincher. Playing again as the visitor on the scoreboard, the Crusaders jumped ahead with three runs in the top of the first inning.
Junior R.J. Stinson snapped a 1 for 10 slump with a single into leftfield and senior Bobby Lada drew a walk.
Junior Jake Lycette surprised the Gyrenes by laying down a bunt into no-man’s land between third base, the pitcher’s mound and home plate, and he beat the throw to first to load the bases.
“A lot of times, you don’t expect your 3-hole to bunt,” said Lycette, who was 3 for 4 with four RBIs. “The third baseman was playing back, and I felt like I could drop down a bunt. And even if I get thrown out, it’s still like a sac bunt.
“When you’ve got a guy like Pat hitting behind you, there are no worries. When you get hot, it gets contagious. You’re just out there trying to score runs, and score in abundance.”
Freshman right-hander Blake Allbritton (1-1) got a strikeout for AMU, but gave up a wild pitch to score Stinson, then surrendered back-to-back walks to drive in another run. Lycette made it 3-0 when Wilson grounded to first.
Junior left-hander Dario Herrera was tagged for an error leading off the bottom of the first, then got a perfectly executed double play to erase the runner, and when the Crusaders went to bat in the second, the wheels started coming off for the Gyrenes.
With one out, Stinson reached on an error, Lada walked and Lycette drove in Stinson with a single to right. Another error on a chopper to third got another run home, then with two out, Wilson hit the game’s big blow, a two-run single to right.
“The thing about this team is that 1 through 9 (in the batting order), we don’t have any easy outs,” said Wilson. “And we’ve got seven or eight more on the bench that can flat-out hit. This is the best hitting team I’ve ever been a part of.”
Junior Kris Jones then brought the night to an end with a triple to the wall in right-centerfield, driving in two more runs. It was part of a 3 for 6 game with three RBIs for the former Oak Grove High and Pearl River Community College product.
At that point, lightning was detected, the tarp was pulled out and minutes later a deluge forced play to be suspended.
“Today, things kind of fell our way,” said Halford. “We started that game yesterday and put up nine runs in the first two innings, so that was a big cushion for us.
“The guy they brought out today was pretty good, so we were glad we got that big lead. And then they just ran out of pitching. We went through that in the conference tournament, where we were saving some guys and it got out of hand.”
Herrera only threw 11 pitches in the first inning, so he was fresh enough to come back and resume the game on Thursday.
“I felt good last night,” said Herrera. “Then my coaches asked me if I could go today, and I said, ‘yeah, it was only 11 pitches.’”
Herrera (9-0) battled cramps to get through six innings. He allowed three runs on four hits, struck out three, walked two, hit two batters and had two wild pitches.
Freshman Lane Jarreau pitched the seventh, junior Preston Ratliff threw the eighth and junior John Snyder went the ninth.
“The trainers just told me to keep drinking water, and I was able to get back on the mound,” said Herrera. “The slider was really moving today for me. We’re just having fun right now, doing what we’re doing.”
Carey was off its game for an inning or two when play resumed against senior right-hander Matt Barragy, who took the mound for AMU. And the Gyrenes got a couple of runs back in the bottom of the third.
Sophomore Jimmy Coffey led off with an infield single and junior Michael Signorelli poked a single through the left side. One run scored on an error, the other on a sacrifice fly off the bat of senior Tynan Shahidi.
But that was the last flicker of hope for Ave Maria, as the relentless Carey offense picked its pace back up and ripped through what was left of the Gyrenes’ pitching.
Lada had a two-run single, and Lee had a two-run double in a five-run fourth-inning rally. The Crusaders scored three more runs in the fifth, and Lycette jacked a two-run home run over the rightfield fence in the seventh after Lada reached on a one-out single.
“It felt very good to leave here like that,” said Lycette. “Like I said, when it gets contiguous, that’s when it’s fun.”
Ratliff also had a solo homer in the seventh and Jones followed with a run-scoring single in the inning.
The Carey reserves got into the action in the eighth, scoring six runs to put an exclamation point on the victory. Junior Bailee Hendon had a two-run double, Ratliff drove in two runs with a single and sophomore Brady Logan singled in the final two runs.
“We have some guys on the bench who can step in for us,” said Halford. “Hendon got hurt a couple of weeks ago, so he’s been in and out of the lineup, KJ came in and didn’t miss a beat. So we’ve got a lot of guys who can contribute.”
So now it’s on to Idaho, where the Crusaders will be carrying a huge head of steam.
“We’re going to be playing some really good teams out there,” said Halford. “Everything’s going to be a lot tougher from here on.”
But the scouting report on the Crusaders will show a team with very few weaknesses that is playing with a ton of confidence.
“I think we’re playing as well as anyone right now,” said Lee. “I’m excited about going out there and showing what we can do.”
Carey Baseball Linescore
NAIA Opening Round Regional
Championship Round
Thursday at Milton Wheeler Field
William Carey 27, Ave Maria 4
Carey 360 530 460 – 27 20 3
AMU 002 001 001 – 4 8 2
WILLIAM CAREY (47-9): R.J. Stinson 2 1B; Billy Garrity 2B; Bobby Lada 2 1B (3 RBIs); Jake Lycette HR (2-run), 2 1B (4 RBIs); Trey Bunch 1B; Patrick Lee 1B (4 RBIs); Bailee Hendon 2B; Preston Ratliff HR (solo), 1B (3 RBIs); Brady Wilson 2 1B (3 RBIs); Kris Jones 3B, 2 1B (3 RBIs); Brady Logan 1B. WP – Dario Herrera (9-0), 6 Ks. Also pitching – Lane Jarreau; Preston Ratliff; John Snyder.
AVE MARIA (36-18): Jose Gonzales 1B; Daniel Caylor 2B; Tynan Shahidi 1B; Francesco Barbieri 1B; Cole Rasbury 2B; Chris Coppini 1B; Jimmy Coffey Michael Signorelli 1B. LP – Blake Allbritton (1-1). Also pitching – Matt Barragy; Brennan Dolwick; Alex Nickler; Eric Havner;.Kelton Little; Daniel Caylor.
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
Ave Maria (Fla.) 4, Houston-Victoria (Texas) 3, Houston-Victoria eliminated
Thursday
William Carey 27, Ave Maria (Fla.) 4, Carey wins regional championship
Photos courtesy of Jesse Johnson
