Statesmen Overcome Slow Start, Advance in Heart Championship

Ozark, Mo.–The William Penn baseball team remains in the winner’s bracket of the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship after defeating #8 seed Benedictine in its opening game 9-7 Thursday.

With the win, the seventh-seeded Statesmen (28-20) advance to face #2 seed Clarke Friday at 10 a.m.

Benedictine (18-28) got on the board first, pushing across one run in the top of the first inning. The Statesmen responded in the bottom half as Nick George (Jr., Sarina, Ontario, Sociology) hit a two-out triple to center field and then came around on single to right field by Abraham Arroyo (So., Camuy, P.R., Wellness and Recreation).

Unfortunately, BC took back the lead with a four-run second frame, while adding another tally in the third to take a 6-1 advantage.

The navy and gold did not buckle, though, beginning with a strong bottom half of the third. Blair Speas (So., O’Fallon, Mo., Undecided) led off with a single, followed by a single from Franklin Aparicio (Sr., Panama City, Panama, Business Management) to put runners on the corners. Tim Jean (Sr., Libertyville, Ill., Public Accounting) then came through with a double to left field to plate Speas. George also delivered a one-bagger to right field to bring in both Aparicio and Jean.

WPU took its first lead–and the lead for good–in the fifth inning as two Raven errors and an Arroyo single loaded the bases. A wild pitch then allowed Jean to score. A walk loaded again loaded the bases and Trevor Dooley (Jr., Prole, Iowa, Computer Science) drove in two with a single to center field. Dillan Schrock (Sr., Shingle Springs, Calif., Sociology) got in on the action as he singled to right to score Nathan Jessell (So., Napa, Calif., Sociology). Aparicio pushed across the last run of the inning with a sacrifice fly as the Statesmen went up 9-6.

Benedictine clawed to within one in the top of the sixth inning, but that is where the scoring ended for both sides in the nine-inning contest.

Every Statesmen batter came away with a hit in the victory (13 hits for both teams) as George and Dooley led the way with two hits and two RBIs each. Aparicio and Arroyo also joined the two-hit club, while tallying one RBI apiece.

Stetson Denning (Sr., Queen Creek, Ariz., Sports Management) endured a tough start, but continued to battle and ended up working seven solid innings for the win. He permitted seven runs (five earned) on 12 hits, while striking out six batters and walking three.

Bret Whiffen (Jr., Green Bay, Wis., Exercise Science) was credited with the save, pitching two shutout innings. He permitted just one hit and struck out one.