Statesmen Rally Nullified, Team Now Faces Elimination
William Penn University Athletics
Peosta–The William Penn baseball team produced an amazing late-inning rally, only to see it go by the wayside as Iowa Wesleyan pulled out a 13-10, ten-inning win to begin the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament Tuesday.
The fifth-seed Statesmen (20-25) will now face #3 seed Mount Mercy Wednesday at noon in an elimination game. William Penn won two of three games against the Mustangs this spring.
Iowa Wesleyan, the #4 seed, took a big early edge by scoring three times in the third and twice more in the fourth. The Tigers later defeated top seed St. Ambrose 7-6 Tuesday night.
The navy and gold finally got on the board in the fifth with two tallies. Nathan Wood (Jr., Tucson, Ariz., Arizona Western CC) doubled home Brad Chin (Sr., San Rafael, Calif., San Rafael HS), while Aaron Laird (Sr., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) touched home plate on a groundout by Stanley Muller (Sr., Tucson, Ariz., Cochise CC).
The Tigers scored once in the top of the sixth, but William Penn cut back into the deficit with two more runs in the bottom half.
Tony Alvarez (Jr., Spring Valley, Calif., Southwestern CC) brought in Tony Mancuso (Sr., Covina, Calif., Citrus CC) on a groundout, while Laird singled in Randall Packard (Sr., Forestville, Calif., Cal State-Monterey) two-thirds of the way through the contest.
Unfortunately, the higher seed tacked on another run in the eighth and three more in the ninth to build a nearly insurmountable six-run advantage.
The navy and gold refused to go down quietly, though, as the first five batters reached base in the ninth (four singles). Pinchrunner Daniel Wehr (Sr., Sigourney, Sigourney HS) opened the scoring by rounding the bases on a single by Wood. Muller then recorded a two-run single to plate Chin and Laird.
Packard brought in Wood, but Evelio Ahumada (Sr., Hacienda Heights, Calif., Citrus CC) possibly posted the biggest base knock with a two-out, game-tying single that tallied Mancuso and Wehr.
The post-regulation inning belonged to Iowa Wesleyan, however, as Tiger Corey Amerson left the park with a three-run home run.
Chin and Laird began the tenth with back-to-back singles, but three straight outs were recorded to close the matchup.
The offenses dominated the afternoon with the Tigers holding a 22-14 edge in hits. All nine Iowa Wesleyan starters had a hit, while eight Statesmen starters also accomplished the feat.
William Penn was led by Laird’s 3-for-4 showing, while Packard also had three hits in five at-bats. Chin and Wood produced two hits apiece as well. Muller finished with three RBIs (two for Ahumada), while Mancuso, Chin, and Laird all came home two times in the setback.
Jorge Quezada (Jr., San Ysidro, Calif., Castle Park HS) started the game and lasted seven frames before Jonathan Davis (Sr., San Diego., Calif., Southwestern CC) relieved him in the eighth. He took the loss in 2 1/3 frames (1-3), while Brad McGuire (Jr., Covina, Calif., Citrus CC) surrendered the home run in the tenth (he recorded two outs).
