William Penn Defeats Grand View, Celebrates Conference Title
William Penn claimed the 2019 Heart of America Athletic Conference regular season crown. It is the 14 conference championship for WPU and its first since 2013 when it was a member of the MCC. (submitted photo)
by Wade Steinlage
Oskaloosa—With a Central Methodist loss and Benedictine getting swept, prior to its final regular season game, William Penn claimed the 2019 Heart of America Athletic Conference regular season crown. It is the 14 conference championship for WPU and its first since 2013 when it was a member of the MCC.
However, the Statesmen (33-10, 18-6 Heart) had some business to settle with their rival the Grand View Vikings (13-21, 10-13 Heart) in the final regular season game of the 2019 campaign. It was another memorable game to add to a memorable season for William Penn as they defeated Grand View in an explosive clash 15-14.
The Vikings scored the first six runs of the ball game taking a 6-0 lead into the bottom of the third.
The Statesmen slugged themselves back into the contest plating four runs in the bottom of the third frame to cut the lead to 6-4 as they took advantage of a Grand View error, walk and hit by pitch. With the bases loaded and one down, Jarrett Hunt (Jr., Logan, Utah, Digital Communications) got his team on the board with a two-RBI single, scoring Zach Edgar (Jr., Elgin, Ill., Business Management) and Adrian Garcia (Jr., Ontario, Calif., Mechanical Engineering). Seth Reisbeck (Sr., Meridian, Id., History/Government) followed with a single of his own scoring Nathan Ball (Sr., Moses Lake, Wash., Sociology) and Blaze Speas (Sr., O’Fallon, Mo., Wellness and Recreation) capped the inning with a sacrifice fly to left field scoring Hunt.
The visiting Grand View, who were playing for its postseason lives, came back with more firepower in the fourth inning pushing across five more runs to increase its lead to 11-4.
If you thought the navy and gold were going to fold after the fourth, you haven’t been following this team in 2019. This team prides itself on being resilient and they showcased that resilience in the bottom of the fourth. WPU put together what may be its most impressive inning of the season, scoring eight runs and taking a 12-11 lead over its rivals. After a quick out to begin the stanza, William Penn rattled off five consecutive singles to push across two runs. Reisbeck followed with a sacrifice fly scoring Garcia. Dominic Bravo got into the action in a big way, singling a ball to center field scoring both Ball and Hunt. After an error on ball that was put in play by Boston Romero (Sr., Fairfield, Calif., Sociology) that scored Speas, Jimmy Blake (Sr., Seffner, Fla., Sports Management) put the icing on the cake with a go-ahead double to deep left center field clearing the bases and giving home team the 12-11 edge.
After a scoreless fifth for both offenses, Grand View tied it at 12-12 in the sixth, but once again, the Statesmen responded. Bravo put the team back ahead with a line-drive that cleared the left field fence for a two-run home run. For Bravo, it was his fourth of the season.
The Vikings scored a pair of runs in the eighth to tie the game once more at 14-14 to set up a special ending at Penn Field.
With the bases loaded and two down, Speas stepped to the plate. The senior just a couple of weeks prior launched a walk-off home run against Clarke and himself an opportunity to walk it off once again. He grounded a ball up the middle and with his speed made it a tough play for the Vikings shortstop who threw the ball wide of first base allowing Garcia to score from third and the celebration was on as the Statesmen took the regular season finale by a score of 15-14.
Eight Statesmen recorded a hit, including six logging multi-hit efforts. Hunt finished the day with four base knocks and three RBI’s while Bravo ended up with two hits and four RBI’s.
Trent Barnett (Sr., Eddyville, Iowa, Accounting) worked his way out of jam in the ninth to keep the game tied and ended up with the W. Augie Voight (Sr., Waukeegan, Ill., Secondary Education) pitched five strong innings in relief, surrendering just two earned runs.
The 33 wins during the 2019 season has tied them with the 1986 and 2006 squads for eighth on the WPU all-time list and are the most in a season since 2009.
Next Up: William Penn will travel to Springfield, Mo., and enter the Heart of America Athletic Conference tournament as the #1 seed. They will await the winner of the play-in game for its first round matchup that will take place on Thursday, May 2.
