Statesmen Lose Twice in Extras
William Penn University Athletics
Des Moines–The William Penn baseball squad was great at rallying in regulation Monday, but failed to accomplish the same feat in extra innings, dropping a pair of Midwest Collegiate Conference games versus Grand View.
William Penn (13-18, 6-5 MCC) lost both in nine innings, 6-5 and 10-9.
In the opener, Tony Alvarez (Jr., Spring Valley, Calif., Southwestern CC) singled home Daniel Wehr (Sr., Sigourney, Sigourney HS) in the second, while Evelio Ahumada (Sr., Hacienda Heights, Calif., Citrus CC) doubled the advantage by coming home on a single by Stanley Muller (Sr., Tucson, Ariz., Cochise CC) in the fourth.
The lead was short-lived with the Vikings (19-23, 11-4 MCC) scoring three times in the fourth and twice again in the fifth.
Down three entering the final frame, the Statesmen refused to go down without a fight. It began with Brad Chin (Sr., San Rafael, Calif., San Rafael HS) driving in pinchrunner Julio Riojas (Jr., Hampton, Ill., Carl Sandburg CC) on a bases-loaded walk.
Randall Packard (Sr., Forestville, Calif., Cal State-Monterey) then brought in Muller on a sacrifice fly. The tying run was plated by Nick Kirby (Sr., Palmdale, Calif., Antelope Valley CC).
The visitors put runners in scoring position in the eighth and ninth innings, but neither runner touched home plate, setting up Grand View’s heroics in the bottom of the ninth.
Wehr and Alvarez had two hits apiece as William Penn lost the hits battle 12-9.
Brad McGuire (Jr., Covina, Calif., Citrus CC) was saddled with the loss in two relief frames.
The Statesmen fell behind early in the nightcap by giving up two runs in the first, but responded with one in the second on an RBI single by Ahumada that scored Jayme Mueller (Jr., Mundelein, Ill., College of Lake County CC).
After giving up two more in the third, the navy and gold again answered with one in the sixth when Ahumada plated Chin on a one-bagger.
Facing a two-run deficit in the seventh, the Statesmen came up even bigger the second time around.
Five runs were tallied, starting with Packard’s single to score Muller. Mueller then recorded two RBIs on a go-ahead single. It continued with Packard rounding the pads on a passed ball and finished with a run-scoring single by Nathan Wood (Jr., Tucson, Ariz., Arizona Western CC).
The three-run lead was not safe, though, as Grand View tied the game at 7-7 to force another extra-inning epic.
Both programs were turned away in the eighth, but not so in the ninth. First, the Statesmen got back on top with Packard and Ahumada touching the final base due to a home team error.
Unfortunately, it was not William Penn’s day as the Vikings closed out the day with a walk-off, three-run triple.
Steve Enriquez (Sr., Castro Valley, Calif., Laney CC) took the loss, while the Statesmen offense, which was outhit 12-11, was led by two-hit showings from Packard, Mueller, and Ahumada.
Next: William Penn concludes its season series against Grand View Tuesday by hosting a nine-inning game at 4 p.m.
