Sixth-ranked and top-seeded Crowder is headed back to the NJCAA Division I District Championship tournament after defeating Jefferson College 4-2 on Saturday at Joe Becker Stadium in the Region 16 Championship round.
“It’s really exciting,” Crowder manager Travis Lallemand said. “Last year, everything was taken away, but it was a really good club and a lot of those remainders are on this team. We talk around here about team 56, but team 55 never had a shot, so this is for them as well. It is very, very special to have these guys step up the way they did.”
The Vikings (20-25) scored a run in the top of the second to take the lead before the Roughriders (49-6) struck for three runs in the third to gain the momentum. Crowder added an insurance run in the fifth on the long ball and Jefferson crossed home once in the eighth to cut the lead to two. The Vikings had the runners on base in the ninth before the Roughriders closed the door and punched their ticket to the next round.
“We had chances to put more runs up, but credit to (Jefferson) for making pitches,” Lallemand said. “Very uncharacteristic for us not to cash those opportunities in throughout the entire nine-inning game, and we had a lot of those opportunities. I am happy we won … but we have to cash those (situations) in and we know that. We have to have a gorilla’s mindset about it, but at the same time, we’ll celebrate what we did this week.”
ON THE MOUND
James Hicks, who will be attending South Carolina, was stellar on the bump for Crowder, whose pitching staff allowed just four runs all weekend. He limited Jefferson to two runs on 10 hits and nine strikeouts, and he didn’t allow a walk while pitching 8 1/3 innings on 106 pitches.
“This was the best he’s been all year and he’s been really, really good,” Lallemand said. “I haven’t seen him be this dominant all year and he tuned up for the right situation and got it done for us. … If he wasn’t in the low 90s and sitting there, I’d be shocked.”
Conner Floyd worked 2/3 of a scoreless inning, striking out two to earn the save.
“Floyd has been unbelievable for us all year,” Lallemand said. “It was big for him to come in and finish it up.”
GAME ACTION
Jefferson took the lead in the top of the second inning when Bryce Miller singled through the right side with two on and two out to plate Joe Hamilton for a 1-0 advantage.
Like in the semifinals against the Vikings on Friday, Crowder erased its early deficit with three runs in the third inning. The first tally came on a solo home run from Jack Stroth to lead off the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 1-1. After a single from Clayton Gray and consecutive walks to load the bases, Peyton Holt drove in a run with a fielder’s choice force at second before Gavin Glasgow picked up an RBI with a groundout later in the inning.
“We were able to put a big inning up, and big innings win games,” Lallemand said. “It sounds silly because of course it’s more runs, but that big inning is a momentum thing. We talk all the time ‘limit the big inning’ with our pitching staff, and if you can do that you have a chance to win games. Same thing on the counter-side offensively. If you can put up big innings, you have a chance to put it away.”
Holt gave the Roughriders insurance in the fifth inning after leading off the frame with an opposite-field home run to right to push the lead to 4-1.
Jefferson got a run back in the top of the eighth when Gideon Antle tripled home a run down the first-base line with two outs to cut the deficit to 4-2. In the next at-bat, Matt Schark flew out to center field and Antle, who bluffed going home, was cut down on the relay throw to third by Glasgow to end the threat.
“It was huge, and our alignments were perfect,” Lallemand said. “Our first baseman came over, and he’s learned that position this spring — so, again, there goes the 55 games we’ve played and learning from them — he’s missed that cut a few times. To see that executed properly in that situation goes back to the 54 games we’ve played before this. …. That was a big play to end that inning because they had all of the momentum going for them.”
The Vikings had the tying runs on second and first in the ninth inning before Floyd ended the game with a strikeout to seal the win and earn the save.
“He has been that good for us all year and we’ve got some other guys who are good down there as well,” Lallemand said about Floyd’s relief appearance. “But he’s our high-leverage guy and that was definitely a high-leverage situation.”
IN THE BOX
Holt doubled and homered to go along with two RBI and a run scored to lead the Roughriders at the plate. Stroth homered in one of his two hits as well as finishing with a run scored and one RBI. Glasgow had a hit and drove in a run.
UP NEXT
Crowder will take part in the South Central District tournament, which is scheduled May 21-23. The site is to be determined.
