Senior heroics in the final inning against Denison Sunday gave eight seniors and head coach Tom Flynn a 5-4 victory in their last game of 2006 at Mud Hollow Field.
For Flynn --- and seniors Justin VanderIest, Nick Rico, John Thiry, Travis Moore, Taylor Backs, Jared Bogan, Phil Ramos, and Chris Sides --- the game went from the lowest low to the highest high.
The Little Giants were no-hit through five innings before VanderIest started the sixth with a double down the left field line. Three pitches later Wabash cut into the Big Red's 3-0 lead when freshman Jake Thomas hammered a shot over the right centerfield fence to make it a 3-2 game. Denison added a run in the top of the seventh, bringing on closer Dallas Puskar to try for his second save of the weekend series.
The Wabash seniors had different plans for their final inning of home baseball. Bogan reached on an error to start the seventh, giving way to pinchrunner JT Moore. After a strike out for the first out of the inning, freshman shortstop Matt Dodaro slapped a single into right field, sending Moore to second. That set up VanderIest for another big hit. The senior from Hudsonville, Michigan drilled a 1-1 pitch to the center field wall, bringing home Moore and Dodaro to tie the game at 4-4.
With VanderIest on the bench when Eric Carroll entered the game to run for him, it was time for Thomas to make the the seniors' day complete. The freshman outfielder drilled a shot back up the middle. Carroll raced around third and slid headfirst into home for the 5-4 victory.
"There was no way I was stopping," said Carroll after the game. "I was focused on the plate and wanted to find a way to score that winning run."
Andy Weeks went the distance to pick up his fourth win of the season. The freshman held Denison to six hits over seven innings, with four walks and four strike outs.
"I think the reality and the emotion of the game is just now hitting me," said Flynn a few minutes after talking to the team. "These guys played so hard in this game and never gave up. I'm so proud of these seniors, and I'm pround of the way our younger players stepped and made plays to make certain the seniors won their final game at Mud Hollow. It says a lot about this team."
It also says a lot about the coaching career of Flynn, who picked up his 101st career victory to move into a tie for second on the all-time coaching victories list among Little Giant baseball coaches. He matched the 101 wins totaled by Harry Scholler (1921-31, 1949). Scott Boone '81 is the all-time leader with 212 victories as Wabash head baseball coach. Flynn could finish his career alone in second on the list with a victory in the final game of the season at Victory Field in Indianapolis Wednesday night against Franklin College. The head coach has already announced his departure at the end of the season to move with his family to San Francisco after his wife accepted a position with a California company. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m.
The Little Giants need a win in the final game Sunday to avoid a four-game sweep by the Big Red. Denison scored six runs in the final inning of the first game Sunday on the way to a 13-4 victory, but the loss to Wabash in the final game may have knocked Denison out of the North Coast Athletic Conference playoffs. Wabash needed a series sweep of the Big Red and a Wittenberg loss in its series at Earlham for a chance to continue play next weekend in the NCAC tournament.
Wabash is 17-20 overall, and finishes the season 7-9 in NCAC play.
Photos - (top left) Seniors Chris Sides, Phil Ramos, Jared Bogan, Taylor Backs, John Thiry, Nick Rico, Travis Moore, Justin VanderIest, and head coach Tom Flynn during the Senior Day celebration prior to the start of Sunday's games.
(bottom right) Flynn talks to VanderIest about an upcoming at-bat.