Wabash said goodbye to eight seniors and one head coach Wednesday night in an 8-4 loss to Franklin at Victory Field in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Seniors Jared Bogan, Phil Ramos (left), Justin VanderIest, Chris Sides, and Nick Rico were in the starting lineup, while fellow senior Travis Moore came on in relief in the fourth inning. Only John Thiry, who has pitched all season long despite battling a shoulder injury and threw a complete game over the weekend against Denison, and student assistant Taylor Backs did not see action in the season finale. The game was also the last for head coach Tom Flynn, who leaves Wabash tied for second on the all-time victories list with 101. Flynn and his family are headed to California after his wife accepted a new job in the San Francisco area.
"The bounces didn’t always go our way, and we didn’t come away with as many wins as we would have liked, but we always played hard this year, and that’s a true testament to the leadership of our seniors," said Flynn.
Wabash took a 2-0 lead in the second after Bogan led the inning off with single up the middle. A bunt single by freshman Matt Dodaro extended his consecutive game hitting streak to eight games and put runners on first and second. Shaun Rico singled to right to load the bases before VanderIest picked up his final career RBI with a single to right field, scoring Bogan. David Culp drove home the second run with a sacrifice fly.
Franklin scored three in the top of the third to take the lead, but the Little Giants answered with an RBI single by Dodaro in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 3-3. The Grizzlies added a run in the fourth and sixth innings, then two more in the eighth and one in the ninth to move in front 8-3.
Eric Carroll opened the bottom of the ninth with a pinch-hit double, eventually leading to the final run for Wabash when pinch-runner JT Moore scored on a wild pitch. That would be all the Little Giants would score, closing the 2006 season with an overall mark of 17-21.
Sides and Bogan finished their careers first and second on the all-time doubles list for Wabash. Sides crushed 40 two-base hits in his career, while Bogan finished with 36. The duo finished their careers tied in career home runs with 12. Bogan also owns the single-season record for doubles, tying his own school record of 14 this season after setting the original mark in 2003. Dodaro finished the year tied for second in the record book with 13.
Photos - (top left) Senior Phil Ramos cruises into third base at Victory Field.
(bottom right) Senior Chris Sides and Head Coach Tom Flynn talk after Wednesday night's game.
(home page) Freshman Mike Nowak goes up the middle to turn a double play.