One game after the Wabash staved off elimination in the 2010 North Coast Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament in Chillicothe, Ohio Friday with an 11-5 win over Allegheny, the Little Giants ran out of run production in the next elimination game Denison handed Wabash a 7-1 loss to end the Little Giants’ season.
Sophomore John Holm was a one-man wrecking crew in game one Friday against Allegheny, setting the Wabash single game record with three home runs.
Game two was a different story. The Little Giants had several opportunities, including one with Holm batting with one out and the bases loaded in the fifth, but was unable to drive home a run. The Little Giants’ lone run of the game came off a David Seibel triple to open the seventh, followed by a sacrifice fly by Brian Lares. Wabash would strand a total of 13 base runners in the game.
Denison scored all the runs it need with a two outs in the top of the fifth. Wabash allowed the inning to continue when a pop up into shallow left turned into an error. The Big Red took advantage by adding four straight hits, including a two-run double by Aidan Lucas and an RBI triple by Kevin Teague. Denison scored another run in the sixth and two in the ninth to stretch its lead.
Freshman Chris Widup was solid up to the two-out error in the fifth. He scattered a total of eight hits over five innings with no earned runs allowed. Widup, who dropped to 3-3 in his rookie season, also walked one and struck out two. Blake Mattingly threw 2-2/3 innings of relief, giving up only one run on four hits with two strikeouts. Luke Zinsmaster worked the final 1-1/3, allowing two runs on three hits with a walk and strikeout.
John Pennington had three of Wabash’s 11 hits in the game against Denison. Lares and Chris Deig each finished with two hits.
Wabash and Allegheny played in the first elimination game in the afternoon. The Little Giants jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning when Holm parked a three-run shot over the right field fence. The four-base hit also gave Holm the single season total bases record, which he would continue to add to throughout the contest. His solo shot to left-center field in the fourth and another solo blast to dead center field in the eighth along with a single in the sixth gave Holm a total of 112 bases for the year.
Senior starter Keegan Leckrone was spectacular in his final outing on the mound in a Wabash uniform. He earned the complete game victory, scattering 10 hits and one walk while striking out three. He held the shutout against the Gators through the fifth inning when back-to-back doubles and a two-out single trimmed the Little Giants’ lead to 7-2. Leckrone gave up three more runs in the top of the ninth before settling in for the final out on a fly ball to right to end the game. Leckrone finished the season 4-3 overall.
Pennington joined Holm with four hits in the game for the Little Giants. Tanner Coggins added three hits for Wabash versus Allegheny. Deig, PJ Tyson, and Joe Johnson each had two hits, helping Wabash to 19 for the game.
The loss ends Wabash’ tournament trip, giving the Little Giants an overall record of 19-23. Wooster and Denison will meet in the championship game Sunday morning at 11 a.m.
Tourney Game #4 - Wabash 11, Allegheny 5 (box score)
Tourney Game #5 - Denison 7, Wabash 1 (box score)
