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Central falls in final, finishes second in Avista NAIA World Series

Posted 6/8/21

The Central Methodist baseball program fell in the Avista NAIA World Series National Championship game to Georgia Gwinnett by a final score of 8-4 Thursday night in Lewiston, Idaho.  

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Central falls in final, finishes second in Avista NAIA World Series

Posted

The Central Methodist baseball program fell in the Avista NAIA World Series National Championship game to Georgia Gwinnett by a final score of 8-4 Thursday night in Lewiston, Idaho. 

Central finishes 2021 as the national runner-up, while the Grizzlies claim the first national title in program history. The runner-up finish is the best postseason finish by any CMU baseball team in program history. Central also set program bests in wins (49), winning percentage (.859), team batting average (.341), home runs (87), team earned run average (3.33), and strikeouts (473) during the 2021 campaign. Central also posts a 3-2 overall record in its first World Series appearance.

After a scoreless first inning, Georgia Gwinnett jumped out in front with two runs in the bottom of the second, followed by one in the third, and one in the fourth, to take a 4-0 lead after four innings.

The Grizzlies added to their lead with a four-run sixth, pushing the advantage to 8-0.

Central’s offense got started in the top of the eighth with four runs. Senior second basemen Deshawn Cole started the inning, reaching base on a misplayed grounder by the Grizzlies’ shortstop. Fellow senior Kenny Otero drew a walk, followed by a single from yet another senior, Logan Haring, to load the bases. After Georgia Gwinnett collected a strikeout, senior Mason Schwellenbach stepped to the plate and reached on another misplayed grounder, this time to the third basemen, allowing both Cole and Otero to score.

With CMU trailing 8-2, senior Grant Victor hit a ball through the hole at second base to once again load the bases with one out. Junior Raul Cosme, in his first action of the World Series as a pinch hitter, drew a bases-loaded walk to score Haring.

After the Grizzlies forced another ground out, junior Nate Bray reached on a pinch-hit walk to drive in the fourth run of the inning. Central was looking for more with the bases loaded as Cole hit a blooper out to right field. But the Grizzlies’ second basemen made an outstanding sliding catch to save two runs and record the final out of the inning.

Central was not able to chip away at the deficit any further, as Georgia Gwinnett held on in the final inning to claim their first national title.

Victor finished the evening batting three-for-five, while Haring and Macias each picked up two hits. Schwellenbach, Cosme, and Bray each collected one RBI.

Senior Dylan Brister got the start on the mound, tossing an inning and a third with a strikeout. Junior Beau Atkins came in relief and tossed the next three-and-a-third innings, giving up two earned runs and striking out four batters. Senior Isaiah Davis and sophomore Nino Puckett both saw action on the bump, while senior Sergio Macias came in to collect the final out of the eighth.

As a team, Central finished the game with four runs on seven hits, compared to eight runs for the Grizzlies on 15 hits.

Three Eagles, shortstop Macias, senior catcher Max McCay and junior pitcher Nick Merkel, were named to the NAIA All-Tournament team.

The loss to Georgia Gwinnett was the second for CMU. The Eagles fell 9-3 to the Grizzlies in the winner’s bracket on Tuesday, June 1, despite scoring the first run of the game. 

The Eagles looked poised to continue their offensive run in their third game of the tournament on Tuesday. CMU opened the bottom of the first with an RBI-single from Mason Schwellenbach. Georgia Gwinnett, responded with six runs in the top of the third on five hits and a CMU error to take a 6-1 lead.

The Grizzlies added to their lead with a pair of runs in the fourth, but Central answered with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Senior first basemen Logan Haring started the inning with a double down the right field line. After GGC recorded back-to-back outs, a walk to Logan McDonald to put runners at the corners. Grant Victor singled through the hole at second base to score Haring from third.

Central trimmed the lead to 8-3 in the later innings, but Georgia Gwinnett would get one final insurance run in the ninth on a wild pitch.

Kenny Otero got the start, tossing four complete innings and recording four strikeouts. Sophomore Tyler Vicars came on in relief for the next 4 1/3 innings, giving up only one earned run on two hits with a strikeout. Senior Isaiah Davis collected the final two outs in the ninth for the Eagles.

Haring led the offense batting three-for-five including a double and two runs scored. Victor batted a perfect three-for-three with an RBI, while Max McCay and Schwellenbach each drove in a run. Sergio Macias and Schwellenbach both finished the evening with two hits.

Deshawn Cole joined Haring with a double while McDonald drew two walks. As a team, Central collected 13 hits compared to the Grizzlies' 11, but left nine runners on base.

In Central’s fourth game of the double-elimination tournament, the opponent was host team Lewis Clark State. The Eagles won a thriller, knocking off the Warriors by a final score of 8-5 in the semifinals to mprove their overall record to 49-7, continuing to add to its program record for single-season wins. The Warriors concludes their season with a 44-6 mark.

Lewis Clark State kept their offensive momentum going from the previous game, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first to take an early 3-0 lead. CMU responded with a run in the top of the second, as Mason Schwellenbach started the inning with a leadoff double to centerfield. Following a wild pitch that moved Schwellenbach to third, sophomore Logan McDonald was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners.

Senior third basemen Grant Victor grounded out to second which scored Schwellenbach from third, trimming the Warriors lead to 3-1. Lewis Clark added its fourth run in the next half inning, stretching its lead back out to three.

Central continued to chip away at the Warriors lead, as Deshawn Cole started the third with a leadoff double to center field. Kenny Otero then moved Cole over on a ground out, followed by a ground out from Logan Haring to bring Cole home.

CMU continued its offensive push in the fourth with a pair of runs to tie the game at 4-4. Max McCay drew a walk with one out, and senior right fielder Adrian Martinez then stepped to the plate and hit a two-run home over the left field fence, his eighth of the season.

Both pitching staffs threw scoreless frames for the next two innings before Central grabbed the lead with three runs in the seventh. The Eagles strung together four consecutive hits from Otero, Haring, Macias, and Schwellenbach. Otero started the inning with a single followed by a double from Haring to place runners at second and third with no outs. Macias put CMU out in front with a two-RBI double to deep left field.

After Schwellenbach singled to put runners at the corners, a strikeout by Mcdonald was followed by a walk from Victor, loading the bases with just one out. McCay drove in the third run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Macias.

Central pushed its lead to four in the next half inning, as Macias collected his second consecutive RBI double of the game to deep centerfield. Despite the Warriors scoring a run on a double, Beau Atkins retired the final two batters to propel Central to an 8-5 semifinal win over the Warriors.

Junior ace Nick Merkel started and only gave up four earned runs and seven hits while striking out nine. Merkel did not surrender a run through the final seven innings of work en route to his 14th win of the season. He ties fellow ace Mason Schwellenbach for the most wins in the nation this season.

The trio of Otero, Macias, and Schwellenbach each collected three hits, while Macias drove in three runners. Martinez recorded the lone home run of the game for Central, while Haring, Victor, and McCay each picked up an RBI.

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