UVa.-Wise Finally Wins 'Game That Would Not End'
Story wrote By Ron Bliss
TriCitiesSports.com
KINGSPORT -- The "Game That Would Not End'' finally did at 1:43 a.m., Friday.
King and Uva.-Wise began playing an elimination game in the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament at 8 p.m., Thursday -- getting a late start because of rain. It then appeared it was over at 11:10 p.m., 12:15 a.m., and 12:50 a.m., but each time the game found new legs at Hunter Wright Stadium.
Finally, Uva.-Wise -- so upset with a changed ruling in the ninth inning when it was still Thursday that it threaten to walk off the field and forfeit the game -- put four runs on the board in the top of the 14th inning and made them stand up for a 13-9 victory that nobody involved will forget any time soon.
"I've been through a lot of baseball game, but never one like that,'' said King College coach Mark Conkin, who saw his team's season end. "That was just a war. Nobody wanted to give up, nobody wanted to surrender. It was an outstanding baseball game ... It's too bad somebody had to lose.''
In the end, the teams shook hands, smiled and complimented each other's play, but there was a point that things got so heated that reinforcements were called for from the Kingsport Police Department.
It first appeared Uva.-Wise had won the game in the ninth inning. With the bases full and two outs, Drew Trujillo of King hit a grounder that the Uva.-Wise second baseman scooped up and threw to first base where umpire Gary Maxwell indicated "out'', setting off a Uva.-Wise celebration because they had allowed just one run in a bases-loaded, no out situation and were headed to next week's Region XII NAIA championships on the same field.
But as Lee Corso would say, "Not so fast, my friend!"
While they were celebrating, King's Conkin had seen something. He claimed the Cav first baseman's foot was off the bag and appealed to the homeplate umpire, who overturned Maxwell's call and said the game was now tied 6-6 and the bases were still loaded.
That set off an explosion of another type. Uva.-Wise coach Hank Banner was so upset with the call that he told the umpires that "I'm not putting them back out there!''
From 11:10 p.m., to 11:40 p.m., the debate went on. Finally, Banner relented. But after agreeing to continue play, he got kicked out of the game after a rant against the umps and pitching coach Doug Bates was also bounced.
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Josh Verts of UVa.-Wise had six hits in historic game, including four doubles and three RBI. TriCitiesSports.com photo by Ron Bliss. |
With assistant Josh Scarborough now in charge, play resumed at 11:40, tied 6-6. Pitcher Josh Verts got Craig Cant to line out and that left the game tied at 6-6 and headed to extra innings.
"I talked to the kids,'' said Banner later, "and they wanted to finish the game. I left it up to them. They had played hard to that point. I had no intentions of coming back, but when your players say they want to go back and finish, I let them have some input on it. But I had never seen that kind of call at any level of baseball, period.''
Neither team seriously threatened in the 10th, but in the 11th the Cavs got a lead-off single from Edwin Narvaez and Andrew Anderson and, after King changed pitchers and brought Trent Waymire in, catcher Alan Stoupa laid down a sacrifice bunt. King catcher Matt Morris threw wildly past third baseman Brett Cant, however, and the go-ahead run scored and runners moved up to second and third.
Waymire struck out Mike Lang, but when Matt Hall hit an infield grounder, the throw came homel and while Narvaez scampered back to third, Morris dropped the ball and all hands were safe -- loading the bases with just one out.
Waymire, however, got the next two batters to pop out and end the inning with King down just one run, 7-6.
With one out in the bottom of the 11th, however, Mike Torrence -- playing on a bad leg from an injury suffered in a game Wednesday at the field -- singled and Trujillo tripled to right-center to score him and tie the game at 7-7.
But just when it appeared the game would end and King would win, Uva.-Wise pitcher Josh Verts sucked it up and after intentionally walking Craig Cant he struck out Tyler Halstead and got Brett Cant to line out, sending the game to the 12th inning.
King threatened, but didn't score and that sent things to the 13th where Uva.-Wise pushed across two runs -- the first on a squeeze bunt by Matt Hall with runners on second and third. Hall was safe on the play with a single to put runners on first and third.
A second run scored on a double-play grounder, but at 9-7 it appeared Uva.-Wise had done enough to hold on an win the game.
But King had other ideas. After the first two batters flew out, Joe Craven singled. And when Brett Cant hit a fly to center the Uva.-Wise players started to charge the field, anticipating the third out. But center fielder Mike Lang had the ball deflect off his glove for an error, putting runners on second and third. Matt Hall was intentionally walked, bringing up Justin Reising, who had struck out in his previous at bat and was hitless for the game.
With his team facing elimination, however, Reising blooped a single to left field that scored two runs and tied the game at 9-9. It went to the 14th inning that way.
Brad Robbins, who came into the game leading the nation in hitting with an average of over .500, singled to lead off the 14th. Then, after a strikeout by Narvaez, Anderson reached on a walk, Stoupa singled for a run, Lang walked, Hall walked to force in a second run and Jorge Laboy singled home the inning's third run. A sacrifice fly by pitcher John Bigley made it 13-9 Uva.-Wise.
This time, King couldn't answer. Though an error gave King brief life, Bigley retired the other three batters he faced and finally Uva.-Wise had its win and the marathon was over.
"There was a lot on the line,'' said Banner, whose team will first advance to face Union -- an 11-1 winner over Milligan in an earlier game Thursday -- in another elimination game at 3 p.m.,. Friday, but will also advance to next week's Region XII tournament here as one of four qualifiers.
The other two, No. 1 seed Tennessee Wesleyan and No. 2 seed Montreat, will meet in the Winners' Bracket finals at 11:30 a.m., Friday.
"I told my kids that that was as gutsy a thing as I've ever seen right there,'' said Banner. "Our pitching is depleted, but we'll be back at 3 p.m.''
Conkin was proud of his kids for battling the way they did.
"They've been great all year,'' said Conkin, whose team finished 31-18. "But they grew up tonight. Every time they were down, the kept battling back.''
It could be argued the game was "over" before it ever got to the ninth. Uva.-Wise led 6-0 before King chipped away and got back into it with a run in the sixth, two in the seventh, another in the eighth and then two in the ninth to force extra innings.
Verts led a 28-hit Uva.-Wise attack with six hits -- four of them doubles, something that might also be a record, at least in AAC tournament annals. Bigley not only got the win, but went 4-for-7 with a sac fly and two RBI, Narvaez went 4-for-8 and Robbins and Laboy each 3-for-8.
Craven had another big day, going 4-for-6, to lead King.
Union stayed alive by eliminating Milligan, 11-1, after the Buffaloes had won a morning elimination game, 16-7. Tennessee Wesleyan stayed unbeaten with a 7-3 win over Union and Montreat had beaten King in a morning Winners' Bracket game, 16-5.
Here are available linescores from Thursday, Thursday's other results and Friday's schedule. Play here on out will be for seeding in next week's regional. The AAC gets four spots in it because its teams are higher ranked nationally this year than the other conference that supplies teams to the regional.
Uva.-Wise 13, King College 9
Uva.-Wise 110 013 000 010 24 -- 13 28 6
King College 000 001 212 010 20 -- 9 14 4
Robbins, Sinnes (7), Verts (9), Bigley (12) and Stoupa; Fuller, Frye (2), Wallace (3), Snyder (5), Waymire (10), Allen (13), Malone (14) and Morris. WP--Bigley; LP--Allen.
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