WORTHINGTON - Wilmont held a 5-2 lead with two outs in the bottom of the fifth when a crucial play went its way.
Worthington had runners on second and third when Nate Jensen hit a long shot to deep center. Cardinals’ centerfielder Jay Scheidt had a very long run to get to it. The ball hit his glove shortly before he crashed into the fence. All three Cubs circled around to and touched home plate as Worthington pleaded that he had dropped the ball. The field umpire ran out to check and ruled Scheidt had indeed made an incredible grab for the third out of the inning. More importantly, it preserved Wilmont’s lead at 5-2.
“At first it looked like Jay had a beat on it but it just kept going,” Cubs player/coach Josh Wasmund said of the play. “He had to step up his pace and kind of dove before he hit the fence. He ran a long way for it. The umps do the best they can and it was a tough call. But if that goes our way, it’s a different game.”
Had the call gone Worthington’s way it would have been tied at 5-5. Instead, Wilmont maintained its three-run lead. It added a 7-spot in the top of the seventh for a 12-2 win by run-rule. The victory gave the Cards a 2-0 win in the best-of-3 series, putting them in the Region 13C Tournament. The loss ended Worthington’s season.
Scheidt played a big role in the visitors taking an early lead as well. After a one-out single by Tyler Hatterman, Jordan Bertrand and Logan Rogers ripped back-to-back singles with two outs. The second of those scored Hatterman and put two on for Scheidt.
The veteran outfielder pounded a Ryan Lee pitch to deep right-center. It was enough to plate both runners and for him to circle around for a triple.
The lead grew to 4-0 in the top of the third when Blake Rogers blasted a solo home run - his first of two in the game - deep over the fence in left.
That looked like it might be enough as Cardinals’ pitcher Justin Saufley cruised through the first three innings.
“When you face Saufley you know it’s going to be tough to score runs,” Wasmund said. “We knew we had to keep their damage to a minimum. We were doing a pretty job of that until the seventh.”
The Cubs finally got some offense going in the bottom of the fourth when Joe Joswiak clubbed a lead-off double. He was on third with one out when Tommy Hayenga laced a single up the middle to put Worthington on the board.
Walks to Lucas Henning and Saufley sandwiched around a Blake Rogers double off the fence had Wilmont threatening again in the fifth. Lee got Tony Sieve to flyout, but walked Hatterman to push Henning home. That extended the score back to 5-1.
The Cubs used a stellar play by AJ Hayenga to get right back at it in the bottom of the inning. Their speedy lead-off man bunted down the first base line. When Cardinal first baseman Nate Ray fielded near the bag, Hayenga slid underneath the tag for an infield hit.
Adam Munkel followed that with a one-out single before Hayenga scored on a Wilmont error. That set the stage for the big play in center.
The score held there until the seventh, when Rogers and Saufley opened the inning with back-to-back home runs.
“I think that kind of let the air out of us,” Wasmund said.
The Cards eventually scored seven to end the contest early.
Saufley got the win for Wilmont, pitching all seven innings and allowing one earned on seven hits and striking out 10. Lee took the loss for Worthington. He surrendered five earned runs over five innings before giving way to Swanson and Tristan Sorenson.
Blake Rogers went 3-for-4 with two homers, a double, two RBIs and two runs scored to lead the visitors. Scheidt was 2-for-4 with a double, a triple and three RBIs with Saufley hitting a home run.
Munkel finished with two hits to lead Worthington at the plate. Joswiak added a double and a run scored.
Wilmont will wait until Monday’s seeding meeting to find out who it will play in the first round of the regional tournament, which is set to begin on Wednesday. Worthington’s season ends with a record of 6-15 overall.
“We had a young team,” Wasmund said. “There was talent but not a lot of veterans to wood-bat, amateur baseball. We’re young so hopefully next year we’ll have everybody back and we can maybe add a couple arms.”
R H E
Wilmont 031 010 7 - 12 10 1
Worthington 000 110 0 - 2 7 2
