Wallace College - Baseball Press Releases

Wallace defeats Darton in 11 innings	2008-02-10
Back to back home runs. A sacrifice fly. A wild pitch. A throwing error. That, and 11 innings of work is what it took for the Wallace Govs to win their baseball game Sunday afternoon.
Playing against the Darton College Cavaliers, the Govs had to rally twice. And despite all the great play in the ball game, a fielding error in the bottom of the 11th by the Cavaliers led to the Govs victory. Wallace was able to come away with a hard-fought 5-4 victory. With the score tied 4-4, Harman Watkins led off the bottom of the 11th with a weird double. Watkins hit what appeared to be a routine one-hopper to first base. But the ball had a lot of spin on it, and once it hit the ground, it took a big turn to the left, getting by the charging first baseman. With his good speed, Watkins was able to get all the way down to second base. T.J. Riveraâ€™s job was to bunt him over to third base. He got the bunt down, but the first baseman was charging hard and was right on top of the ball. He threw down to third base in what should have been the first out of the inning. But the throw was wild, and bounced and rolled all the way to left field. That enabled Watkins to score the winning run all the way from second base. With the win, the Govs get to the .500 mark for the first time. The Govs are now 2-2 on the season. â€œWe had lots of chances to win this game, but we made things difficult on ourselves,â€? said Wallace coach Mackey Sasser. â€œWe had too many mental mistakes. We had too many routine errors. When a team gives you opportunity after opportunity, you have to take advantage of them. Despite our own play, we were able to win the game.â€? The Govs found themselves in a hole early. In the second inning, starting pitcher Justin Hay gave up back-to-back RBI doubles to Angel Fonseca and Matt Fountain. And in the third, Jake Summer hit an RBI single to give the Cavaliers a 3-0 lead. At the same time, Darton starting pitcher Dexter Bobo was rolling right along. He struck out eight and didnâ€™t allow a run in just over five innings of work. But it was in the sixth inning that he ran into trouble. Reece led off the inning with a home run over the right field fence. Just behind him, Brett Chamberlain hit a mammoth home run over the left field fence. Bobo didnâ€™t make it out of the inning after he gave up another hit and a walk. But the Govs had cut the lead to just one, 3-2. The Govs tied the game in the seventh when Reece collected another RBI. This time it was a sacrifice fly that scored Rivera. The Govs allowed the Cavaliers to tie the game in the ninth inning. Trent Dooly reached on an error and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Taylor Whitenton. The Govs had an excellent shot to win the game in the bottom of the 10th. Reece led off with a walk, and Chamberlain doubled down the left field line. That meant the Govs had runners on second and third with no outs. But the only run the Govs managed to push across the plate came on a wild pitch. Dothanâ€™s Hunter Green picked up the victory for the Govs. He pitched the final two innings of the game, giving up only one unearned run. Levi Futo, who pitched the last two innings for the Cavaliers, took the loss. â€œWeâ€™ll have a long meeting tomorrow,â€? Sasser said. â€œWeâ€™ve got a few things we need to work on. We could have easily lost this game.â€? Wallace will be on the road all of next week. On Tuesday, the Govs travel to Lawson State. Then Friday through Sunday, the Govs will play in Marianna at Chipola. GAME NOTES: Ryan Reece was the offensive star for the Govs in this game. Reece hit a solo home run, an RBI sacrifice fly, had two RBIs, scored two runs, and reached base two other times on walks. Harman Watkins also reached base four times. He led off the game with a triple, and in the 11th inning he led off with a double and later scored the winning run. He also reached base on an error and a walk. Brett Chamberlain may have broken out of his mini hitting slump. He got his first two hits of the season. One was a home run, the other was a double. Chamberlain also had the defensive play of the game when he picked a runner off second base in the ninth inning, preventing a possible win by the Cavaliers. Andrew Hockenbury had a much better outing his second time around. In five innings of work, he struck out seven, gave up only one hit, and didnâ€™t allow a single run. Tyler Booth got his name in the scorebook for something he would rather not have. A late inning replacement at second base after Chris Sasser was lifted for a pinch hitter, Booth committed two errors that nearly cost the Govs the game. Nathaniel Frazier is Sports Information Director for Wallace College baseball. He can be reached at NFrazier@DothanEagle.com .