Wallace College - Baseball Press Releases

Wallace overcomes six-run deficit to beat Jeff Davis	2009-04-10
Mackey Sasser did something he had never done in his long coaching career. Never. Ever.
In his long coaching career at Wallace College, Sasser had never called for four bunts in a row. But he did Friday afternoon against the Jeff Davis Warhawks. And it’s a good thing he did. Those four consecutive bunts led to an eight-run fourth inning for the Govs. It also helped propel the Govs to an 11-10 come-from-behind victory over the Warhawks. “We weren’t doing anything right, and we needed to try something different,” Sasser said. “We needed a spark. We needed something to get us going and it worked out well.” It did indeed work out well. The Govs couldn’t get anything going in the first three innings. It appeared as if the team was just sleep walking through the game. Perhaps it was a sign of things to come when the Govs opened the game with an error and the first three batters reached. Starting pitcher Starling Arias didn’t even make it out of the second inning. By the time the Govs came to bat in the bottom of the fourth, Wallace was trailing 6-0. That’s when the spark was ignited. T.J. Rivera walked and Niosergy Rosa singled. Then to cut the lead in half, James Thomason smacked a three-run homer over the left field fence. After Daniel Fuller walked, the Warhawks decided it was time to change pitchers. That’s when the real fun began. Michael Harrington greeted new pitcher Derek Young with a bunt single. Ryan Renspies laid down another bunt which resulted in an error and a run when Young threw the ball away. Chris Sasser then reached base on another bunt single that resulted in another run. Yeriel Nieves laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners up. By getting the job done, that set things up for Loenardo Larmarche. His single to left field scored two runs and gave the Govs the lead for the first time. Wallace tacked on another run on a wild pitch. The Govs started the bottom of the fourth trailing by six runs. When it was over, they led by two, 8-6. All of that worked seemed to be for naught when the Warhawks rallied again in the six innings by scoring four runs. Relief pitcher Zigmond Vanderwall gave up a two-run homer to Ryne Phillips, and a solo homer to Clarence Moorer before he was replaced. The Warhawks fourth run scored on an error while reliever Brett Birdsong was in the game. The Warhawks led 10-8 after the sixth inning. But the Govs had another rally in them. Harrington smacked a solo home run in the seventh to pull the team within on run. Then in the eighth, the Govs scored the tying and go-ahead runs. Rivera’s sacrifice fly plated the first run. Then with two outs, Thomason got his second hit of the game. This time it was an RBI single to center field. But the Warhawks didn’t go quietly. Birdsong hit the first batter of the ninth inning and gave up a single to the second. After getting an out, he threw a wild pitch to put both runners in scoring position. But Daniel Vargasvila came on to strike out the final two batters and preserve the win. “Our guys have got to learn to play nine innings,” Sasser said. “The other things they have got to do is learn how to hit with their hands and not their bodies. That’s what got us in so much trouble today.” With the win, the Govs remain in first place in the Southern Division with a record of 12-3, 26-12 overall. Wallace and Jeff Davis will conclude their conference series today with a double header at noon on the Wallace campus.