The Daily Standard
Story Archive
Grand Lake players celebrate after defeating Lima 9-6 in Game 3 of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League Championship series on Sunday at Montgomery Field. The Mariners needed to win two games on Sunday to claim the franchise's fourth GLSCL championship since 1994.
By JOE SCHATZ and GARY R. RASBERRY
sports@dailystandard.com
CELINA - Championships are defined by moments.
Needing to win both games against Lima in a Sunday doubleheader after rain postponed Saturday's Game 2 of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League Championship Series, Grand Lake found themselves quickly in a 6-2 hole in the opener. But Noah Drake had his moment with a three-run shot as Grand Lake rallied to win 13-8 and set up a winner-take-all Game 3 shortly minutes later.
After Lima clawed back from a 6-1 hole and made it 6-4 in the late game, Drake had another moment. His three-run blast to right field was the nail in the coffin as Grand Lake held on to win 9-6 and clinch the Mariners' fourth GLSCL championship in franchise history.
It is Grand Lake's first title since 2006, which also came against Lima.
"I'm just the leader, they go out and play the game," said Grand Lake coach Mike Roberts of his players. "After we got rained out yesterday, (the team) stood there and wanted to practice. We practiced for two and a half hours, and some of the things we practiced came through in the game."
The title-deciding game saw Grand Lake jump out early against Lima starter Grant Jolly. A leadoff walk to Brandt Kendall and a double by CJ Filipek gave the Mariners an early opportunity at some runs.
Jolly's 1-0 pitch to Forrest Day bounced away from the plate and gave Kendall more than enough time to cross home plate standing. The next pitch to Day was jumped on and crushed over the right field wall to score two more, and Grand Lake carried a 3-0 lead into the second.
Roberts went to Cournell Bennett McCoy on the mound, and the righty battled with Lima's hard-hitting lineup in the second. Hits from Shane Miranda and Gabe Gonzalez gave Desmond Francis all he needed to put the Locos on the board with a single to left.
The response was immediate for Grand Lake. Leading off the home half of the second, Huston Dunn turned on a 1-2 pitch and sent it way over the fence in right, and a three-run lead was restored. Landon Tiesing followed up with a single, and a walk to Filipek kept the rally going.
Grand Lake's CJ Filipek (48) jumps to step on home plate during Game 3 of the GLSCL Championship Series.
With two away, Parker Vaughn sent the ball on a rope to right-center, and some hustle from Filipek made it a two-run knock. Jolly worked out of the inning, and Grand Lake had a 6-1 lead.
Lima did not bow down however, and with new arm Kaden Plank in the game a bases loaded walk to Cameron Greene made it 6-2 in the fifth. The Locos kept rolling in the sixth as Roberts turned to Alex Dues out of the bullpen.
Dues got the first out in the sixth, but a single from Gonzalez got the Lima bench active. Braylon Cordonnier wasted no time and whacked the first pitch he saw over the fence in left-center to trim the deficit to 6-4.
Finger nails were being bit, but the Mariners kept their cool in the seventh while Lima could not catch a break. Against the tall and powerful arm of Callaghan O'Connor, the Mariners used a two-out rally to extend the lead and finish off the series.
Vaughn singled to bring up Sean Krueckeberg. The lefty worked the count to 3-1, but a popup just in front of the plate looked to end the threat. That was until O'Connor and Miranda waited under the ball, but no one came down with it. Crucially, they picked up the ball right before it looked to bounce foul and the inning was alive.
Drake was up again, and after a five-RBI performance in the first game, the lefty added three more to his series total. A second-pitch big fly got Grand Lake excited, and a mighty bat flip blew the lid off Montgomery Field.
"He had been working on something with his swing that in batting practice you would see the ball fly out, but it was not happening so far in the games. But today it clicked, I don't know why or how, but it clicked," said Roberts of Drake.
Alex Dues pitched six innings of four-hit baseball over two games on Sunday to help Grand Lake win both games over Lima and clinch the GLSCL Championship Series on Sunday at Montgomery Field.
Taking a 9-4 lead into the eighth, Dues stayed on the bump. He worked a quick frame, and was sent back out for the ninth, his fourth inning of relief.
Singles from Elijah Buffaloe and Grant McGuire plated two runs, but the submarine arm worked through it and forced a fly ball to left to end the game.
"Before the game I wrote on our board that I could go until my arm falls off," said Dues, who threw just over 44 innings in 25 appearances. "(Roberts) took that literally. I just kept going until the game was over."
The Grand Lake dugout emptied onto the field, and a dogpile ensued near the mound.
For his efforts Dues picked up the win, and worked through a hostile Lima fan section to secure the win. Eight of the nine Mariners picked up a hit in the game, with Drake's two-hit, three-RBI day leading the way.
"(Dues) does not have an egotistical bone in his body, he's just a great kid," Roberts said of his pitcher. "In our first conversation of the year he told me 'coach I don't throw hard enough.' I said just get people out. He did that pretty well."
Grand Lake's Sean Krueckeberg prepares to catch the final out of Game 3 of the GLSCL Championship Series.
Taylor Seay got the start for the Mariners and after giving up a leadoff single to Cameron Owens, struck out two of the next three batters to get through the inning.
Thomson Keppel struggled at the start, walking Kendall and Vaughn on nine total pitches before getting an out that allowed Kendall to reach third. Forrest Day followed with a deep enough fly to center to allow Kendall to score the opening run of the game.
The Mariners tacked on another run in the second. Drake led off with a walk. One out later, Marek Bolson blistered a double down the right field line, allowing Drake to round the bases and slide home for the second run of the game.
The Locos tried to make inroads in the top of the third. Owens got a one-out single, but was thrown out trying to steal second. Buffaloe and Cameron Greene followed with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners for Grant McGuire, who singled to right to bring home Buffaloe. Shane Miranda followed with the Locos' fifth straight single to bring home Greene to tie the game. Seay got two strikes on Gabe Gonzalez, but the Lima catcher singled home McGuire to put the Locos in the lead 3-2. Russia High School grad snapped the streak of six straight singles with a blast over the right-field fence for a three-run homer to make it 6-2, forcing Roberts to pull Seay after 2 ⅔ innings for Bryce Eggleton, who gave up a single to Parker Dastou, who was thrown out trying to steal second to end the inning.
Grand Lake's Landon Tiesing (left) applies the tag to Lima's Parker Dastou on a stolen base attempt during the earlier Game 2 of the GLSCL Championship Series in Celina.
Kappel was still struggling to throw strikes in the bottom of the third. Vaughn led off with a single, followed by Filipek drawing a five-pitch walk. Day then singled to bring home Vaughn to make it 6-3. Matthew Hutchinson was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. Drake was then hit by a pitch to score Filipek to make it 6-4. The Locos called on B.C. Harrison to try and get out of additional trouble.
The Locos answered as Tyler VanSumeren led off with a double, then came home on Owens' single while Owens was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. After Buffaloe was hit by a pitch, Roberts called Kaden Plank out of the bullpen to get out of the jam. Plank allowed a walk but got out of the jam to keep it tied.
Grand Lake quickly loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth. Vaughn reached on a single, Filipek was hit in the elbow and Day beat out a bunt single. Krueckeberg came on to pinch-hit for Hutchinson. The move paid off as Krueckeberg hit a double down the right field line to score Vaughn and Filipek to break the tie at 9-7. Drake then belted a shot over the right field fence to make it 12-7. Tiesing reached on an error and Bolson walked, but Harrison was able to get the first out of the inning with a strikeout of Huston Dunn, then after a wild pitch enticed a pop-up to Kendall, Vaughn grounded to short to end the inning.
After the Locos went scoreless in the top of the fifth, the Mariners added a run in the bottom of the inning as Drake singled home Filipek.
Krueckeberg moved from the outfield to the mound to start the sixth. The lone blemish came on a Gonzalez solo homer to center in the seventh. After VanSumeren led off the eighth with a single, Roberts brought on Dues who retired the next three batters to end the inning. In the ninth, Dues issued a lead-off walk to McGuire, then followed with a fly to left, grounder to third and a grounder to first that Filipek took to the bag himself to end the game.
