Rogers rallies before falling to Catholic
Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/Sports/61682/
NORTH LITTLE ROCK — Rogers got close, but Little Rock Catholic found a way to win.
After allowing the Mounties to tie Saturday’s Class 7 A State Baseball Tournament quarterfinal game at Burns Park, the Rockets got big hits from Jordan Getchell and Chris Driedric in the bottom of the seventh to beat Rogers 4-3.
“ We’ve been playing close games all year long, ” Catholic coach Dustin Strobe said. “ This is nothing new to us. Our guys kept their composure. ”
Rogers (15-10 ) trailed the entire way until tying the game with 3 runs in the sixth.
An error to start the bottom of the seventh, however, was followed by Getchell’s double to right center and Driedric’s bloop single to score the winning run.
The 7 A-Central champion Rockets (19-8 ) advance to Monday’s 6: 30 p. m. semifinal against Springdale Har-Ber. It’s Catholic’s first trip to the semifinals since 1981.
Mounties coach Dr. Tom Woodruff knew if his team kept the game close they would have a shot at an upset.
“ That’s the thing when you’re playing the No 1. seed — if you can keep it close to the end, anything can happen, ” Woodruff said. “ We just weren’t able to pull through at the end. ”
Senior Scott Hatcher started the Rogers rally with a leadoff double in the sixth and sophomore Andy Couture followed with a RBI double to the same spot in right-center field.
With two outs, senior McKenzie Mathews was hit with a pitch and senior Seth White followed with an RBI double to score Couture. Sophomore Spanky Purdy then ripped a run-scoring single to right to tie the game and chase Rockets ace Mark Thompson.
Relief pitcher Dylan Owen got a ground-out to end the rally and struck out three of the four batters he faced in the seventh to keep the game tied.
“ Owen has been our No. 2 all year long and provides a different look, ” Strobe said. “ He’s done a great job for us all year. Mark did a great job but ran out of gas. ”
Michael Alonso, an Arkansas Tech signee, hit a monster home run to left to give Catholic an early 2-0 lead.
Catholic added a run in the third as Drew McMahan, who also had 2 hits, advanced to third on Driedric’s single and came home on a Rogers error on the play.
Senior Harrison Stanfill pitched the complete game for Rogers, scattering 8 hits and striking out 3.
“ He got ahead of the batters and they just didn’t hit him very well, ” Woodruff said. “ We didn’t think they would. He really pitched well enough for us to win. ”