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Extra extra: Tigers top Seneca in 11 innings
Andrew Heathman's 11th inning bases loaded double propelled the Nevada Tigers to a 9-6 victory over host Seneca in the opening round of Saturday's Class 4 District 12 baseball tournament.
"First, I can't say enough about how proud I am of the continued determination, resolve, and fight that our team showed," Nevada coach Danny Penn said.
With the score knotted 5-5 in the top of the 11th inning, Heathman cleared the bases after rocketing a pitch into right-center field, putting the Tigers on top 8-5.
"It was a very up-and-down game, where we had a lot of opportunities that we didn't take advantage of," Penn said. "Not coming through in those situations makes it easy for players to get down on themselves, but we didn't do that. We continued to prolong the game, playing solid defense for the most part."
Heathman was Nevada's starting pitcher, striking out seven in eight innings of work. Heathman also allowed four earned runs on nine hits, while issuing one walk. Heathman was relieved by Derek O' Dell, and did not factor into the decision.
"Andy threw the ball very well," Penn said. "Seneca scored a run in each of the first two innings, but those were the result of bloop hits and well-placed ground balls. He wasn't hit hard. He ran into trouble in the fifth inning a little bit, but again, it was not because of hard hit balls."
Nevada had an opportunity to close the door on Seneca, leading 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning. However, an infield throwing error proved costly, leading to an unearned run charged against Heathman, tying ballgame.
"A single and bad throw led to runners on second and third," Penn said. "We intentionally walked their cleanup hitter to load the bases and set up a double play, but a hit batter tied the game."
Penn said he was pleased with the resiliency his squad showed after the error.
"With one out there, it would be extremely tempting for players to drop their heads and phone it in," he said. "Instead, Andy induced a pop-up and got a strike out to end the inning."
Penn said Heathman was replaced by O'Dell because of an elevated pitch count.
"It was a tough decision because of the way he threw and battled, but we felt it was the right call," he said.
O'Dell entered the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, holding Seneca in check.
"Derek came in and threw two extremely solid innings for us," Penn said.
In the top of the 11th, with the game tied at five-apiece, Nevada's Myles McNeley reached base via a one-out error. This was followed by consecutive walks, as both Tanner Handly and Tyler Ketterman reached to load the bases ---- bringing up power-hitter Heathman, who cleared the bases with his blast to right-center field.
"Tyler got a great jump from first base which allowed him to score on the play," Penn said.
Tigers catcher Brett Mitchell added an insurance run, with a sharp single to left field, scoring Heathman from second to hand Nevada a 9-5 advantage.
With the four-run cushion heading into the bottom of the 11th, O'Dell encountered trouble, hitting the first two Seneca batters he faced.
"Derek was a little over-amped going back out for the bottom of the 11th," Penn said.
Nevada freshman Braeden Hinton was brought in to replace O'Dell, who moved over to third base.
"Derek was upset with himself, he thought he'd let his team down," Penn said. "Baseball is a game that will test you, and as it would be, Hinton's third pitch was grounded to third base, where Derek fielded it cleanly and made a perfect throw to second."
Down to their final out, Seneca could only muster a grounder back to Hinton, who threw over to first base, sealing the victory and notching the save.
"It was an exhausting game, not only because it went 11 innings, but because of the up-and-down nature of it," Penn said. "I'm proud of the way a lot of our guys responded to small moments of failure. They dug down and found the fortitude to get the job done when it was needed."
For Nevada, Heathman was 2-for-4 with four RBIs; Handley was 2-for-5 with two runs; Hinton was 2-for-5 with a run and sacrifice bunt; Ketterman was 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs and a run; McNeley was 1-for-4 with two runs and an RBI; Branden Harder was 1-for-4 with a run; and O'Dell was 1-for-5 with a run.
With the thrilling win, Nevada advanced to face top-seeded Monett, Monday afternoon.
Check Wednesday's edition of the Daily Mail for a full recap