NBC quarters too hot for Griffons to handle

Tuesday, August 8, 2006
Eli Rumler slides safely into first base on a pick-off attempt during Saturday's loss to the Twins.

By Joe Warren

Nevada Daily Mail

WICHITA, Kan. -- Faced with temperatures that reached 101 degrees, the Nevada Griffons couldn't keep their heads and it cost them against the Derby Twins in the winner's bracket quarterfinals of the National Baseball Congress World Series Saturday.

Kenny Price lays down a bunt and would reach with a single on the play, extending his hitting streak to 13 games.

Griffon pitching couldn't keep the Twins off base and Griffon runners couldn't help being stranded there.

Nevada hurlers issued six walks and hit three Derby batters, and five of those nine free baserunners scored.

Meanwhile Nevada outhit Derby 15-11, but left 14 runners on base, leaving the Griffons the fight it out in the loser's bracket while the Twins secured a spot in the tournament's final six.

Nevada Griffons starter Trent Lare (left) delivers a pitch during Saturday's NBC World Series quarterfinal matchup against the Derby Twins. As temperatures soared past the 100-degree mark, the Griffons couldn't keep their cool and they lost 9-6. Derby secured a spot in the tournament's final six, while the Griffons dropped to the loser's bracket, where they will face the Havasu (Ariz.) Heat today.

"We were dragging and I think we looked like a tired ballclub today," Nevada head coach John Hill III said. "We were a step slow."

Even being a step slow didn't keep the Griffons from having opportunities.

After giving up two runs in the top of the first (one of them scoring after a walk), Nevada had the bases loaded in the bottom half with only one out.

Matt Wulfers and Matt Wagner both struck out, ending the threat and squandering an opportunity to seize momentum from the upstart Twins.

"We had a lot of poor at bats early in the game," Hill said. "Especially two guys who are your biggest RBI producers from the summer. They were piss-poor at bats."

Wagner led the team in RBIs coming into the tournament with 30, while Wulfers had 25.

Derby added a run in the second when Ben Baker tripled and Tanner Mattson singled, giving the Twins a 3-0 lead and spelling a quick end of the night for Nevada starter Trent Lare.

Reliever Lendsey Thomson got out of the inning thanks to one of three double plays turned by the Griffons and Nevada kept themselves in the game.

The bottom of the second led to more stranded baserunners though.

Scott Dunwoody singled leading off, and Tony Lewis followed with a single of his own.

Kenny Price attempted to sacrifice but beat the play out for a bunt single, extending his hitting streak to 13 games and loading the bases again, this time with nobody out.

Shawn Taylor singled to left, scoring Dunwoody, but Lewis was thrown out at the plate for the first out and the Griffons wouldn't score again in the inning, stranding two more ducks on the pond.

The Twins made it 5-1 on a two-run homer by Bo Williams in the third inning. Williams smashed a 1-1 curveball over the left-field fence for his first longball of the Series.

Williams hit his blast after Thomson had hit the first of three batters he would plunk in the game, putting Brandon Douglas on base.

The Griffons got both runs back in the bottom half, using a Kyle Mach walk, Wagner double and Lewis single to make it 5-3.

After a scoreless fourth, Nevada took the lead in the fifth thanks to a two-run single by Dunwoody and an RBI single by Taylor for a 6-5 Griffon advantage.

Things unraveled in the sixth. Thomson walked consecutive batters with one out, and was lifted for A.J. Morris.

Morris, who came into the game 6-0 out of the pen with an ERA just over 3.00, gave up a two-run double to Chris Clark and after collecting the second out of the game, then walked Williams and was pulled.

Brant Combs came in and gave up a two-RBI double to Logan Schafer for a 9-6 Derby lead, before getting Rickey Noland to pop out to end the inning.

Combs would be lights out the rest of the way, allowing only one hit in the final three innings and keeping the Twins within striking distance.

It wouldn't matter though, as Nevada left two runners on base in each of the final three innings, failing to score again with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth when T.J. Prentice lined into a 6-4 double play to end the inning.

"They had better clutch hitting and better pitching," Hill said. "You walk guys, they score, flat out. When you don't make them earn their base, they score.

"This looked like us early in the season."

Perhaps indicative of the Griffons' mindset in the game, Nevada batters were called for strikes three times because they didn't get in the batter's box quick enough to satisfy the NBC's 70-second clock between innings.

After the third called strike, this time going to shortstop Eli Rumler, Rumler barked at home plate umpire Sacha Sanguinetti and was tossed from the game.

"He said I wasn't in the box, I said I was," Rumler said. "I told him what I thought about it and he tossed me."

Hill was disappointed that his players didn't adjust after being given a strike the first time.

"We have to be in the box with five seconds left (on the clock)," Hill said. "Each time it was our fault."

Hill wasn't happy with Rumler, who was tossed from a game for the second time this season for arguing balls and strikes.

"Eli doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut. He got exactly what he deserved," Hill said.

The Griffons dropped to 26-29 this season with the loss. Derby improved to 26-25.

Nevada will play the Havasu (Ariz.) Heat in the loser's bracket semifinals today at 5 p.m.

Notes: The Twins continued their Cinderella run through the Series with a win in the semifinals Monday, beating Crestwood (Ill.) 8-2. The Twins are now one win away from being the top seed when the tournament goes to its final six beginning Thursday. ... Santa Barbara (Calif.) was the other winner in Monday's semifinals. ... Crestwood and Southern Cal each lost in the semis, but will be in the final six anyway. The two loser's bracket winners will join the final six. Nevada would need to win today and again Wednesday to make the final six.

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