Monday, May 27, 2019

Aggie Baseball at the WAC Tournament



Before the tournament, the Aggies made out like bandits in the conference player awards.  Joey Ortiz was the Player of the Year.  What a non-shock.  Also on the First-Team All-WAC was the rest of the Aggie infield, Tristan Peterson, Nick Gonzales, and Eric Mingus.  And let’s toss in outfielder Tristen Carranza and starting pitcher Chance Hroch.  Wow, what a team! 

I’ll personally add that Logan Bottrell has been playing at a high level as a centerfielder and leadoff batter with an injured back.  Logan Ehnes has sparked the offense with some truly clutch hitting in big games.  Not to mention, Braden Williams was on a national watch list for catchers.  Jason Bush also did a good job catching, and I just like him because he looks good as a ballplayer.       


5-23-19 vs Utah Valley Wolverines
It sounded like a good crowd there at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, AZ.  Brock Whittlesey was starting for the Aggies versus Paxton Shultz for the Wolverines.  I was kind of busy at work during most of the game.  That was okay from a scoring standpoint, because there wasn’t any.  It was a classic pitcher’s duel.  Perhaps the closest call came in the top of the sixth.  The Wolverines had a runner on with two outs.  There was a deep drive to right and Logan Ehnes made a great running catch to end the inning.

In the seventh, there was Ehnes again as he beat out an infield hit.  The crowd started chanting for the Aggies.  (I hope Emerson was there.)  Tristan Peterson, continuing his hot streak, hit a big double to bring Ehnes home.  That ball probably would have been out anywhere else.  1-0 Aggies.  In the eighth, Whitt was finally taken out with one out and runners on the corners. Keaton Graf came in and worked out of it.  Nicely done.  Whitt came out of the dugout to congratulate him afterward.

In the bottom of the eighth, Braden Williams singled and was moved over by Logan Bottrell.  Conference MVP Joey Ortiz singled Braden in to make it 2-0.  Joey stole second and took third on a wild pitch.  Nick Gonzales walked.  Tristen Carranza was hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Shultz was taken out after 120 pitches.  What tremendous efforts by both starters tonight.  Adam Young, on the radio call, reported that some UV fans were already leaving. 

There was Ehnes again, as he drew a walk to force in a run to make it 3-0.  Peterson brought in another run on a sacrifice, 4-0.  Caleb Henderson pinch hit.  Earle had spent most of the season on the shelf, but kept rehabbing was cleared to play this week.  He got a standing ovation from Aggie fans in the crowd and got a bloop single to make it 5-0.  Adam was completely stoked doing the call.  He was rooting for him.  Eric Mingus then tripled in two more to make it 7-0.

Graf started the ninth and let on a couple of runners.  Aldo Fernandez came in and allowed a run, but finished it out.  7-1 Aggies win!  Tonight was definitely the kind of the pitching performance the Aggies will need to win here.  As is often the case, it was very hard to shutout the Aggie offense and showing any pitching weakness to them is lethal.  In spite of the final score, this was a very tight game.  Aggie pitching came through here until their mighty bats could come around. 


5-24-19 vs GCU Lopes
Next up, the Aggies played the more-or-less hometown Lopes.  It sounded like a big crowd there in Mesa.  Chance Hroch started for the Aggies.  Caleb Henderson was in at DH and Braden Williams was back catching.  The Aggies were the visiting team for this game.

GCU got the scoring started in the second off a two-run homer by Kona Quiggle.  This was after an error by Nick Gonzales.  In the third, Eric Mingus hit a leadoff homer.  The Aggies got two on after, but a good play in the outfield ended the inning.  2-1 GCU.  In the sixth, after a single, Chance uncorked two wild pitches that advanced the runner to third.  Hroch then got two strikeouts, to set a career high at 10, and escaped without harm.

In the seventh, Logan Bottrell singled to drive in Mingus.  Joey Ortiz then singled to drive in another run.  GCU starter, Jake Schiedner, was chased from game as the Aggies took a 3-2 lead.  Reliever, Coen Wynne, came in and got two strikeouts to leave two Aggies stranded.  In the bottom, Joey committed a second error.  The runner then advanced to third on a wild pickoff throw.  A base hit tied the score.  A double by catcher, David Avitia, drove in two.  Avitia is a .196 hitter.  Adam Young and Jerry Lujan on the radio call were just talking about what a terrible hitter he is before that. 

After another RBI double to make it 6-3 GCU, Chance came out after throwing 100 pitches.  Sure, take him out early last week when he was cruising, but take him out too late here when he’s obviously getting hit hard.  Good thing you coaches saved his arm for this, instead clinching sole possession of the conference championship.  Wyatt Kelly finished the inning off.  The Lopes tacked on in the bottom of the eighth with a homer and an RBI double.  The Aggies lost 8-3.  The team committed three errors and left eight on base.


5-25-19 vs Sac St Hornets
The Aggies fell into an elimination game against the Hornets on Saturday, also facing elimination.  Justin Dehn was pitching for the Aggies, who were the home team.  Kevin Jimenez was in at DH and Jason Bush was catching.  The Hornets’ staff was theoretically depleted as they’d lost their first game and had to use ten pitchers to get to this point.  However, it was a #1 seed versus a #3 seed matchup. 

There was another good crowd, but since this was a day game, they’d moved into the shaded upper deck to avoid the sun.  This put them closer to Adam Young’s radio broadcast.  There was an annoying tapping sound by one of the fans banging on something during most of the game.

Kevin doubled in the second, as Adam reported that his family had just come in the stadium.  Adam was able to crowd-watch a bit as they were all nearby.  Some former Aggie players came in for the game.  Joey Ortiz got a hit in the third to tie the school record for hits in a season.  Nick Gonzales drove in Logan Bottrell with a sacrifice to make it 1-0 Aggies.  With the bases loaded, Logan Ehnes singled to score Joey as he tied another school record for runs.  2-0 Aggies.  Sac St put in a new pitcher, who got a double play to end the inning.

At this point, I impulsively walked over to the mall next door to get dinner at Chik-fil-a.  The round trip took 20 minutes, with a quick detour to Barnes & Noble, but I did work up an appetite.  When I got back, it was 4-3 Aggies in the fifth.  I’d missed a two-run homer by Nick.  The Aggies had loaded the bases with Jason up.  The Hornet centerfielder made a great diving catch to end the inning.

Dehn came out in the sixth, after he’d let on two runners.  Aldo Fernandez came in and let in a run to make it 4-4.  That was it for the scoring for a while.  Much like last year in the Saturday game in the tournament (5-26-18), this game went to extras.  The Hornets took the lead in the tenth.  Brock Whittlesey came on in relief, but surrendered an inherited run.  The Aggies came up in the bottom and a double play ended the game.   

6-4 Hornets was the final.  The Aggies’ season came to an end.  The Aggies actually played a cleaner game as they had no errors, while Sac St had two.  The Aggies left 12 on base, but the Hornets left 10.  Sac St then went on to win 4-3 in 11 over GCU that night, and won on Sunday 5-4 to take the championship.  After playing six games in four days, they’d certainly earned it. 

I have to admit to not wholeheartedly rooting for the Aggies to win this game.  I truly doubted their chances of winning that night against GCU, much less tomorrow.  I didn’t want a seemingly inventible loss dragged out over two more games (not that Sac St had any trouble doing that).  I really hate this double elimination format for the tournament.  I know that sounds like sour grapes, but I’ve never liked it in softball and even less in baseball.  My coverage of these two games was really spotty because of what I was doing at the time.  You’ll understand when I post my Memorial Day coverage of multiple other games and sports. 
  
All I can say is that the Aggies were not able to clutch hit in these last two games.  They certainly scored a lot of runs this season, but there were several telltale games where they left runners all over the bases.  For fielding, their last game was good, but in that GCU game before, they’d shot themselves in the foot.  They’ve had error-prone games before this season.  Aggie pitching has generally not been their strong suit this season.  I thought they did okay here in the tournament, considering they were generally used to more run support. 
      
How to sum up the season?  Pretty much everything I said in the Regular Season Recap still applies, so I’m just going to leave it at that.  Braden Williams and Brock Whittlesey made the All-Tournament team.  I think Whitt actually hasn’t given up a run of his own in the tournament, this year or last.  That’s a big game pitcher.  I’m going to add Logan Ehnes to this list for his efforts too.  The result for the season was a step back, but overall I don’t think this will hurt the program.  Coach Green will not have any trouble recruiting hitters for one of the best offensive teams in the nation.  That may help recruiting pitchers too.  Who wouldn’t want to play behind those big bats?  I think we can still look forward to another good team next year.   

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