MOBILE, Ala. ? Six early Red team runs made it look like a seventh game would be necessary to decide the 2008 Red and Blue World Series. But a late rally extended the game, and Nathaniel Lami drove in the winning run as the Blue team won game six 8-7 in 10 innings to win the World Series 4-2 Sunday at Stanky Field.
Michael Raia, working his third inning of the night, retired the first two Blue team batters he faced in the top of the 10th, but Michael Meredith came up with a two-out single to bring Lami to the plate. Meredith quickly stole second base and came home to score on Lami’s single through the left side to give the Blue team an 8-7 lead.
Brandon Brown, who allowed an unearned run that tied the game and sent it to extra innings in the bottom of the ninth, set the Red team down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 10th to win the game and clinch the series.
Blue team starter Miles Ethridge ran into early trouble after Jake Overstreet doubled home a pair of runs and Brad Hook put the Red team up 3-0 in the first. Ethridge, however, bounced back and allowed only one hit in the next three innings, but he couldn’t escape another jam in the fifth.
Derek O'Reilly and Zach Grichor singled, then a David Doss sacrifice fly and an Overstreet RBI-double put the Red team up 5-0 and chased Ethridge from the game. Eric Walters came on in relief and allowed an RBI-single to Jacob Halverson, but escaped the inning when Brad Montgomery fouled out down the left line.
Red team starter Dustin Crenshaw kept the Blue team off the board with five shutout innings. He allowed just three hits and walked two while striking out three batters, but his bullpen was unable to secure the win.
Down 6-0 after five innings, the Blue team took advantage of a pair of errors and plated five runs in the sixth. Brown got the rally started with a leadoff double, then came home to score on an RBI-single off the bat of Ryan Bohanan. Sean Laird was hit by a pitch, and Brent Mitchell followed with an RBI-single to cut the Red team’s lead to 6-3.
With runners on first and second, Chris Davis hit a ground ball to second base, but Zach Grichor couldn’t field it cleanly, and in a hurry to try to get the speedy Davis, Grichor overthrew Hook at first base, allowing Laird to score.
One out later, Meredith delivered an RBI-single to left field to cut the lead to 6-5. Luke Grissett came on in relief and got the Red team out of the inning clinging to a one-run advantage.
Walters worked a hitless sixth inning to keep the score at 6-5, and the Blue team took its first lead of the game with a pair of runs in the seventh. Once again, Brown got the rally started, this time with a leadoff single. He stole second base and moved down to third on a Ryan Bohanan fly out.
Laird was hit by a pitch for a second consecutive plate appearance, and once again was replaced at first base by pinch-runner Jake Crain. Barton tried to pick Crain off of first on a snap throw following the first pitch to Davis. Crain likely would have been out, but Barton’s throw sailed over Hook’s head and into right field, allowing Brown to score and Crain to move to third base.
Davis then brought Crain in to score on a single through the left side, and the Blue team took a 7-6 lead.
Greg Johnson came on in relief of Walters and worked two perfect innings to put the Blue team three outs away from clinching the series. Brown moved from left field to the pitcher’s mound, where he had sealed two of the Blue team’s three series wins, earning a win and a save.
Clint Reynolds singled to center field to start the inning, but was erased on an Adam Heisler fielder’s choice. Heisler, still recovering from a hamstring injury, was replaced at first base by Reynolds, who proceeded to steal second base. With the tying run in scoring position, Meredith was unable to field an O’Reilly grounder, and Reynolds came home to send the game to extra innings tied 7-7.
That’s when Meredith atoned for his error with a two-out single and a stolen base. Lami delivered what would become the game-winning hit, and Brown went back out to the mound for a second chance to end the series.
This time, Brown came through with a fly out to left-center and two strikeouts. He was then mobbed on the field by his teammates, who celebrated winning the World Series four games to two with the 8-7 victory.
The Jags return to action next weekend with a pair of games against outside opponents. South Alabama hosts Meridian Community College Saturday at 1 p.m., then brings in Northwest Florida State College (formerly Okaloosa-Walton CC) Sunday at 1 p.m. Admission is free, but the games will not be available via webcast.
Notes: Game six was the fifth consecutive game to feature a game-winning play ... Laird (game two), Montgomery (game three), and Mitchell (game four) all delivered game-winning hits, while Brown (game five) delivered a game-winning run on a fielder’s choice ... Brown earned wins in games two and six and a save in game four ... he did not allow an earned run over five innings in the series ... Overstreet and Brown were the only two Jags to hit safely in all six World Series games ... O’Reilly had multi-hit games in four of the six games, the most by any player ... only game one was not decided by one run ... Overstreet had the best batting average of the series ... he hit .522 (12-for-23) ... he also had the most RBI in the series (11) and most doubles (six) ... Bohanan was the closest in RBI with six, and no other Jag had more than three doubles.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
