Put the ball in play because you never know what is going to happen. One of the earliest lessons little leaguers learn came to light in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional as the Misericordia baseball team defeated Rowan, the top seed in the region and the second-ranked team in the nation, 6-5, on a walk-off infield single.
With Alec Iurato on third with two outs, Santo Guinta hit a ground ball to the left side of the infield. The Rowan third baseman cut in front of the shortstop to field the ball, spun around and fired a throw to the first basemen, but the throw was low and in the dirt, and the first basemen could not make the scoop, giving the victory to the Cougars.
It is the second time Misericordia has started a regional 2-0, with the first coming in 2011 and the second time they have beat the Profs after beating them, 1-0, back in the 2014 Mid-Atlantic Regional.
The Cougars were down to their final strike in the bottom of the ninth down 5-4, but Sean Boylan came up clutch with a game-tying single to set the stage for the extra-inning heroics.
Ian McCole started the game on the mound and pitched six innings, striking out three and allowing four runs. Kyle Melahn pitched two innings in relief, as did Zach Mason, who earned the win.
After both teams went down in order in the first, the Profs threatened in the second, putting runners on second and third with one out, but McCole was able to get out of it with a groundout to third and strikeout of Justin Provost, who went down looking on a curveball.
Rowan took the lead in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly, but the Cougars came back to take the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Kenny Jarema walked with two outs after an eight-pitch at-bat and subsequently stole second. Parker Abate followed with bloop single to left field to tie the game and came around to score the go-ahead run on a double down the right-field line by Tyler Holzapfel.
The Profs tied the game in the fourth as Shawn Leydon singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a wild pick-off attempt. He came around to score on a single by Kyle Gola. Conor Smith helped limit the damage in the inning as he threw out Golla trying to steal second to relieve some pressure off McCole, who retired the next two batters to get out of the inning.
The Cougars took the lead in the sixth inning. Abate reached on an error to lead off the inning and Iurato walked to put runners on first and second for Guinta, who ripped a double over the left fielder's head to drive in the go-ahead run. A wild pitch followed, which allowed Iurato to score from third to make it 4-2 Misericordia after six innings.
The lead was short lived, however, as the Profs came back in the top of the seventh with three runs to take a 5-4 lead with the big hit coming on a two-RBI double in the gap from Monny Strickland.
After Melahn and Mason worked scoreless eighth and ninth innings, the Cougars headed to the bottom of the ninth still down a run. Smith was hit by a pitch and was pinch ran for by Dalton Emerich, who subsequently stole second. After Sean Lyons struck out, Boylan delivered with a single through the left side of the infield. As Emerich rounded third, the Rowan left fielder unleashed a throw, but it went way over the catcher's head, allowing Emerich to score the tying run easily.
In the top of the tenth, Mason walked the first two batters and a sacrifice bunt put the runners on second and third with just one out, but the junior was able to force a groundout with the infield in a flyout to center field to get out of the inning unscathed.
With one out in the bottom of the tenth, Iurato poked a single through the right side of the infield. After stealing second, he advanced to third on a groundout by Steve Weisensee to set the stage for Guinta.
With the win, the Cougars guaranteed a game on Sunday. They will play the two-seed Babson, Saturday at 4:30. The winner of the game will advance to the championship game on Sunday afternoon while the loser will play again Sunday morning.
