Walk off wild pitch gives Mansfield 3-2 win over Sayre in D4 semi-finals.
By: Chris Manning | Towanda Daily Review | May 24, 2015 | Photo courtesy Chris Manning
2015 NTL and District 4 News
WILLIAMSPORT - The first time Sayre and North Penn-Mansfield met the game went 12 innings and spanned two days so everybody knew what to expect coming into Saturday's District IV, Class A baseball semi-final.
But nobody thought this classic would end on a walk-off wild pitch.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh on a 1-1 count Nate Sweet's curveball bounced away from catcher John Esposito just far enough for Nathan Tice to take home and give the Tigers a 3-2 win.
"We figured it would be close," remarked Tice. "We figured it would be a battle."
His coach was expecting nothing less than Sayre's best.
"That's a great team over there," Tiger coach Matt Perry remarked. "They played us tough all year. We knew it was going to be a dog fight."
It was tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh when Tice led off.
"We just wanted to get the first guy on and lead up from there," he explained.
Tice would reach on an error to second base, followed by Rylan Whitmeyer hitting a fly ball to right field. The outfielder dropped it with both Tice and Whitmeyer getting on second and third with no outs.
The Redskins then brought in the right fielder to play in front of second base, giving them five infielders to try and keep NPM from scoring.
Sweet dug deep on the mound and struck out the next batter, followed by Brendon Hill popping out to short left field, too close for Tice to tag.
It looked like things were headed toward extra innings.
"I was just looking for (Kipper Hillson) to get a base hit because then I would have scored," Tice said.
But Tice didn't need a hit, just an opening and he got one with Sweet's third pitch bouncing away toward the third base dugout.
"(Coach Matt Perry) said if it got in the dirt to go," remarked Tice. "I was going to go anyway. I saw the ball go into the dirt and I just took off."
His teammates were on edge the entire time.
"It was nerve wracking," winning pitcher J.P. Shaw said. "It was cool, you don't get to have this opportunity happen."
It was a tough ending for Sayre, who led through half the game but a defensive breakdown at the worst time doomed them in the final inning.
"We had a huge error in a bad spot in that inning," Sayre coach Jon Pack said. "Then they score the winning run on a pass ball. It's tough luck."
Pack knew it was going to be a difficult game but the Redskins also wanted revenge from their loss to the Tigers earlier in the year.
"We knew they were a good hitting team and we knew we would see their ace on the mound," Pack explained. "We tried to prepare for them a little bit the last couple days. We knew if we played our ball we would be in the game and we liked our chances. We felt that we were the better team the first time we played, we had a lot of confidence coming into this game."
Sayre may be going home but expect to see them down here next year as they return quite a bit.
"We are very young and it was an accomplishment to get here but our work wasn't done, our goal wasn't accomplished," Pack said. "You've got to congratulate them on a good year, it was a good turnaround from last year but it still leaves a bitter taste in your mouth not coming away with the W today."
And Pack hopes that taste stays with them into next March and fuels them to go further next season.
"I'm proud of them but I challenged them, we've got to go a step farther next year," explained Pack. "Something to build on for the future. We have the right tools, we're young. We've got a good nucleus coming back, no reason we can't get back here next year."
This is the Tigers' first district final since 2004.
"It feels really good," Tice said about getting this win.
Mansfield out hit Sayre 8-2 in the day and threatened in all seven innings but the Redskins did a good job of getting out of jams. They led 2-1 through four innings before Mansfield tied it up with a run in the bottom of the fifth.
"We were just not getting the luck," Tice said about his team's inability to score as NPM finished with 11 runners left on base. "It was kind of frustrating but we still held it together to pull off the win."
Perry wasn't getting worried as he focused on keeping his kids up.
"Eventually something has to fall, something has to give here or there," he said.
Shaw had a rough start but eventually settled in, allowing just one Sayre base runner the last four innings.
"My arm wasn't feeling the greatest," remarked Shaw. "But as the game went on I got confident, got in my groove."
He struck out seven on 96 pitches while allowing four walks, two hits and one earned run for the complete game.
Sayre's pitcher Nate Sweet was a workhorse, throwing 116 pitches in 6 2/3-innings. He struck out five while allowing five walks, eight hits and one earned run.
Joel Whittaker and Jarrod Burd both went 2-for-3 to lead the Tigers with Whittaker's including a double.
Bryce Zaparzynski, Nathan Tice, Zach Kriner and Carl Dinger also had hits. Kriner had an RBI while Zaparzynski, Ryan Campbell and Tice scored the three runs.
For Sayre Sweet and Marshall Felt had the two hits while Jake Wheeler scored the two runs.
The Redskins took advantage of Shaw's struggles early as Jake Wheeler walked on four straight pitches to start the game. He took second on a wild pitch with Sweet hitting him home on a single to put Sayre 1-0 right off the bat.
In the bottom half of the inning Whittaker and Burd led things off with back to back singles and the bases were loaded with two outs but Sweet got the final batter to ground out and end the threat.
The Tigers once again had runners on first and second with no outs in the second inning but advanced them no further.
The Redskins went back to work in the top of the third as Jake Wheeler reached on a fielder's choice followed by another big hit by Sweet. He hit a hard fly ball to center field that the outfielder misplayed, allowing Wheeler to score and Sweet to take third.
The Redskins would load the bases with back to back walks but Shaw dug in and struck out the final two batters to end the threat.
The Tigers got on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the inning as Zaparzynski led off with an infield single. He stole second and moved over to third on Shaw's ground out.
But after a strikeout it looked like Sayre might sneak out of this one. Kriner, though, thought otherwise as he hit an 0-2 pitch into center field for a single and scored Zaparzynski to cut it to 2-1.
In the bottom of the fourth Whittaker led off with a double and tried to tie the game on Burd's single to left field but Chris Ray threw him out at home plate to save the lead.
The top of the fifth inning was the last time Sayre threatened to score as Jake Wheeler led off with a walk and stole second but three straight fly outs by the Redskins ended the threat.
North Penn-Mansfield would tie it up in the bottom half of the inning as Shaw reached first after getting beaned.
Tice followed with a single to put runners on first and second.
Whitmeyer then hit a possible double play ball to the short stop but the throw to second base for the first out went off the second baseman's glove and into right field.
Ryan Campbell, running for Shaw, scored on the play to tie the game up at 2-2.
A Dinger single would load the bases but the Redskins got out of the inning when Hill hit a line drive right at Matt Williams, who stepped on first to complete the double play.
The Tigers would get runners on second and third in the bottom of the sixth as Whittaker reached on a fielder's choice followed by Zaparzynski getting an intentional walk. They would move up on a wild pitch but Sweet got a strikeout to end the inning.
Then the seventh inning happened and the rest was history.
North Penn-Mansfield will now face Montgomery, 2-1 winners over Canton, in the District IV title game Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
"We just have to be confident no matter where we're at," remarked Tice about their upcoming championship game. "No matter what happens we're just going to be confident and have fun."
If they hit on Wednesday like they did on Saturday the Tigers could very likely be raising a district championship trophy.
"We're a good team," remarked Shaw. "I'm pretty confident in us."
