GRAND JUNCTION, Col. -- Wabash Valley's 14-4 victory over Weatherford, Texas, at the Juco World Series on Wednesday night has vaulted the Warriors into the national championship game.
WVC (57-11) still must play No. 1 seed but once-beaten Central Florida in a game at 8:00 p.m. CDT on Thursday at Sam Suplizio Field. Regardless of how they fare, the Warriors, 4-0 and the lone unbeaten team left in the World Series tournament heading in, will still play for the Division I national title.
Because of the unique structure of this 10-team double elimination tournament, here are the two scenarios involving Aaron Biddle's club:
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If Wabash Valley defeats Central Florida (which would eliminate the pre-tourney favored Patriots), the Warriors move into a Friday national championship game against the winner of the Thursday matchup between the two remaining Texas teams – Blinn and Weatherford. The loser would be out. The winner would then have to defeat WVC on Friday, and again on Saturday in a winner-take-all game to steal the crown away.
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If Wabash Valley loses to Central Florida, for its first loss of the tournament, the Warriors would advance straight to a winner-take-all single game for the championship on Saturday against the winner of Central Florida vs. the Texas survivor, a game that would be played on Friday night. The Warriors would thus earn the final bye of the tournament because they have played one more game than the others to this point.
This is Wabash Valley's first appearance in an NJCAA baseball championship game. The school has one previous national championship to its' credit – the 2000-01 men's basketball team coached by Jay Spoonhour.
WABASH VALLEY 14, WEATHERFORD 4
For a fourth consecutive game, the Warriors rallied to a win in the Juco World Series. And for the second straight night, they run ruled a powerful Texas school.
Spotting Weatherford a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, WVC countered with four runs in the home half for a lead it would not relinquish.
The first eight batters in the lineup reached, one via an error and one via walk. Michael Lareau had the biggest hit, a two-run double, while Mack Mitchell and Daniel Contreras added RBI singles to make it 4-1. It might have been worse if not for the Warriors losing two runners on the bases.
Lareau brought home one run in the second as well with a bases-loaded walk that hiked the lead to 5-1.
In the third inning, Nick Williams added what became the coup de grace, a grand slam into right center field that made it 9-1. Williams finished with another outstanding day: 3-fof-4 at the plate with seven RBIs.
His two-run double in the fifth catapulted the Warriors on to a five-run inning that ended the game via the 10-run rule.
Williams is now 11-of-16 in the World Series for a batting mark of .688 with two home runs and 12 RBIs.
"Nick has been unbelievable for us," said Biddle of his sophomore left fielder. "He's been our guy all year long."
WVC starting pitcher Louis Phillipe Langevin was on the mark early, with seven strikeouts in the first three innings, including the Coyote side in the third.
But the tall righthander faltered in the fourth. Weatherford scored twice on him, to pull to within 9-3. With the bases full and Coyote clean-up bombardier Robin Villeneuve lurking ahead in the batting order, Biddle turned to normal closer Sam Mettert and his 1.15 ERA very early in the contest to put the fire out.
Mettert did just that. The first batter he faced, Chase Pendley, popped out to second baseman Bruce Jellison, who raced into foul ground to snare the ball near the Coyote dugout for the second out.
Then Mettert fanned No. 3 hitter Jack Arthur to strand the bases full and more importantly, keep Villeneuve and his 26-home run arsenal and astonishing long-ball show waiting on deck.
"Those guys are so good offensively, even with a 9-1 lead in the fifth inning you don't feel comfortable," Biddle said. "Mettert came up big for us and got us out of that jam."
Relegated to leading off the fifth, Villeneuve opened with a single, and Weatherford scored a run to inch to within 9-4. However, the Coyotes again left the bases full, and could not take advantage of two walks and a Warrior error, one of a rare total of two miscues on the day.
Mettert picked up the win, improving to 2-0 on the year.
Brock Lucas, the third hurler used by WVC, came on in the sixth for the four-batter finish.
Richard Bonomolo joined Williams with three hits in the Warrior attack. Lareau collected three RBIs with his best game of the tournament, while Bonomolo, Mitchell, and Contreras finished with one apiece.
Weatherford coach Jeff Lightfoot said the Warriors "came out and hit us in the mouth and I didn't think we responded very well. Our body language was poor, and we didn't compete in some moments."