LEWISTON, Idaho - Faulkner's Patrick McCarthy heard it not just once from his big junior right-hander, he heard it multiple times. "Don't take me out of this game coach," starting pitcher Phillip Anderson said to his head coach in the Eagles' winners' bracket game here Tuesday night against host Lewis-Clark State in the Avista-NAIA World Series. "I'm not coming out of this game."
He listened, and more importantly he believed in Anderson despite the adversity that struck early before a crowd of close to 3,000 Warrior fans at Harris Field. In the end, it paid off in droves for McCarthy's Eagles.
Behind the hard-throwing Thomson, Ga., native's gutsy performance on the mound and an offense sparked by Southern States Athletic Conference Player of the Year Chris Madera, Faulkner battled back from early three- and four-run deficits to grab a pulsating 12-10 victory to remain unbeaten in the 59th edition of the NAIA's showcase event.
Faulkner faces St. Thomas (Fla.) Wednesday night at 8:35 central time, with Lewis-Clark State battling Embry-Riddle at 5 p.m. St. Thomas, Lewis Clark State and Embry-Riddle all have a loss in the double-elimination race for the 2015 national title. The Eagles (51-13) are one win away from the championship round, and are looking for their second World Series celebration in the last three years.
After surrendering three runs on four hits in the first inning, and five more runs on three hits in the fourth, Anderson settled in. At one point he retired 12 Warriors in a row, and the Eagle bats came alive as 3-0 and 8-4 deficits were quickly erased. Madera had four hits and scored four runs, with Dario Polanco and Cody Sos both hitting home runs during the Faulkner comeback.
"The game doesn't change - it's always the same game," McCarthy said. "The crowd doesn't change it, the pressure, none of it. It's been our saying all along, 'Same game.' This team has so much drive and determination. We've still got a long way to go and there are three other great teams still alive in this tournament, but tonight's effort was one of the most gutsy I've been around. I'm proud of Phillip for believing, and of his teammates for having his back."
After the Warriors sprinted to the three-run lead right out of the gate, it took only two pitches from Lewis-Clark State starter Adrian Martinez for the Eagles to scratch back. Madera, Faulkner's leadoff hitter, ripped his first pitch to center for a base hit, and second baseman Dario Polanco blasted the next offering over the right-center field wall to cut the margin to 3-2.
The Eagles still trailed, but the message was loud and clear that this Faulkner team wasn't going anywhere.
A two-out error by Lewis-Clark State shortstop Cabe Reiten with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second allowed Faulkner to take a 4-3 lead, but in the top of the fourth the Warriors regained command. Seth Brown's two-run single highlighted the five-run uprising, which included a walk, a hit batsman and a Faulkner error. When the dust had settled Lewis-Clark State led 8-4, and the boisterous Warrior fans in attendance were delighting in the turnaround.
It didn't last for long.
In the bottom of the fourth, Robert Llera's RBI groundout and Dennis Morton's two-run double brought the Eagles to within 8-7, and another three-run outburst in the fifth inning staked Faulkner to a lead it would not relinquish. Sos led off the inning with a line-drive homer to left-center to tie it at 8, and Madera and Llera both singled to put two on base with two outs. An errant throw by Warrior catcher Julian Ramon trying to cut down courtesy runner Alexis Torres at second allowed Madera to score the go-ahead run, and Torres would later score on a wild pitch that put the Eagles on top 10-8.
While the Faulkner bats were heating up, Anderson was keeping the Lewis-Clark potent attack in the cooler. After the five-run fourth, he retired 12 Warriors in a row to keep the hosts at bay. Edgar Figueroa's run in the sixth - a result of a throwing error by third baseman Robert Smith - increased the lead to 11-8, and Madera took it upon himself to add another insurance tally in the seventh. After singling to open the inning, he stole second with one out and swiped third with two outs. Cameron Pongs then delivered a wild pitch, and Madera trotted home for a 12-8 Faulkner advantage.
Anderson allowed a one-out homer in the eighth by Lewis-Clark State's Michael Sexton to make it 12-9, but got out of the inning with no further damage. Sensing his 108th pitch of the night, which struck out Zach Holley to end the frame, would be his last, Anderson was greeted with high fives and back slaps at the dugout by his teammates.
"We're a family; we're not just a team," said Anderson, who improved to 9-2 on the season. "I knew these guys always had my back. I knew we'd come back and once I got comfortable after the start I felt like I pitched pretty well. It's the best I've ever felt after giving up nine runs, I can promise you that."
Alejandro Castro came on in the ninth, and earned his second save in as many nights and his 11th of the season. After retiring the first two hitters on groundouts - the first coming on a remarkable play in the hole at second by Polanco - Brown tripled and Ty Jackson followed with an RBI infield single to trim the margin to two. The next Warrior batter - Max Whitt - fittingly flied out to Madera in center to end the game. The final play was routine, a far cry from a couple of shoestring catches he made earlier in the game.
"This is a great feeling, to win this game in this atmosphere," said Madera, whose four hits pushed his total to six in the tournament. "I hadn't been hitting the ball well in the first two games, but I felt good tonight and thought I might turn it around. We have to continue to play just as hard as we did tonight if we're going to win the championship. This thing is far from over. We're in a good spot, but we know a lot can happen over the next few days."
Randy Joung, Figueroa and Sos added a pair of hits apiece, with Polanco, Sos and Torres each scoring two runs. Both Polanco and Morton drove in two runs. Faulkner pounded out 14 hits in the game, its best output of the World Series, while Lewis-Clark State finished with 11. Bryce Jackson took the loss for the Warriors, dropping to 1-1 on the season. Brown's three hits, three RBIs and two runs scored led the Lewis-Clark State attack, which also got two runs, two hits and two RBIs from Sexton.
"Tomorrow is a new day, but it's the same game," McCarthy reiterated. "That will continue to be our approach. If each player does everything he can to help us win, the result really doesn't matter because that's all we can ask for or do. Again, the game doesn't change and neither will our mindset."
Click on "View the Full Gallery" below to see photos of Tuesday night's victory in the World Series.
