Box Score

Grand Chute, Wis. - Carthage College catcher Mike Hughes was looking for a hit. Any kind of hit. A bloop single, Texas Leaguer, seeing-eye single, anything.

Hughes didn’t just get a hit in the 11th inning on Sunday (May 24), he got the biggest hit of the season for the Red Men.

Hughes’ 11th-inning solo homer lifted Carthage (Wis.) to a 9-8 victory over Shenandoah University (Va.) in an elimination game of the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship at Fox Cities Stadium.

“At that point, I was just looking to get a hit,” Hughes said. He was 2-for-10 in the finals before the homer. “I’m having a tough tournament. It gets aggravating. He threw it where I swung.

“It felt good. I was hoping it was going to go out.”

Carthage (38-8) advances to play the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) on Monday (May 25).

Shendandoah (38-10) had a chance to tie it in the bottom of the 11th after Kevin Brashears led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a ground out, Carthage pitcher Mike Maher got Greg Van Sickler, who was 4-for-5 with three runs batted in at that point, to fly out to center field to end the game.

“I was sitting on a fastball,” Van Sickler said. “(Maher) ran it up, and I think the adrenaline got to me a little bit. I swung at a high one.”

Carthage took control of the game early, but Shenandoah battled back and the drama built in the late innings.

“I couldn’t be more proud of a group of guys,” Shenandoah coach Kevin Anderson said. “To come back against a good Carthage club and battle and battle. What a game. It’s unfortunate that someone has to lose it.”

Carthage jumped on the board in the top of the first with a pair of runs. The Red Men loaded the bases with a single and a pair of walks. Drew Roberts followed with a two-run single and the Red Men led 2-0.

Van Sickler’s double scored a run in the bottom half of the first to cut the advantage to 2-1. Carthage grabbed a 6-1 lead in the top of the second with a big blow delivered by John Lequia. A pair of errors put runners at the corners, and Chris Shannon followed with a run-scoring single. Lequia then blasted a three-run homer to put the Red Men up, 6-1.

The Hornets batted around in the fifth with the help of several defensive miscues by Carthage. With one out, back-to-back errors put runners at first and second. Adam Delauter, who was at second, advanced to third on the play when Carthage failed to call time.

Brashears followed with a single through the left side to score Delauter. Jon Holcomb then scored from second when Hughes’ pick-off throw to first went into right field. Scott Lambert followed with a ground ball that went off the glove of third baseman Drew Roberts and Brashears scored.

Van Sickler then singled up the middle to score Lambert and cut the lead to 6-5 before Carthage escaped further damage.

“I was proud of our kids,” Carthage coach Augie Schmidt said. “We hung in there. Anytime you get a big lead and it slips away you feel like you never have the momentum.

“We’d rather be up by one than by eight. It’s almost uncomfortable to be up by five or more. … We play like that – a lot a lot of chaos, a lot of insanity – but we persevere.”

Carthage came right back in the top of the sixth and scored twice. The Red Men had three hits in the inning, including run-scoring singles by Shannon and Lequia to go up, 8-5.

Shenandoah battled back with two runs in the bottom of the seventh. With runners at first and second, Van Sickler delivered a single to center field to score Brashears. A fielder’s choice ground ball then scored Lambert to cut the lead to 8-7.

The Hornets then tied it in the bottom of the eighth. A pair of walks put runners at first and second, and Lambert delivered a run-scoring single to make the score 8-8. Jesse Henry then grounded out to end the threat, but Lequia had to make a sparkling defensive play to scoop out the throw from Tyler Eickmeyer, who extended his hitting streak to 24 games with a pair of hits.

“Somehow I hung on. It hopped right into my chest and I hung onto it,” Lequia said.

Shenandoah looked like it was primed to possibly win it in the bottom of the ninth after Van Sickler led off the inning with a single. Scott Van Dusseldorp squared for a sacrifice bunt, but the ball hung in the air and was caught by Maher, who threw to first for a double play.

“You could feel the energy almost shift from one dugout to the other when we lined into the double play,” Anderson said.

Schmidt gave credit to Maher, who often gets chided for a lack of athletic ability.

“We say he’s not a great athlete, but so far in this tournament he’s made the two most athletic plays for us,” Schmidt said of Maher.

“We kind of make fun of that kid, but he is our defense right now.”

By: Joe Vanden Acker (Sports Information Director, Lawrence University)