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7th-inning play at plate leads to near-miss for Notre Dame

Hoping for the best, Josh Baker watches Notre Dame’s final at-bat during a 12-10 loss to Man in the 10-inning Class A championship game.

 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The wildest part about Notre Dame’s 12-10, 10-inning championship loss to Man? The Irish were only inches away from hoisting the trophy without the need for extra innings.

Notre Dame, having erased a 7-4 deficit, nearly won the game in the bottom of the seventh on a bases-loaded wild pitch.

In a 7-7 game with the bases loaded, two outs and a 2-0 count, Man’s Mikle Rowe fired a low-and-outside pitch past catcher Cayce Mullins and hit the backstop bricks at Appalachian Power Park. Notre Dame runner Jordan Miller bolted from third base, only a few strides away from the title.

But a perfect bounce and quick reaction from Mullins and Rowe (covering home plate) ended the inning and preserved Man’s title hopes and ultimate championship win.

“We talked about the potential of a wild pitch and we wanted to take a look to see if it would bounce off the bricks. But when (Miller) got his moment going, there was really no stopping,” Notre Dame coach Patrick Marozzi said. “When you see the ball go by the catcher like that, it’s an instinct that you’re going to go. If we get thrown out, we get thrown out. It is what it is.

“I don’t want to take anything away from our kids or from them—we gave up 18 hits. “That’s the difference in the game.”

And there certainly were plenty of other crucial plays that impacted the outcome, but the significance of the tag-out at home plate wasn’t lost on Man’s Mullins.

“We called a high fastball and (Rowe) kind of left it low, it got by my glove and took a lucky bounce right off the wall back to me,” he said. “Mikle did a great job of covering the plate and we got the tag down. If we don’t react to that as quickly as we did, we’re watching Notre Dame hold the trophy – we were fortunate.”

Man catcher Cayce Mullins had big game both offensively and behind the plate for the Hillbillies. He finished 4-for-6 on the day.

“When I saw it go by (Mullins), all I was thinking was for the ball to bounce back to him,” Man coach Larry Vance said. “That would have been an awful way to lose, but they got a similar out like that on us at third base, too. Everything has to be quick on that play and the throw has to be right there—an athletic play, definitely.”

That play aside, Saturday’s game will be one of the more memorable Class A state title games for a while to come. Still, that doesn’t make things sting any less for the Irish, who finished the year with a 27-7 overall record and hopes of claiming the school’s first baseball title.

“I don’t think a lot of people realize what these kids accomplished in four years,” Marozzi said. “We played five freshmen for four years who just finished their senior season out here. We built a program and the way I look at it, we’re one of the best teams in Class A, we just weren’t the best today. It’s been a great year and I’m really proud of our guys and our coaches. I love these kids. They’re like my own.”

And Marozzi’s club didn’t quit, mounting another comeback attempt in the bottom of the 10th after falling behind 12-7 in the top half of the inning.

“I know every inning that we have potential to do something pretty special,” Marozzi said. “I knew we were going to make it interesting, because that’s just the nature of our kids. We’re going to battle and do what we can. Our kids played hard and where else would you rather be? You can’t tell me the fans weren’t pretty thrilled to watch this baseball game.”





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