Dateline: Field of Dreams (Field #14)
After all too brief of a rest, the Warriors embarked on their third game of the day. It was quite a contrast watching the Warriors dust themselves off to start their third consecutive game of the day as the Southwick Saints came breezing in for their first.
Southwick, by virtue of their 5-1 record with a low runs against average of 5.33 was seeded #19. By all rights, this must have looked like an easy game for them. However, the Warriors absolutely did not make it easy for them.
In the top of the first, the Warriors struck quickly. Marty doubled to left. Thomas batted for Jordan who was a last minute scratch due to the heat. Editors Note: Jordan was fine a couple hours after the game, but playing two games in the heat turned out to be a bit much for everyone — including Jordan. Thomas walked. Brendan walked ot load the bases. Jake blasted a bases clearing double to right center to score Marty, Thomas and Brendan. Warriors fans celebrated. The Southwick starter was clearly rattled, but he settled down a bit and got the last out. In the bottom of the first, Conor got the start. He struck out the leadoff man. The next batter hit a single. After a fly out to left where Matt made a great catch there were two outs. The cleanup hitter just got one over the right center field wall for two runs. Graham coralled the next fly ball to center and after one it was Warriors 3 Saints 2.
The Warriors continued their offense as Andy hit a hard fly ball that the left fielder just barely caught for out one. Graham beat out a perfect bunt for a single and of course he quickly stole second. Justin drilled a singled to left. Conor picked up an RBI with a single to score Graham. The Saints pitcher then gave up long flies to center and right to Marty and Thomas that were caught by some nice plays. Bottom of the second, the leadoff hitter singled and stole second. The next batter hit a popup down the line at first and the umpire called runner interference as the runner made it impossible for a fielder to make the play. A ground out resulted in a run for the Saints, but Conor settled down and struck out the last batter.
In the third, the Saints went with a new pitcher and he looked sharp. He pitched the last four innings and gave up only a single hit to Matt. It was to be the end of the Warriors scoring in the tournament. Suffice it to say the Saints got a bunch of runs the rest of the game and went on to win as the Warriors tired pitching staff did their best to stem the tide. When the dust cleared, the Saints scored 7 in the third and four more in the sixth. Final Score: Saints 14 Warriors 4.
A tired Assistant Coach Grossman was available very briefly for a postgame interview. He said, “What a day. Most of our guys hadn’t played a triple header before. I think if we were fresh we would have played these Saints even up. We did a great job the first two innings and I’m sure the Saints were doing their best to avoid using the pitcher that eventually shut us down. What a great tournament and a great team to work with. I will very much miss this team. Thanks goes to all the parents who worked very hard to make this a great experience.”
Editors Note: The Saints went on in the next game to lose 7-3 to the 14th seeded St. Louis Sox. The Sox made it to the Elite 8 where they lost to the 6th seeded California 3n2 Bombers.
The Bombers lost 15-8 to the Hard 90 Phenom Premier (see writeup to Game 4).
The Hard 90 team went on to win the entire tournament by beating Las Vegas Red in the final by a score of 8-7.
