Grantham, PA — The Messiah baseball team came out on the right side of two vastly different ballgames Saturday afternoon, defeating The Catholic University of American by 10-7 and 2-1 scores in the Falcons' 2009 home openers.
Messiah (4-4) utilized 13 hits and a brilliant defensive half of the sixth inning to capture the Game One victory, then rode a seven-strikeout, complete-game effort from sophomore pitcher Travis Thome to stay ahead of the Cardinals in the nightcap.
Of course, senior catcher Ben Kirk had something to do with the day's success as well, going 5-7 with two home runs, two doubles and six RBI.
“Baseball is such a crazy game,” said Bryan Engle, Messiah head coach. “Two games can be won in completely different fashion. But both of today's games prove a point that we've talked about in that you never know when a winning run will cross the plate. Maybe it's the first inning, maybe it's not until the fifth or seventh, extra innings or whatever. That being said, you can't stop competing and you can't stop continuing to give your best effort mentally and physically. I thought we competed in such a way this afternoon.”
Engle's club opened the day with a clutch three-run at-bat in the first inning of Game One, helping to negate an early 2-0 deficit. Singles from juniors Sheldon Witmer and Jordan Zimmerman got things started, helping the Falcons to a lead they would never surrender.
A double from Kirk led to two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, while a two-run homer for Kirk paced a three-run fifth. That blast helped turn a 5-4 Messiah lead into an 8-4 difference, a solid response after Catholic (4-6) tacked on a pair of runs in the top of the stanza.
The Falcons would need that run support, as Catholic made its most serious offensive push of the day in the visitor's half of the sixth inning. Three singles and a double had plated three Cardinals' runs with no outs retired, and Engle's club needed someone to stop the bleeding.
Fittingly, it was Kirk that came up huge.
With runners at first and third, Catholic's Eamonn Burke popped up an attempted bunt. Kirk sprung out of his catcher's stance and made a diving catch in foul territory, doubling off the runner at first for a huge double play.
Kirk proved even larger in Catholic's next at-bat, as freshman pitcher Zach Adams put one in the dirt. As the ball squirted past Kirk, the Cardinals' Mike Goodman sprinted home, looking to tie the game.
Kirk got to the ball and flipped it back to Adams — who was covering the plate — in the nick of time, as Adams' tag came to Goodman's shin just centimeters before he reached home.
“It was an unreal scenario,” Engle said. “There's an old saying in baseball, 'you see something different every time you come to the ballpark.' I'm not sure if I've ever seen three crazier outs in such a tight spot in such a short amount of time.”
Perhaps invigorated by the closure of a Catholic rally, Messiah tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the inning, as yet another double from Kirk began the scoring. Adams was then able to get out of a two-runners-on mini-jam in the top of the seventh inning, and Messiah had pulled out the 10-7 win.
It was hard to tell if Kirk was better in the field or at the plate, as the catcher finished 3-4 with four RBI, two doubles, a homer and a pair of runs scored. Sophomore Sean Hart also finished 3-4 at the plate with two runs scored (he added an RBI), while Zimmerman and junior Jon Shenk each belted a pair of singles.
Witmer (1-1) collected the pitching win in five innings of work, striking out five while allowing five runs off of 10 hits.
While Kirk's stat line was not quite as gaudy in the day's second contest, it was equally as valuable, as the Salisbury, Md. native blasted the game-winning home run in the bottom of the sixth inning. An RBI-single put Messiah on the board in the fourth inning, while a 400-foot blast to center field in the sixth easily cemented Kirk's MVP honors for the day.
“He had a hitter's dream today,” Engle said of his backstop. “Each of his home runs were obviously big, but so were his other at-bats. We made some adjustments during Game One and did a better job of letting the ball travel instead of getting out in front, and that comes down to trusting yourself as a hitter to recognize the pitch, having confidence in your ability and knowing you can go the other way. Guys started staying back and driving the ball, especially Kirk and Zimmerman, and then (Kirk) gets out in front and hits a big two-run homer in the first game.
“His home run in Game Two was obviously huge as well, and he got his pitch to drive.”
Messiah needed Kirk's offense in the nightcap, as Thome (1-1) and Catholic's Ronnie Esposito were locked in a pitcher's duel for much of the afternoon. Thome allowed just four hits on the day with just one walk, while the Falcons scattered 10 hits — eventually leaving seven runners on base.
Kirk was there on two occasions to make certain it was all for not, following singles from junior Adam Ranck and Zimmerman to drive in Messiah's first score on a base knock in the fourth. Catholic got its lone run in the top of the sixth inning, but Kirk again came up big, blasting a 3-1 pitch to deep centerfield to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead.
Thome then forced three groundouts in the top of the seventh to conclude the day.
“The main difference between the two games, in my opinion, was Travis Thome's ability to keep the ball down in the lower half of the zone,” Engle said. “He did a great job of coming at hitters and commanding his pitches. He mixed speeds well and stayed around the plate. The defense, for the most part, played well behind him and he stepped up huge in the sixth inning when Catholic put a rally together, getting two strikeouts to get out of a second and third, one-out jam. It was a gutsy performance and bulldog-like demeanor.”
Kirk again paced Messiah's offense, going 2-3 with two RBI in the second game. Freshman John Brubaker also finished 2-3, while Ranck blasted three singles in three at-bats, scoring the team's first run. Zimmerman posted his second multiple-hit game as well, going 2-3.
“We played our fourth straight weekend against regional-caliber teams, and playing great competition will only make us better,” Engle said. “That certainly is the bar that has been set. Our upcoming games will once again be games where we face top quality competition, but the key is staying within ourselves. The game always comes down to pitching, clutch hitting and playing solid defense. Regardless of opponent, the game doesn't change, so you play the best you can and hopefully at the end of the game you've given yourself enough opportunities, through all phases, to be successful.”
Messiah will not have long to savor its wins, as the team will travel to York College Monday for a nine-inning contest. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.
