Brad Horn/Nevada Appeal
Most people expected the storyline for Friday's matchup between Western Nevada and Central Arizona to be about how many runs the two teams would score. But after the game was over, it was about how many runs the Vaqueros didn't score.
The Wildcats' defense kept at least four runs off the board for Central Arizona as they stole several hits from it on their way to an 11-4 victory at the Western District baseball tournament at John L. Harvey Field.
WNC will play Central Arizona again at noon today after the Vaqueros demolished Northeastern 25-2 in five innings in the afternoon elimination game.
The glove that got the most notice was Daniel Zylstra, who robbed two sure hits deep in the hole that could have swung the momentum the Vaqueros' way.
"Things are just clicking right now," Zylstra said. "It's a lot of hard work on those plays in practice that made it happen."
Zylstra's defense was so stellar that one person following the game referenced him to Ozzie Smith, a Hall of Fame shortstop who played 19 seasons in the Major Leagues.
He threw out a runner at first in the eighth inning on a grounder that was hit into shallow center; he had to spin completely around to make the throw. He was also the lead in both of the Wildcats' double plays.
"Zylstra was amazing," WNC coach D.J. Whittemore said. "His range is spectacular and to get to his feet to throw those guys out, those were game changing plays. When you compare junior college to Major League, you're probably right."
His defense was contagious. Centerfielder Mike Long fired a runner out at home by six feet.
The defense was aided by the Wildcats' two pitchers " Jordan Lewis and Kramer Champlin. Between them, there were 14 ground outs in the 39 batters faced.
Lewis got the start for WNC and, like he has all season, his strikeout to walk ratio wasn't impressive (one strikeout, two walks), but he was affective. The only time he ran into trouble was in the third when he gave up a leadoff double to Kevin Lovelace and threw two passed balls allowing Lovelace to score. Then, two batters later, Jimmy Patterson reached on a single and Kenny Held hit a two-run homer to left.
Lewis pitched five innings, allowed seven hits and three runs in the win (11-2).
Champlin pitched the final four innings, giving up three hits and an unearned run.
The Wildcats' bats wouldn't be held down by Central Arizona.
Eric Maupin had another big day from the plate. The sophomore went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and hit his fourth home run of the year. He is 8-of-12 in his last three games.
"Hitting with wood bats all year and then switching (to aluminum) it feels like you can't not hit the ball good," Maupin said. "I've been seeing the ball well, a lot of us have. We just got to keep scoring runs even when we're ahead since we're playing with metal bats we've got to keep tacking them on."
All nine of the Wildcats' hitters had either an RBI or a run scored in the game.
Down 3-0 midway through the third, WNC tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Maupin's homer got the inning started. Travis Feiner hit an RBI-single later that brought in Jay Skilton on a close play at the plate. His slide at home broke up the throw and Lance Ray was able to get in too.
The Wildcats added one in the fourth and three more in the fifth. Jerome Pena busted out of his 0-for-6 slump in the tourney with a two-run homer to right field as part of the four runs in the fifth.
They would add two more in the sixth and one in both the seventh and eighth.
The Wildcats need to win one of two games today to advance to the JUCO World Series, which begins May 23 in Grand Junction, Colo. They will likely put Josh Moody (5-0, 1.59 ERA) on the mound, while the Vaqueros will probably start Randy Yard (11-2, 1.38 ERA).
"More importantly, we don't have to win three straight," Whittemore said of the win and before Central Arizona's win to get to the title game. "And that's the spot Central's in right now. And they're a good enough club and have good enough pitching to do that. So we're not going to rest easy tonight.
"It feels like we got a whole season away to go."