Charles Broshous/For the Nevada AppealDavid Carroll and the WNC Wildcats finished third at the JUCO World Series. WNC was eliminated by Howard Thursday night.
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. " Pitching got Western Nevada College to the final three teams playing in the Junior College World Series, but pitching kept the Wildcats from advancing.
Howard (Texas) College starting pitcher Zach Neal threw seven complete innings on the Hawks' way to an 11-3 win Thursday night at Suplizio Field. The game was stopped after seven innings because of the eight-run mercy rule.
Neal gave up nine hits, but he struck out 10 batters and didn't allow any walks, and he earned praise from WNC coach D.J. Whittemore.
"I really tip my cap to Zach Neal, he pitched a heck of a game," Whittemore said. "He's a great competitor."
With the loss, Western Nevada was eliminated from the tournament with a third-place finish. Howard advances to the championship game on Saturday night against Santa Fe (Fla.) College.
"They have a great team, and are very well coached," Whittemore said of the Howard squad. "They were better tonight."
Western Nevada started sophomore David Carroll, who threw a complete game shutout in the Wildcats win over Iowa Western, really struggled Thursday night. He allowed five earned runs in three innings.
Carroll was replaced by Kramer Champlin who allowed three runs, and Josh Moody finished out the game giving up one run. Despite it being the second time the Wildcats had seen Neal, they couldn't seem to turn their nine hits into more than three runs.
"I thought it would be an advantage to see him again," Whittemore said. "We got nine hits, but he made the big pitch when he needed to."
While Neal was strong for the Hawks on the mound, Howard was locked in at the plate knocking out 13 hits. Howard's offense improved on a five hit, four run performance the first time against the Wildcats.
The Hawks scored three runs in the top of the first inning as Miles Hamblin, Caleb Nine and Will Calhoun all hit run-scoring singles.
The Wildcats did respond in the bottom of the first as Travis Feiner hit a two-run home run, which not only cut the Hawks lead to 3-2.
"Feiner did a good job of keeping his hands back on a change up," Howard coach Britt Smith said. "It was a great piece of hitting."
After Feiner's long ball, Howard continued to put the pressure on, as leadoff hitter Joe Leftridge hit a solo home run in the second inning to make it 4-2.
In the bottom of the third inning, Western Nevada was threatening with the bases loaded when catcher Jerome Pena hit a deep fly ball. Davis ripped the Wildcats hearts out again, making a spectacular catch to keep Howard in the lead.
"I thought biggest play of game was when Davis makes catch with bases loaded," Smith said. "We went onto score three, that's a seven run swing."
Howard added its three runs as Bryan Johns and Monk Kreder had RBI singles. In the top of the fifth inning, Howard added to its lead, as Davis doubled home Andrew Collazo. Leftridge drove Davis in on a RBI single to take a 9-2 lead. Howard would add a run in the sixth and seventh to close the game out.
For Western Nevada, it was an overall strong tournament as the Wildcats bounced back from losing the first game of the tournament to win their next three.
"I don't think we have anything to hang our heads about," Whittemore said. "The guys played well all year."