Saturday, May 30, 1998

Big inning sinks Calvert hopes

By Dave Feltner
Sports Editor

CASTALIA - Even Calvert coach Rick Demith had to admit that when he leered across the diamond he felt like he was looking in a mirror.

So it was only natural that the method by which Calvert was bumped from the regional tournament was the exact same one it used to make its deepest tourney run in school history.

Southington Chalker left the Senecas stunned when it snapped a 7-7 tie with seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to advance to today's Division IV regional final against St. Wendelin. The Mohawks were 6-2 winners over Kidron Central Christian in the other semifinal.

The story for the Senecas was a little dose of their own medicine. It was a pair of 10-run innings in the district tournament that vaulted Calvert to the school's first-ever regional trip.

''They're just like we are,'' Demith said. ''They hit the ball well, but their defense is a little suspect and they don't have outstanding pitching. The difference between us and them is they were able to bring in an overpowering pitcher to shut the door on us.''

That would be Mike Jackson. No, not the one on the Cleveland Indians. Although, the way he threw Friday afternoon he might has well have been.

Jackson, who got the win in relief of starter Chad Petty, was nothing short of amazing, recording all seven of his outs by strikeout. He pitched the final 2 1/3 innings, allowing only a freak double off the bat of Brennon Schank when left fielder Jon Drokin fell down on a routine fly ball.

And Jackson's heroics weren't limited to the mound, either. At the plate he he was 4-4, including a three-run homer in the second, with four RBI and three runs.

Jackson, the No. 3 hitter, combined with lead-off hitter Nathan Doan and No. 2 hitter Jason Whitmore to go 10-14 with five RBI and seven runs. That trio also stole three bases.

''They hit the ball when they had to; they got the clutch hits and we didn't,'' Demith said. ''Then, they brought in Jackson and he just killed us. He got two strikes on all our hitters and then he got us to chase the change-up out of the strike zone.

''We were on Petty the whole game; we just couldn't get the clutch hit,'' he said.''The score was 14-7, but, honestly, we had a chance to put the game away in the first three innings.''

It was in those three frames when the Senecas left seven runners on base, including five in scoring position.

Meenwhile, Jackson's homer highlighed a four-run Chalker second to give the Wildcats an early 7-2 lead. Chalker touched Calvert starter Matt Coleman, who took the loss, for seven runs (six earned) in just 1 1/3 innings.

But the Senecas continuted to peck at Petty and finally broke through in the fifth.

Jeremy Marinis started the inning with a single up the middle, Schank reached on an error and Risner's one-out walk loaded the bases.

Eric Lee singled over the bag at second to bring in the first two runs of the inning. Tom Puffenberger singled home Risner and Lee later scored on a wild pitch.

Joe Elchert knocked in the tying run when the Chalker center fielder lost track of his pop-up. The hit went for a double, but Elchert was stranded when Marinis struck out to end the inning.

The Wildcats went quietly in the fifth, but Whitmore led off the sixth with a triple to right. Jackson singled home Whitmore to knock out reliever Dustyn Risner, who went 3 2/3 innings before giving up a pair of runs.

Kleinhenz relieved, but back-to-back singles from Petty and Jon Drokin put Chalker up 10-7. The Wildcats finished the inning with seven runs on seven hits and led 14-7.

''It's hard to explain,'' Chalker coach Tim Cope said. ''I called the kids together (in the sixth) and just told them 'Ok, this is where we do it.' We were actually just trying to manufacture a run, but Whitmore led us off with a big hit. Then, Mike came in and just closed the door.''

Eight of the nine Seneca starters had hits, led by Coleman (two RBI) and Kleinhenz who had two each.

Chalker had 34 official plate appearances and banged out 16 hits for a .471 average. Whitmore had three hits and Petty (double) and Drokin had two apiece.

''I thought we should have caught that (triple),'' Demith said. ''I think if we come up with that ball it's a different game. The next guy gets a single, - big deal - but we make an error on the play and he ends up at second. After that things just fell apart. There's really nothing different we could have done.

''They didn't do anything we weren't expecting,'' he said. ''We knew they'd start the lefty and we knew he'd rely on his breaking ball and he did. We knew they'd bring in the right-hander and that he'd throw a little harder. We also knew they'd probably be a pretty good hitting team.''

The only problem was the Senecas couldn't stop them.