State baseball: Triad falls 5-4 in D4 championship game

Falling behind 4-0 after one inning, the Cardinals gave the nine-time state champion Green Wave all it wanted right up to the last out of the game.

In the top of the seventh inning, Triad was trailing 5-4 and down to its last two outs, but worked relief pitcher Tanner Marmie for back-to-back walks. After a strikeout, however, the Cardinals’ lead runner was caught in a rundown after Newark Catholic’s catcher momentarily dropped a pitch for the game‘s final out.

“If you make mistakes, they (Newark Catholic) will capitalize,” said Triad coach Will Nichols. “Their experience obviously helped them. They’ve been here so many times. But our guys never gave up and fought to the end.”

It was your classic matchup: The defending state champion vs. the upstart, which had never won a state title. And it took over three hours to settle things, the last half of the game being played in a nearly steady rain.

This was Triad’s second state final, losing 3-1 to Newark Catholic in 2004, and it had been to the state final four just three times total.

The Green Wave, meanwhile, had been to the state finals the past three years heading into the game, winning twice. Newark Catholic has now won nine state titles overall and was state runner-up four other times. It has been to the state final four a total of 16 times in the last 36 years.

Triad had a golden opportunity in the top of the first inning. Shane Ford walked, Trent McIntyre singled to center and Trevor Instine singled to left, loading the bases with only one out. But back-to-back strikeouts ended the threat.

“We just didn’t get the big hit,” said Nichols. “If we would have scored in the first, I think it would have been a different game.”

Newark Catholic wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Mitch Lohr walked with one out, stole second, went to third on a throwing error by the catcher and scored on a wild pitch by starting pitcher McIntyre.

That opened the door for two more one-out runs as the Green Wave pieced together two walks, two stolen bases, three wild pitches, one passed ball and the error to put three runs on the board with just one out. A two-out single plated a fourth run and put the Cardinals in an early 4-0 hole.

But Triad counter-punched with a three-run second inning to trim the Newark Catholic lead to 4-3. Starting pitcher Caine Whitney was having trouble keeping his sinking slider in the strike zone, walking the bases with two outs.

Then McIntyre delivered a two-run double down the first base line, and a throwing error by the right fielder on the same play allowed McIntyre to move to third and a third run to score. A groundout ended the inning, but the Cardinals had plated three runs with just one hit.

“That second inning when we recovered from a four-run deficit was a big deal,” said Nichols. “We could have laid down after that, but we bounced right back.”

Dalton Holycross replaced McIntyre on the mound to start the second inning.

A lead-off single by Jacob Greve chased Newark starter Whitney in the top of the fourth inning. Friday’s starting pitcher, Marmie, replaced him and held Triad scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings, with the Cardinals only mustering a walk off him in the fifth inning. The Green Wave issued nine walks to Triad batters on the night.

Friday’s winning pitcher for Triad, Ford, entered the game with two outs in the fourth inning and runners on first and second and ended that threat after the Green Wave scored a run on a walk, a stolen base, a sacrifice and another wild pitch to make it 5-3.

Triad added a run in the top of the sixth as Briley Harlan opened the inning with an infield single, and Bruce reached safely on a throwing error by Marmie. Then Greve delivered a line drive, two-out single with still no outs, bringing Harlan home to make it 5-4 Green Wave.

After a strikeout, Holycross worked Marmie for a walk to load the bases with one out. But Bruce was thrown out at the plate on an unsuccessful suicide squeeze for the second out. Then McIntyre popped out to end the inning.

“I thought our guy got under it (the tag by the catcher) from my angle, but the umpire didn’t,” said Nichols. “We had opportunities and missed out on too many of them.”

But he wasn’t about to let his players, who finished the season with a 26-8 record, hang their heads.

“We had a great tournament,” he said. “It was a great effort from our guys, and we had a great crowd rooting for us. It was a great experience for our boys. Not too many people get to play for a state championship.”