“We hung in there for a while,” coach Tom Piatt said. “A couple of mistakes here and there gave them a couple of runs. But I’m proud of the guys. They fought back towards the end, and that’s all you can ask for.”
Bacon (20-8) broke a 3-3 tie with three runs in the top of the seventh inning. The Jets opened the bottom of the seventh with a walk to Seth Hall and single by Travis Tuttle to get to the top of the order. But Bacon pitcher Logan Huber, who entered the game in the fourth, retired Cade Houseman, Colton Moone and Preston Graves to end the game.
“That’s where we wanted to be,” Piatt said. “We wanted our eight and nine to get on base and then have our top coming up. Normally they come through. They didn’t come through today. No big deal. That’s life.”
“It’s heartbreaking,” Graves said. “But that’s the game of baseball.”
Graves pitched into the seventh inning and allowed one run on five hits while striking out six.
“He had a great game, threw strikes and kept us in the ballgame,” Piatt said. “That’s all you can ask for out of any pitcher.”
The Jets took a 2-0 lead in the third on Moone’s RBI single and Graves’ sacrifice fly. Bacon responded in the fourth to tie the score 2-2 with two unearned runs.
The Jets got the lead back at 3-2 in the fifth with a two-out rally. Moone doubled and Graves singled him in. Dylan Haggy singled and Graves tried to score from second but was thrown out at the plate on a close play on a perfect throw from left fielder Luke Wagner.
Bacon tied the score 3-3 in the sixth when a run scored from second base on a wild pitch that bounced high in the air. Haggy, the catcher, was unable to locate in time. In the seventh, a bunt that got through the infield for a double to kickstart the Spartans’ winning rally.
“We don’t give them runs and it’s a different ballgame,” Piatt said.
The Jets (18-8) started the season 3-6 and finished with 15 wins in 17 games. Piatt was an assistant the past two years and did not anticipate this kind of tournament run when the season began.
“I knew we had a great group of guys, tons of athletic ability,” he said. “So when you got guys that want to win and athletes, anything’s possible. But regional finals, nobody could have thought that. Just seeing the joy on their face, learning how to win and fighting through games, that’s what makes it fun for me. And seeing them develop as young men.”
Graves is one of six seniors who played his last game Thursday.
“It’s been a pleasure to be with the boys that are here,” he said. “We had a tough start at the beginning of the season going 3-6. To just see how far we’ve come, it’s amazing. I don’t know how to put it into words. It’s good to make Northeastern history.”
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