Spring Arbor’s Jon Schaible slides into third in the top of the seventh inning ahead of the throw to Jamestown third baseman Ben Cairns. (Lewiston Tribune/Steve Hanks)
By Matt Baney
of the Tribune
The Spring Arbor Cougars committed three uncharacteristic errors early on. They fumbled the lead in the middle innings. And they couldn’t muster consistent support for their accomplished pitcher.
Yet they opened the NAIA World Series with a victory — which seemed to be a testament to their battle-tested resolve more than anything.
Spring Arbor, the runner-up of 2007 tournament, launched this season’s Series with a splotchy, hard-fought 7-5 victory over Jamestown. A Friday morning crowd of 1,430 gathered at Harris Field for Game 1.
“I don’t know that it was as clean as I would have liked to have seen it, particularly on our end defensively,” said Cougars coach Sam Riggleman, whose team improved to 38-7. “But I also think that our guys were able to grind it out and do what they needed to do to win.”
After slipping behind 3-2, the Cougars shifted to hash-it-out mode in the fifth. A single, a walk, a passed ball and a fielder’s choice translated into the tying run, then Eric Vojtkofsky whacked a sharp single that plated the go-ahead score.
In the seventh, a well-placed squeeze bunt by Bradley Baker drove in another run for the team from Michigan. Then the Cougars rattled off three singles in the eighth to score two more and build a 7-3 edge.
Meanwhile, Jamestown, in the Series for the first time since 2004, couldn’t capitalize on similar chances.
The seventh was particularly painful for the Jimmies: They put two men on base, then moved them to second and third with a bunt. But a flyout by Jeremy Burgard and a strikeout by Dave Sauter ended the inning.
“We had many opportunities, with the right guys up, and we weren’t able to score runs,” said Jamestown coach Tom Hager, whose team dipped to 32-19. “And that’s really what got us here. … I have a lot of respect for Spring Arbor, but we had our chances.”
SAU pitcher Jesse Bachman — who limited a mighty Lewis-Clark State team to five hits in eight innings in last year’s Series — also frustrated the Jimmies. The right-handed junior permitted nine hits in his seven-inning start, but crimped Jamestown at key moments.
Bachman, who tossed 129 pitches, was lifted after allowing a leadoff double in the eighth. Riggleman said the pitcher might have been able to go the distance if not for three Spring Arbor errors in the first four innings, as well as a few misplayed balls in the outfield.
“Jesse pitched very, very well,” Riggleman said. “Unfortunately, we were responsible for running his pitch total up.”
And the Jimmies applied pressure. They recorded four steals in the first four innings, and Jordan Dusanj planted a two-run double deep in the right-field corner in the third.
“We’ve got team speed, and it’s one of the things we do really, really well,” Hager said. “… It worked early on, then we pieced some hits together later on in the game and put a little pressure on them. But we just weren’t able to get the big hit. That’s all you can say.”
The North Dakota club will face a loser-out game today at noon.
As for Spring Arbor, it will meet its polar opposite today at 3 p.m. — Oklahoma City. The second-seeded Stars, who enjoyed a bye Friday, set an NAIA record with 144 home runs this season.
“We’re still going to do what we do,” Riggleman said, referring to his team’s piecemeal approach to offense. “And if that can’t get it done, then we’ll live with that. But we’re not going to try to change who we are because people do things differently.”
With this game in the books, perhaps the Cougars’ jitters will be minimized.
This game “was a little out of character,” Bachman said. “But it’s an adjustment coming out here and playing. So I think we made it, and I think we’re ready to go.”
SPRING ARBOR JAMESTOWN
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Schaible cf 3 2 1 1 Johnson pr 4 0 2 1
Bachman dh 4 0 3 0 MacQrrie pr 0 1 0 0
Robinson pr 0 2 0 0 Cairns 3b 2 0 0 1
Baker ss 3 0 1 2 McLchlan 1b 5 1 4 0
Vojtkofsky 1b 5 0 3 2 Dusanj 1b 4 0 2 2
Baker 3b 3 0 0 0 Wong rf 0 0 0 0
Marken pr 0 1 0 0 Burgard lf 4 0 0 0
Hollister 2b 5 1 1 0 Sauter 2b 5 0 0 0
Herbig rf 4 1 2 0 Renfrow dh 5 1 1 0
Rider c 4 0 2 2 Mntgmery ss 3 0 0 0
Michael lf 3 0 0 0 Schmid ph 0 1 0 0
Stimson ph 1 0 0 0 White cf 4 1 2 0
Totals 35 7 13 7 Totals 36 5 11 4
Spring Arbor 110 020 120—7 13 3
Jamestown 002 100 020—5 11 0
Spring Arbor ip h r er bb so
Bachman (W, 9-2) 7 9 4 3 2 6
Myers 2 2 1 1 1 2
Jamestown ip h r er bb so
Campbell (L, 9-5) 6.2 9 5 4 2 0
Picotte 0.1 2 2 2 1 0
Kreis 2 2 0 0 1 2
———
Baney may be reached at mbaney@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2258.
