Tribune/Steve Hanks
Union’s David Fairbanks slams into the outfield fence as he leaps for a fly ball off the bat of Lee’s Chris Warters. The ball cleared the left-center field fence for the two-run home run in the eighth inning of Game 11 Monday, and the Flames went on to beat the Bulldogs 14-8.
Lee falls behind 5-0 before getting homer-happy
and putting 14-8 hurting on Series upstart Union
By JOSH WRIGHT
of the Tribune
As his home run blazed a ferocious path over the left-center fence, Brian Bistagne began what’s become a personal ritual. He took off for first base in an all-out sprint, and by the time he crossed second you might have thought he was fleeing from a grizzly in the wilderness.
“It’s not really my style to be lackadaisical,” the Lee shortstop explained. “I was trying to set a tone out there, you know.”
Apparently, his teammates had the same objective.
Bistagne sandwiched his solo blast in between two other homers in what swelled into an epic third-inning barrage, helping the Flames take down Union 14-8 on Monday. The Tennessee club charged back from a five-run deficit to claim the winners-bracket showdown in the NAIA World Series.
A Memorial Day crowd of 2,025 flocked to Harris Field to witness top-seeded Lee, 61-8, solidify its quick-strike offensive reputation. After an eight-run explosion in the third, the Flames went off for another four runs in the fifth once the Bulldogs of Barbourville, Ky., rallied to tie the game.
In addition to Bistagne, who batted 4-for-4, Clint Harrelson kick-started Lee’s offense with a three-run shot while Chris Warters and Chris Dubon also sent balls sailing out of the ballpark.
“Obviously, you’re worried as a coach because you don’t know how your team’s going to respond,” Lee coach Mark Brew said of his club’s 5-0 deficit through two innings. “But our team’s had the capability of being a big-inning team all year.”
Thanks to the prodigious offensive show and a sturdy five-inning relief appearance from Jeff Ibarra, the Flames moved to 2-0 in the Series and will meet Lewis-Clark State tonight at 7. The victor will have a firm hold going into the tournament’s final stretch.
Unlike its counterpart, getting to this spot is a momentous step for Lee. It’s making only its third Series appearance and didn’t have an active program 13 years ago.
“Just to be mentioned in the same breath and to be playing … in the winners-bracket final is big for our program,” said Brew, in his second year as the Flames’ coach.
The fifth-seeded Bulldogs received solid production from their Nos. 1 and 2 hitters, Kenny Kysar and Lioney Henriquez, who went a combined 4-for-8 and caused problems on the bases with three steals. But the next four batters in the lineup went quietly with two hits in 13 at-bats.
Once Ibarra found a rhythm, however, it wasn’t just Union’s middle of the order that labored. The gangly junior transfer retired the final 11 batters he faced and blanked the Bulldogs in the last four innings.
“He’s been like that all year,” Bistagne said. “The defense feels comfortable with him on the mound. We’ve got his back; we know he has our back. So we just play well. Everything clicks.”
Ibarra, a 6-foot-6, 170-pound junior, bumped his record to 10-2. He’s built the lofty mark without starting a game.
After yielding a run to Union in the fifth, the transfer from San Marcos, Calif., was almost unhittable. He threw 63 pitches in five innings, 42 of which were strikes.
“I think everything was working for me,” Ibarra said. “I always have a tough first inning. (I) settled down after that.”
The Bulldogs staked starter Marcus White to a meaty lead after manufacturing two runs in the first and benefiting from a two-run error in the second.
But White, who didn’t allow a hit in the first two innings, fell apart in the third. Seven Flames reached base consecutively, punctuated by the three home runs.
“We’ve got some guys that can hit (home runs),” Brew said. “That’s a little untypical for us, but we’ll take it any way we can get it.”
