Chaparrals complete their quest for atonement with 11-8 victory over Point Loma
of the Tribune
Vindication hasn’t merely been on the Chaparrals’ minds this week, it has weighed on them since last spring. Whether or not they’ll admit it, their stunning postseason collapse in 2008 has stuck with them.
And Tuesday’s loss to Point Loma Nazarene had the ripped-off bandage effect.
Ultimately, that attention-getting sting was just what Lubbock Christian needed.
Responding with both force and precision, the Chaps reeled off three impressive victories in the NAIA World Series, the last two coming against the team that put them in the win-or-else situation in the first place.
And the consummate moment of exoneration came shortly after 10 on Friday night. The Chaps put the memory of ’08 to rest with a 11-8 triumph over the Sea Lions that gave them their second national championship yet first in 26 years.
A crowd of 4,005, most of them objective fans looking for someone to cheer, raucously saluted the Chaps after Jakob Cunningham struck out Kaohi Downing to end the Series’ highest-scoring finale since Lubbock Christian beat Lewis-Clark State 12-9 in 1983.
“Words can’t describe how proud I am,” said LCU coach Nathan Blackwood, whose 52-8 ballclub became the first top seed to win a title since the seeding process was implemented in 2003. “What they’ve came though and just how hard they’ve worked … . Great chemistry, great work ethic and they just do things right.”
They also proved capable of doing things the hard way.
Following Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to Point Loma, the Chaps rebounded with a persuasive 14-4 win over archrival Oklahoma City, the team that eliminated them last year in the regional round after having gone 52-2 in the regular season. That put them in the title round, where they thumped Point Loma 5-1 to force the if-necessary championship game required in double-elimination brackets.
Lubbock Christian quickly got the Sea Lions’ attention, ringing up five runs on as many hits in the first inning and chasing starter Chris Honer after just seven batters.
But the Sea Lions (45-13) didn’t cower. They got a run back in the second, then squared things with a four-run third, getting a two-run homer from Travis McCleary, his 12th of the season and second of the tournament.
The tie didn’t last long. Will Stramp tagged a 2-2 pitch from Brandon Dixon (10-4) for three-run homer to left, putting the Chaps ahead to stay.
“Even with (Tuesday’s) loss, we felt like we were the better team,” said Stramp, who was named Series MVP, hitting .429 with three home runs and 10 RBI. “Tonight was a back-and-forth battle. They played a great game, swinging the bats and all.”
In reality, Point Loma didn’t virtually nothing the bats after getting two runs back in the fourth inning. With Charlie Aceto (7-0) and Shane Karnbach provided lockdown middle relief and Cunningham working a in-order ninth for his seventh save, the Sea Lions mustered only a sixth-inning RBI double by Tyler Kuehl over the final five frames.
“We play them 10 times, they probably win five times, we probably win five times,” Dixon said. “Maybe putting them in the losers bracket did givethem a head of steam and a sense of urgency.”
“We were disappointed with the (Tuesday) loss but we responded well,” Blackwood said. Point Loma “is a good team but we knew we were better than them and it showed.”
POINT LOMA LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Downing rf 4 0 1 1 Armdrz cf 4 2 1 2
Miles lf 3 0 0 0 Rindels rf 4 3 2 0
Steinhauer cf 3 2 2 0 Stramp lf 5 2 2 3
McCleary 1b 5 2 2 3 Blondin 3b 4 0 2 3
Winnick p 4 2 3 1 Soberns pr 0 0 0 0
MacMaster 1b 1 0 0 0 Johnson c 5 0 1 1
Kartch 3b 5 1 1 0 Kzmrski ph 1 1 0 0
Kuehl ss 5 1 2 2 Muse rf 0 0 0 0
Cameron 2b 4 0 1 1 Neumnn dh 4 2 3 0
Winslow c 5 0 1 0 Learned 1b 4 1 3 2
Lippow cr 0 0 0 0 Domingz ss 4 0 1 0
Merrell 2b 4 0 2 0
Totals 39 8 13 8 Totals 39 11 17 11
Point Loma 014 201 000— 8 13 1
Lubbock Christian 503 200 10x—11 17 1
Point Loma ip h r er bb so
Honer 0.1 4 5 5 2 0
Dixon (L,10-4) 3.2 8 5 5 1 3
Koenig 3 4 1 1 1 2
Winnick 1 1 0 0 0 1
Lubbock Christian ip h r er bb so
Eisenbach 2 10 5 5 0 2
Aceto (W,7-0) 2.2 2 2 2 4 2
Karnbach 3.1 1 1 0 1 3
Cunningham (S,7) 1 0 0 0 0 2
———
Browitt may be contacted at jbrowitt@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2260.
Lubbock Christian 11
Point Loma Nazarene 8
> STARS OF THE GAMEThe Chaps’ mountain of offensive production was spread out throughout the lineup, but Nos. 3 and 4 hitters Will Stramp and Ross Blondin were the key catalysts with three RBI apiece on a combined four hits.
SHANE KARBACH gleamed in relief for LCU, allowing just one hit and one run in 3-plus innings. His effort came on a night when both teams struggled to suppress each other’s lineups.
> LOSER’S DOWNFALL
The Sea Lions kept up with LCU for a while, but they mustered just one hit after the fourth inning and left 11 runners stranded.
> FACT OF NOTE
Five batters were plunked by pitches, twice with the bases loaded. PNLU reliever Brandon Dixon had the most problems with his control, hitting three batters.
