By MATT BANEY
of the Tribune
After spending yet another lovely May evening at Harris Field, I arrived at two conclusions.
First, the sight of a few thousand people — men, women, grandmas, infants — walking around with mini bats in their hands is oddly menacing.
Second, inviting 10 teams to a baseball tournament leads to some unusual situations.
When Lubbock Christian took the field Thursday, it was playing for its baseball life. The Chaps knew that if they didn’t win, they’d be peeling off their uniforms for the last time in 2009.
When Point Loma Nazarene took the field Thursday, it was playing for a national championship. That’s a tantalizing prize, of course, but the Sea Lions knew that if things didn’t work out in this game, they would get a do-over the next night.
Thursday’s final score: LCU 5, PLNU 1.
When a team advances to the title round of the NAIA World Series without a loss, it is afforded a two-for-one shot at the championship. This is both a blessing and a curse. No matter how hard a club tries to forget about the safety net, at some level — perhaps subconsciously — it realizes it’s there.
The Sea Lions weren’t able to conjure the same offensive fireworks they had habitually mustered over the last week. Perhaps that’s because they were up against LCU pitcher Rene Garcia, who crafted a shutout until the ninth. Or maybe this odd scenario affected the Californians.
Whatever the answer, PLNU wasn’t really interested.
“We treated today just like any other game,” first baseman Ian MacMaster said. “We came in and we just didn’t get it done tonight. But no excuses — it was on us.”
As for the Chaps, their motivation was more primal, and they operated with purpose. Garcia needed just 11 pitches in both the first and the second to retire the Sea Lions, and in the top of the third, LCU took the lead for keeps on homers from Armando Dominguez and Will Stramp.
“It’s do or die,” Dominguez said, “so you’ve got to get prepared mentally before you come to the games, knowing that it’s your last chance.”
The healthy crowd of 3,815 was generally laid-back, perhaps because this wasn’t a winner-take-all title game, or maybe because Lewis-Clark State wasn’t on the field. (Or maybe they were all playing with their mini bats — a door prize for the first wave of spectators.)
If this were an eight-team playoff, there would be no strange bottlenecks in the bracket, such at this. But in that situation, two less clubs would score a trip to Lewiston, and NAIA coaches probably aren’t interested in making the qualification process even more harrowing.
With Thursday’s ambiguity out of the way, the Series will come down to a final battle tonight. Expect a more competitive, more exciting clash — since the teams are now on equal footing.
Last season, Lee had a two-for-one shot, and was vanquished by two gut-punch losses to LCSC. The Flames were one out away from the title in the first game, only to be shocked by a ninth-inning Warrior rally.
Unlike Lee, Point Loma wasn’t within inches of the championship in this contest. And that fact probably gives the Sea Lions a better chance of winning tonight — a counterintuitive notion that most would probably accept.
Now, we’re down to one beautiful scenario: Tonight’s winner will tote the title banner home. Hey, they might even nab a few mini bats.
———
Baney is a Tribune sports writer. He may be reached at mbaney@lmtribune.com or at (208)848-2258.
