Story written by Anthony Perry '08, Fisher College Associate Director of Athletics/Sports Information
LAWRENCEVILLE, GA. – A historic comeback sends the Fisher College Baseball team into the NAIA Opening Round as they rally to defeat Iowa Wesleyan, 11-10 in 11 innings. The Falcons, who are now 29-22 on the season, will also advance to the Continental Athletic Conference championship tomorrow afternoon against unbeaten #4 Georgia Gwinnett College. Fisher needs two victories over the Grizzlies to capture their first CAC championship in program history.
CAC Tournament – Game Five: Fisher 11, Iowa Wesleyan 10 (Final/11 inn.)
The Falcons never held a lead in the contest until the final swing that sent the place into a frenzy and the team to the Opening Round for the third consecutive season.
Iowa Wesleyan, who defeated Florida National 9-5 in the first elimination game, broke the scoreless affair in the second inning as they plated four runs. The Falcons answered immediately in the home half as sophomore Jose Aybar (Santo Domingo, D.R.) lifted a sacrifice fly to center that allowed graduate Tim Catalano (Brewster, N.Y.) to get the Falcons on the board.
The following frame, Fisher tied the game at 4-4. Graduate Michael Stellato (Lynnfield, Mass.) led off with a walk and junior Ivanuel Hernandez (Caguas, Puerto Rico) doubled to the left-center gap that plated Stellato. The Falcons loaded the bases after a pair of hit batters which set the stage for Aybar. With two outs, the transfer shortstop delivered as he hit a sharp single up the middle that scored two runs and knotted things up at four apiece.
The Tigers of IWU stormed back as they scored six unanswered runs to take what seemed like a commanding 10-4 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth. However, the Fightin' Falcons never said die attitude kept chipping away with a little bit of luck. There were two outs and runners on the corners when IWU starter Luis Ayesa committed a balk as he attempted to pick off the runner at first. That gave the Falcons some life and helped build the drama to come.
Still trailing 10-5 in the ninth inning, the Falcons were just three outs away from seeing their season come to an end. Hernandez, the CAC Player of the Year runner up, belted a leadoff solo home run – his 13th of the season – as the momentum started swinging in favor of the home team. After a strikeout, Catalano walked and freshman Yariel Salinas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) singled through the left-side which both runners would advance a base on an error by the left fielder.
Junior Emanuel Rosado (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) then singled to the third baseman which allowed Catalano to score. However, the throw was late and it got away from the first baseman which allowed Salinas to score and it is now a 10-8 ballgame. Aybar then reached on an another throwing error from the third baseman which put runners at the corners with one out. Junior Miguel Torres (Villalba, Puerto Rico) proceeded to hit a hard ground ball to the right-side where the first baseman was able to knock it down and record the second out despite Rosado scoring as it is now a 10-9 contest.
With two outs and the tying in Aybar at second base, sophomore Coby Johnson (Wells, Maine) hits a ball onto the infield grass that came to a stop between the mound and the plate. His hard 90 down the line gave him the base hit but it was the throwing error from the IWU pitcher that allowed Aybar to score and tie the game at 10. Iowa Wesleyan was able to get a strikeout with the bases loaded to force the extra frames.
The Tigers had an opportunity to take the lead in the 11th. Riley Rankin walked and advanced to second on a ground out back to the mound. With two strikes to Phillip Guerrero, Rankin stole third base. It was a swinging strike three on the hitter and Hernandez's throw to third ended up in shallow left field. An alter Catalano was quickly there backing up the play and his quickness did not allow the runner to score. Junior Yadiel Cuadrado then struck out the next batter to end the threat and the inning.
Aybar led off the fateful 11th as he was hit by a pitch. Torres then placed a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt to put the winning run into scoring position. Johnson proceeded to work a full-count walk and Stellato also worked a walk to load the bases for Hernandez. With the infield in, Hernandez hit an 0-1 offering softly into shallow left field that scored Aybar and capped a thrilling come from behind victory.
Cuadrado was the ultimate unsung hero of the contest. He entered the ballgame in the sixth inning and limited the damage to just three runs before throwing the final five frames. The All-Conference left-hander held the Tigers hitless while striking out seven to earn the win for Fisher.
Senior Angel Alicea (Caguas, Puerto Rico) started on the mound for the Falcons and tossed 4.2 innings surrendering seven runs on seven hits while walking seven and striking out five. Freshman Jan Melendez (Yabucoa, Puerto Rico) came in relief to record two outs as he allowed two runs (zero earned) on two hits and notching two strikeouts before giving way to Cuadrado.
Hernandez finished 5-for-6 from the plate with three RBI to led the offensive effort. Aybar also collected three RBI on his 1-for-3 night and Salinas was 2-for-5 in the victory.
Iowa Wesleyan saw catcher Derek Marrufo go 2-for-5 with two RBI while Rankin and Guerrero each added two hits in the contest. Guerrero and Carlos Vincente also totaled two RBIs apiece.
Ayesa was solid through his six innings of work. The right-hander limited Fisher to just five runs (all earned) on eight hits while striking out six. Ian Clements tossed a clean seventh inning and Tavares Tim had a scoreless eighth before getting into trouble in the ninth. Pedro Ramirez was credited with the loss and a blown save as he went two innings allowing three runs (one earned) on three hits with three walks.
Iowa Wesleyan season comes to an end with an 18-22 overall record and a third-place finish in the 2023 CAC Baseball Championship Tournament.
CAC Tournament – Game Three: #4 Georgia Gwinnett 19, Fisher 1 (Final/7 inn.)
Before the chaos of the night game ensued, the Falcons dropped the winners bracket final to the hosts, #4 Georgia Gwinnett by a 19-1 final in seven innings. The top seeded Grizzlies used an 18-hit attack to improve to 46-5 on the season and earn the conference's first of two automatic qualifying bids to the NAIA Opening Round.
The Fisher offense was only able to muster two hits of the Gwinnett pitching staff. CAC Pitcher of Year, GGC's Cameron Repetti increased his overall record to 11-0 as he tossed five inning of two-hit baseball while striking out eight. Sam Hunt and Andrew Washington finished off the contest as Hunt allowed an unearned run while striking out the side and Washington added a pair of strikeouts in the win.
Junior William Carpenter (Brentwood, N.H.) was credited with the loss after surrendering five runs (four earned) on four hits in 0.1 innings of work. Offensively, Renta and Catalano record base hits while Torres scored the only run.
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Fisher will now take on Georgia Gwinnett at 12pm tomorrow afternoon in the CAC Championship for the third straight year. The Falcons will find out where they will travel to the Opening Round on Thursday during the NAIA Baseball Selection Show. Georgia Gwinnett will be one of the 10 host sites which means the Grizzlies will remain home for the entirety of the Opening Round.