Havasu Heat subdue Griffons in rain delayed NBC World Series elimination game

After a nearly 12-hour rain delay, the Nevada Griffons were finally able to get their contest against the 50-2 Havasu, Ariz., Heat under way on a cool, gloomy Sunday morning.

Havasu left fielder Eric Williams led off the game with a base hit through the left side of the infield that was stopped on an outstanding play by Tommy Fitzgerald to keep the ball in the infield. Williams went on to steal second and came around to score after the game's first error by Korby Mintken at second base and a base hit by Cody Neer.

The Griffons were able to get out of the inning with no further damage after a double play and a lazy fly ball to center ended the top of the first.

Nevada represented the home team in the contest, and were able to get their lead-off man on in the bottom of the first with some help from Havasu starter Derrick Miramontes when he hit Taylor House with the 1-2 pitch. House advanced to third on a base hit Mintken.

After a throwing error, the Griffons had runners on second and third with one out. Dan Ward's sacrifice fly to left brought home the Griffons' only run of the inning, knotting the game up at 1-1 going into the second.

Nevada starter Brent Lamaster recorded his first strikeout of the game in the top of the second, on his way to putting the Heat down in order. Miramontes settled down in the home half of the frame, following Lamaster's example and putting the Griffons down in order.

Lamaster added two more strikeouts to his total in the top of the third and kept the Heat off the board once again, despite allowing two more hits and loading the bases with two out.

Miramontes recorded his first strikeout of the game in the home half of the frame and was able to follow Lamaster's example again, keeping Nevada off the scoreboard. After three full innings of play, the score remained knotted up at 1-1.

Lamaster added yet another strikeout to his total -- bringing it to four in the game -- when he took down Dean McDermond on just three pitches in the top of the fourth. Nevada went on to allow two runs on two hits with a walk in the inning, taking a 3-1 deficit to the bottom of the fourth.

Miramontes' control began to fade in the home half of the frame as he gave up a hit and a walk. The Griffons were unable to capitalize, though, keeping the score steady at 3-1.

Lamaster allowed two hits in just three pitches in the top of the fifth before his outing came to a close. After Nick Phillips came on to pitch in relief, he put Havasu down on three strikeouts without any damage, despite walking Jon Yerby to load the bases with nobody out.

Miramontes hit Griffons catcher Daniel Dellasega on the very first pitch of the bottom of the fifth inning in what appeared to be the beginning of the end for the Havasu starter. He was able to get out of the inning, but not before allowing Nevada to cut the lead in half, making it 3-2 going into the sixth.

Nevada looked to get out of the top of the sixth facing the minimum when Eric Williams was caught trying to steal second base for the second out of the inning, but a dropped fly ball in left gave the Heat a two-out base runner. But Trevor Geist made up for the miscue by catching a foul ball near the Havasu dugout for the final out of the inning.

Miramontes came on to pitch the home half and after walking Geist to lead off the inning, seemed to regain his control. The Griffons went down without a run when Geist was caught stealing, keeping the score at 3-2.

Phillips stayed strong in the seventh, putting the Heat down in order and keeping the Griffons within striking distance. Havasu reliever Chris Cappo struggled a bit in the seventh but, despite giving up a hit and his defense committing an error behind him, was able to keep the Griffons off the board.

The light mist that had been falling all game long was starting to take its toll on the playing surface in the eighth, making the dirt on the mound and around the bases damp and tacky. "Yeah, it was getting pretty sticky out there," hitting coach Ryan Mansfield said of the playing conditions.

Phillips' dominance continued through the first part of the frame, but he seemed to struggle a bit late in the inning, allowing a hit and a walk before taking the game into the bottom half of the eighth with no further damage.

Trevor Geist got the offense going in the home half of the eighth with a double off the wall in the left field corner. Havasu reliever Matt Coburn recovered quickly and after giving up a walk, got an inning-ending double play to take the game into the ninth without allowing a run.

Phillips stayed on to pitch the ninth and his strong performance continued, putting the Heat down in order for the second time in his outing.

After Coburn allowed a walk to Daniel Dellasega with one out in the bottom of the ninth, the Heat brought in a new pitcher, Nate Russ, to close out the game. Russ retired the only two batters he faced, stranding the runner and handing Nevada a 3-2 loss --their second loss in as many games -- and eliminating them from the NBC World Series.

After the game, Griffons players could be seen walking out of the stadium, obviously disappointed at being eliminated from the tournament, but still with heads held high. Team manager John Hill III said that he was very proud of his entire team and the performance they gave in the game.

"The thing is, that's just baseball," Hill said of the loss.

Hill also stressed that the team played very well but was simply up against quality competition and "just got beat."