Kenai forces Griffons to settle for 3rd in NBC

WICHITA, Kan. -- For the third time in their history, the Nevada Griffons will return home with the third-place trophy from the National Baseball Congress World Series after falling to three-time champion Kenai (Alaska) in the semifinals, 11-6, at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium Friday night.

Kenai took advantage of a pair of Griffon errors to score four unearned runs during a 6-run fourth inning that saw the Peninsula Oilers go up 9-3. Although Nevada scored 3 in the bottom of the inning, the Griffons managed only 3 hits from the fifth inning on and saw their last 9 batters put down in order.

Nevada finishes in the top three for the fourth time, taking second place in 1997 and 1998 and third in 2002. Kenai will face the Santa Barbara (Calif.) Foresters tonight for the championship. The Foresters have not lost during the series and need only to win once. The Oilers must beat Santa Barbara twice.

Play begins tonight at 6 p.m. If Kenai wins that game, the winner-take-all contest will follow at approximately 8:30 p.m.

Kenai put up 3 runs in the top of the first inning in Friday's contest. Lead-off batter Mike Miller ended up on third after hitting a ball deep to left field. Since it hit Gavin Stark's glove before hitting the ground, the official scorer ruled a 2-base error rather than a double.

Miller stole third. Chris Mallory grounded out to second and Patrick Wisdom grounded to third, which allowed Miller to score. Troy Channing drew a walk off Nevada starter Joel Klock and Tanner Rust followed with a 2-run home run to left.

Nevada eventually tied the score. In the bottom of the first, Brad Wilson led off with a double and eventually scored on A.J. Krist's shot back to the mound that glanced off the pitcher's glove.

In the second, Designated hitter Rick Hepworth led off with a single to center and Reed Watson reached on an error. Michael Sostarich bunted the runners over. Then Wilson stroked a game-tying double to center.

Klock couldn't get out of the fourth inning, though his teammates' errors were as much to blame as any of his pitching effort. By the time he was replaced with one out in the inning, he had allowed only 2 earned runs on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2.

Rust led off that inning with a walk. Steven Branca followed with a hit and Ryan McChesney reached on an error to load the bases. Boomer Collins doubles in Rust and Branca. Miller reached on a one-out error that scored McChesney and Collins. Mallory followed with a triple to score Miller. Wisdom's sacrifice fly plated Mallory to make it 9-3.

Nevada cut that deficit down in the bottom of the fourth. Sostarich led off with a single and Wilson drew a walk. Austin Williams grounded back to the pitcher, who threw wildly trying to get Wilson at second. Josh Samuelson singled in Sostarich. Krist grounded to the second baseman, who tossed to the shortstop for the force at second. But his throw to first went wild, allowing both Wilson and Williams to score.

Neither team was able to string anything together until the seventh inning. Channing led off that inning but then play was suspended while a thunderstorm passed through the area. When play resumed, Rust and Branca both singled, which forced head coach Ryan Mansfield to bring in Chris Fitzpatrick to pitch.

Fitzpatrick got McChesney to fly out to left, too short to allow a runner to score. Then he got a fielder's choice with Channing thrown out at home and a fly ball to center to get out of the inning.

However, Fitzpatrick walked the first two batters in the top of the eighth. Zach Juliano was brought in and induced a pop up for the first out, then got an inning-ending double play when Sostarich caught a fly ball in right and gunned Miller out at the plate.

Rust and Branca drew back-to-back walks leading off the ninth. Juliano struck out McChesney and Collins but then allowed back-to-back RBI singled to Nate Ring and Miller, giving the Oilers a pair of insurance runs.

Nevada missed a chance in the sixth inning when Williams was gunned out trying to turn a lead-off double into a triple and then another in the seventh when Stark was stranded at third after a lead-off single.

Stark was 3 for 5 at the plate for Nevada. Sostarich, starting just his second game since joining the Griffons, was 2 for 3 while Wilson went 2 for 4.

Rust went 3 for 3 for Kenai, which had 11 hits off five Griffon pitchers. Mallory and Ring each went 2 for 5 while Branca was 2 for 4.

Santa Barbara goes into tonight's finals looking for its second NBC title, winning its first in 2006. Kenai seeks its fourth crown (1977, '93, '94).

---

GRIFFONS BOX

Kenai........ 300 600 002 -- 11 13 3

Nevada...... 120 300 000 -- 6 11 3

E -- Wisdom, Sales, Miller, Stark, Klock, Williams. DP -- Nevada 3 (Wilson and Watson; Davis and Williams; Sostarich and Davis).

LOB -- Kenai 9, Nevada 8. 2B -- Collins, Wilson 2, Williams. 3B -- Mallory. HR -- Rust (1st inn., off Kock, 1 on, 2 out). SB -- Miller 4. CS -- Rust. S -- Sostarich. SF -- Wisdom.

WP -- Griset.

T -- 3:03.