Griffons dust Dusters 7-6 in 12th inning

By Ralph Pokorny

Nevada Herald

The Nevada Griffons should have won last night's baseball game in the ninth inning, but someone forgot to tell that to the Elkhart Dusters before they scored five runs in the top of ninth tying the game at 6-6 and sending it into extra innings. The Griffons won it 7-6 in the 12th inning.

"I'll take a win any way I can get," Griffons head coach Jeff Wells said after the game.

The good news is that Griffons showed that they can come back and win against a good team; the bad news is that they will be without the services of Quinn Vinze's bat for the next two or three weeks while he recovers from a pulled tendon in his arm. Vinze currently leads Griffons batters in home runs with five and in RBIs with 21.

The Dusters jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning then the Griffons tied it at 1-1 in the second and added more runs in the fifth inning when Trevor Helms got two RBIs with his first home run of the summer. In the sixth inning Nick Shay joined the home run club with a two-run homer.

In the eighth inning Jeff Hiestand walked and moved to second on a single by Zach Harris and then stole third. Nick Shay reached first on a fielders choice which threw Harris out at second, letting Hiestand cross home giving the Griffons a lead of 6-1 when the Dusters came to bat in the ninth.

After eight innings on the mound, Mark Fernandez was starting to struggle and the Dusters took advantage of it. An error by Nick Shay at third base and three singles gave the Dusters their second run. A double by pinch hitter Andrew Leal scored two more runs cutting the Griffons lead to 6-4 with no outs when Hurston Pittman came into the game to close it out.

The Dusters centerfielder, Mike Dunn, hit a single to left center sending Colt Crawford home for run number 5 and moving Tim Smid on to third. William Wylie, a sophomore from Garden City Community College grounded out to third moving Dunn to second base. Kade Boyer hit a sacrifice fly to the Griffons centerfielder, Elliott Roberts who‚s throw to home arrived about the same time as Tim Smid who was called safe by the home plate umpire tying the game 6-6.

The Dusters first base coach, thinking Smid had been called out in a close play, argued the call with the umpire and was ejected from the game -- earning a one game suspension and leaving everyone confused for a few minutes as to what had actually happened and who was ejected.

Neither team threatened to score until the bottom of the 11th when Ryan Bowerman grounded out to third and Ted Wilkie walked then stole second when Korey Drew hit a fly to the left fielder for the second out. Wilkie went to third on a throwing error by the Dusters catcher. Elliot Roberts struck out swinging, leaving Wilkie on third.

The Dusters lead-off batter in the 12th inning, Kade Boyer, hit a double to right field and was picked off in a run-down between second and third bases. Murray Gilbertson flied out to center field and Jake Stover flied to left field.

The Griffons second baseman, Trevor Helms, walked and then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher by Mickey Nichol. Jake Hiestand walked and was replaced on base by pinch runner Jon Vaughn. Zach Harris reached first base on a fielder choice throwing Vaughn out at second and advancing Helms to third. An RBI single by Nick Shay sent Helms across home ending the game 7-6.