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WICHITA — The El Dorado Broncos keep proving to opponents that their heart
will always bring them through at the end.
It was the Hays Larks who learned that lesson Thursday night in the 75th
National Baseball Congress World Series, not allowing any hits in the first
six innings before the Broncos rallied back for a 5-2 victory and a clear
path to Saturday’s championship night action at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.
It was catcher Chad Carman who was the man in the clutch for the tournament
unbeaten Broncos, knocking in three runs and keeping the El Dorado pitchers
in control when it looked like the Larks were going to pull the upset.
“I know I hadn’t had the tournament I’ve wanted to have, but I just wanted
to make sure I could do whatever I could to help this team win,” Carman
said. “I just went back to the basics to help this team out.”
Carman had been 0-for-6 in the tournament with only one run to his credit;
but the Oklahoma City sophomore had something to do with all five runs El
Dorado needed to earn their chance for their fifth national title.
Carman knocked in one run with a potential groundout that ended up bringing
in a second run when Hays shortstop Sean Wilson threw the ball away, then
hit a two-run single in the eighth inning to rightfield. He also scored the
third run of the seventh inning when Wilson was charged with another
throwing error on a grounder by Dorain Williams.
Although it was probably the biggest game in terms of statistics for Carman
in the tournament, it was far from perfect for his standards, but enough
considering the Broncos (40-9) will play in Saturday’s championship game
against either the Anchorage Glacier Pilots or the Liberal BeeJays.
“I still had two guys who stole on me and two other at-bats where I didn’t
do anything,” Carman said. “We won to make it to the championship. That’s
all that matters to me.”
The Broncos couldn’t get anything going against Hays starting pitcher Eddie
Carl in the first six innings. Carl struck out 12 in not allowing the El
Dorado batters to get a clean hit before Matt Giller hit a double in the
bottom of the seventh inning. That opened the floodgates for the Broncos in
the win.
“We knew we weren’t going to end our season (Thursday night) and unbeaten in
WICHITA — The El Dorado Broncos keep proving to opponents that their heart
will always bring them through at the end.
It was the Hays Larks who learned that lesson Thursday night in the 75th
National Baseball Congress World Series, not allowing any hits in the first
six innings before the Broncos rallied back for a 5-2 victory and a clear
path to Saturday’s championship night action at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.
It was catcher Chad Carman who was the man in the clutch for the tournament
unbeaten Broncos, knocking in three runs and keeping the El Dorado pitchers
in control when it looked like the Larks were going to pull the upset.
“I know I hadn’t had the tournament I’ve wanted to have, but I just wanted
to make sure I could do whatever I could to help this team win,” Carman
said. “I just went back to the basics to help this team out.”
Carman had been 0-for-6 in the tournament with only one run to his credit;
but the Oklahoma City sophomore had something to do with all five runs El
Dorado needed to earn their chance for their fifth national title.
Carman knocked in one run with a potential groundout that ended up bringing
in a second run when Hays shortstop Sean Wilson threw the ball away, then
hit a two-run single in the eighth inning to rightfield. He also scored the
third run of the seventh inning when Wilson was charged with another
throwing error on a grounder by Dorain Williams.
Although it was probably the biggest game in terms of statistics for Carman
in the tournament, it was far from perfect for his standards, but enough
considering the Broncos (40-9) will play in Saturday’s championship game
against either the Anchorage Glacier Pilots or the Liberal BeeJays.
“I still had two guys who stole on me and two other at-bats where I didn’t
do anything,” Carman said. “We won to make it to the championship. That’s
all that matters to me.”
The Broncos couldn’t get anything going against Hays starting pitcher Eddie
Carl in the first six innings. Carl struck out 12 in not allowing the El
Dorado batters to get a clean hit before Matt Giller hit a double in the
bottom of the seventh inning. That opened the floodgates for the Broncos in
the win.
“We knew we weren’t going to end our season (Thursday night) and unbeaten in
this tournament,” said El Dorado winning pitcher Justin Lindsey. “It gets
everybody pumped up. I think we were too pumped up and I think that got to
us early. It took seven innings for us to settle down.”
Lindsey pitched eight innings and gave up seven hits to get his second
victory of the tournament. He said his nerves were a little on edge as well
in the game, but he just stayed calm, even after giving up a fourth inning
home run to Jason Morriss.
“I still have to keep throwing the way I have all summer,” Lindsey said. “I
just have to keep throwing my game and hitting my spots.”
Randal Builliard pitched the ninth inning to pick up his second save of the
tournament. He allowed one hit in his only action of the night.
El Dorado coach Andy Schatzley said the Broncos’ hearts for the game has
been a trait the Broncos have shown all season.
“It’s hands down their best quality,” Schatzley said. “They hang together
and they don’t quit. They’re going to give you nine innings whether they’re
up a bunch or down a bunch.
“It’s just that they’re not going to quit. Regardless of the situation,
they’re going to approach it the same. They’re going to grind hard all the
time.”
