May 13, 2009

Tigers claw all the way back, qualify for JUCO World Series

Tiger magic! Defeating Seward County 6-3 Wednesday night in the Region VI title game at Wichita’s Lawrence Dumont Stadium, the No. 15-ranked Cowley College baseball team won its fifth game in three days and qualified for the JUCO World Series for the second time in the past three years.

“This is for every player that ever played here,” Cowley head coach Dave Burroughs said. “Everybody on the club kept fighting, it’s a special group.”

Sophomore Stephen Kohlscheen (9-2) came back from a rough outing in a loss to Seward on Sunday to give the Tigers a strong outing on the mound. Kohlscheen pitched into the seventh before leaving after allowing an infield single to Kelby Tomlinson. On the play, Kohlscheen tried to bare hand a grounder up the middle. Kohlscheen allowed six hits and two runs, while striking out four and walking none.

“I tried to forget about my last outing because this was for all the marbles,” Kohlscheen said. “This is awesome.”

Cowley scored all of its runs in the bottom of the fourth inning as they struck for six hits and six runs. After being held to two hits in the first three innings, Cowley got three straight hits, the last of which by Andy Petz scored Colt Loehrs to tie the game at 1-1. Following back-to-back singles by Luke Zeller and Ronald Melendez to load the bases, the Saints’ Bobby Doran walked Chance Ross to score Petz from third and give Cowley a 2-1 lead.

Freshman second baseman B.J. Misialek then delivered a two-run single to increase the lead to 4-1 before a fielding error and a single by  Loehrs scored two more runs and capped the six-run inning.

Misialek went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in and finished 12-for-28 with seven RBI in the seven games at the Region VI Tournament.

“I have played in the state finals in high school and it was nothing compared to this,” Misialek said. “This feels incredible.”

Alex Schell relieved Kohlscheen on the mound and allowed a pair of runs to score in the sixth before getting out of the inning. Schell was charged with only one of the runs in the sixth and finished off the game by pitching the final three innings. For the tournament, Schell allowed only one run in 12 innings.

With two runners on and two outs in the ninth inning, Seward’s David Cruz grounded into a game-ending double play and the Tiger players stormed the field in celebration. Cowley, 47-13 on the season, will now prepare for the JUCO World Series May 23-30 in Grand Junction, Co.

Seward County starting pitcher Bobby Doran allowed nine hits and six runs in five innings pitched. Corey Collins relieved Doran after a leadoff triple by Luke Zeller to start the bottom of the sixth. Collins retired the next three batters, stranding Zeller at third, and did not allow a hit in three innings of relief. Zeller finished 3-for-3 with a single, double, and triple batting out of the ninth spot in the Tiger lineup.

Seward County finishes the season with a record of 37-22.

The Tigers will now set their sights on doing well at the JUCO World Series.

“We are going to enjoy this for a couple of days,” Burroughs said. “The big thing is I want us to go there and represent the region in a good fashion.”