A Little Something Extra
Emporia A-15s jump out to big lead on Wichita, go on to claim 3rd place in home tourney
By Jesse Newell
Monday, June 11, 2007
The third-place trophy had a little extra significance for the Emporia A-15s on Sunday.
Not only did it reward their accomplishment over the weekend — it also gave them a break today.
“I told the guys if they lost, they were getting up and running at 7 a.m. (practice) with the AAAs,” Emporia A-15 coach Dick Evans said with a laugh while holding the trophy, “so this probably means a lot to them.”
The A-15s can rest easy. Their 16-6 victory over the Wichita Braves in the third-place game kept them from extra sprints and also signified how far they’d come since an ugly 12-2 loss to start the Wendy’s Tournament on Friday.
“We came out struggling,” Emporia infielder Adam Ewy said, “but we finally got in a rhythm and played some ball.”
The 15s, who went 2-2 on Saturday and Sunday, saved their best for last, pounding a Wichita team it had lost to the day before.
Emporia jumped out to the early lead, plating five in the top of the first.
With the bases loaded, Ewy started the scoring with an RBI single to left.
“I just wanted to get them in and put the ball in play,” Ewy said. “You’ve got to have confidence.”
Matt Fry followed with a two-run single to right to make it 3-0.
Remington Pinnick’s safety squeeze scored Ewy, and Fry later came around on an error.
The A-15s didn’t let up from there, putting across two more in each of the second and third innings.
Emporia led 10-3 when things started to get sloppy.
In the bottom of the fourth, the A-15s gave away two runs by committing a pair of errors.
It took an infield conference on the mound from Evans and also a pitching change to get through the rocky inning.
“We had a little lapse there,” Evans said, “but we were still pretty solid overall.”
Emporia put it away for good with a six-run sixth, helped by Jacob Loucks’ double and Ethan Hall’s single to start off the inning.
The A-15s were able to patch enough pitchers together to get through the game.
Brett Lechien, Brian Keisler, Fry and Loucks all threw, with none of them staying in longer than 2 2/3 innings.
Ewy paced the offense, going 2-for-4 with two RBI. Loucks added a double, three runs scored, two RBI and two stolen bases.
Wichita also helped Emporia out, walking six and committing 10 errors.
The A-15s had just two errors — with both coming in the fourth inning. Emporia had seven errors in the opening game of the tournament on Friday.
“For a team made up of 14- and 15-year-olds, we’re pretty upbeat right now,” Evans said. “I wouldn’t let them be upbeat after that first game.”
Emporia advanced to Sunday’s action by defeating Gardner-Edgerton, 4-3, on Saturday.
The 15s trailed 3-2 heading into the top of the sixth before making their comeback. Loucks reached on an error, Hall singled and Fry contributed a double to score them.
Nick Hrabik and Keisler both contributed triples in the victory.
The A-15s’ two losses came to Wichita (8-6) on Saturday and Ottawa (3-1) on Sunday.
“We take away a lot of positives from this,” Evans said. “Other than that first game, we really stepped up. Our pitching was good, and our defense made some nice plays.”
The A-15s will play host to Manhattan at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Wendy’s Tournament
Third-Place Game
Sunday at Emporia
Emporia 16, Wichita 6
Emporia A-15s 522 105 X — 16 7 2
Wichita 210 210 X — 6 9 10
W — Matt Fry. L — Greg Smith.
2B — Emporia: Brian Keisler, Jacob Loucks; Wichita: Evan Savage, John Richards. SB — Emporia: Brian Keisler, Jacob Loucks 2, Ethan Hall, Adam Ewy, Matt Fry 2.
Emporia highlights — Adam Ewy 2-4, 2 RBI, R; Matt Fry 1-3, 2 RBI, SB, BB; Brian Keisler 1-4, 2B, 3 RBI, 2R; Jacob Loucks 1-5, 2B, 3R, 2 SB, 2 RBI.
Ottawa 3, Emporia 1
Emporia A-15s 010 000 0 — 1 6 2
Ottawa 120 000 0 — 3 5 2
W — Devore. L — Adam Ewy.
2B — Ottawa: Devore. HR — Ottawa: Hawkins.
Emporia highlights — Adam Ewy 2-3, R; Matt Fry 1-2, BB.
Saturday at Emporia
Emporia 4, Gardner 3
Emporia A-15s 101 002 X — 4 5 1
Gardner-Edgerton 100 020 X — 3 2 1
W — Loucks.
2B — Emporia: Matt Fry; Gardner-Edgerton: Goldsmith. 3B — Emporia: Brian Keisler, Nick Hrabik.
Emporia highlights — Nick Hrabik 1-2, 3B, R. Brian Keisler 1-3, 3B, R; Ethan Hall 1-2, R; Brett Lechien 1-2, sac.
Wichita 8, Emporia 6
Emporia A-15s 011 002 1 — 6 6 1
Wichita 015 001 X — 8 9 2
W — Greg Smith. L — Brian Keisler.
2B — Emporia: Brian Keisler; Wichita: Daniel Lamberger, Andy Schafer. SB — Emporia: Brian Keisler, Jacob Loucks 3, Ethan Hall, Adam Ewy; Wichita: Daniel Piatt, Daniel Lamberger, Andrew Goodman.
Emporia highlights — Jacob Loucks 3-5, 3 SB; Brian Keisler 1-2, 2B, 2R, 2 BB, SB; Ethan Hall 1-3, SB, BB.