Riemer Hurls Two-Hitter, Shuford Homers In 6-3 Victory
by John Hunt
posted May 21, 2008
) Photo by Eddie Davis Baylor's Chase Riemer delivers a pitch. |
Such was the case here at Battle Ground Academy on Wednesday afternoon with Baylor facing Christian Brothers in the winners bracket of the 2008 BlueCross Spring Fling DII-AA baseball tournament.
The Purple Wave had defeated BGA by 11-1 in five innings on Tuesday and have one of the best-hitting teams in the tournament, but that didn’t seem to faze the Baylor junior either.
All Riemer did was toss a complete-game two-hitter as the Red Raiders defeated the defending state champions from Memphis by a 6-3 final.
“I’m excited as we just beat a very good baseball team,” Riemer said after improving to 8-0 for the 33-6 Baylor squad.
“We came up big with our bats after those two errors, but I wasn’t concerned about how many hits they got. We just wanted to win the game and that was all that mattered. I like the pressure of pitching in big games,” he continued.
Riemer retired the first two in the seventh before walking leadoff man Drew Martinez for the second time.
That second walk earned a visit from Baylor coach Gene Etter.
“Coach just told me to settle down and throw strikes. I had great defense behind me today, including great plays by James (Feher) and Issac (Edmonds) in the seventh,” Riemer added.
Riemer quickly retired the first two hitters in the third before walking the next two, including Michael Blanchard and Martinez.
Zac Mitchell then ripped a shot at first, which was booted by Tyler Massey for Baylor’s first error.
Massey’s relay to second was wide as the two CBHS runners scored.
Baylor regained the lead for good in the third when catcher Andy Shuford ripped his 13th homer of the season, a towering shot down the line in left that scored Dylan Craig and Massey.
Baylor’s final run came in the sixth when Zeth Stone led off with a single and scored on a double by Will Stansell.
Christian Brothers scored for the third time in the fifth. Martinez ripped a double to left for its first hit and he scored on a triple to the gap in right-center by Mitchell.
Baylor’s Etter was quick to praise the effort of his junior right-hander.
“Chase continued his outstanding pitching for us today,'' he said.
"This is the third straight game he’s pitched in a pressure situation and he came through again. That was one key to our win.
“The other was Andy Shuford’s homer in the fifth. Most of the time when a ball is hit that high, the wind will carry it, but it didn’t seem to affect it one bit.
"It was such a towering shot that when it came down, it was a vertical drop and clearly a fair ball. That was also huge,” the coach added.
Christian Brothers coach Buster Kelso wasn’t the least bit happy about the outcome or the way his team played.
“There’s nobody in the state that’s worked harder than you guys, but if we can’t hit any better than that in our next game, we’ll go home tonight,” he told his team following the game.
“We’ve had our backs to the wall before, so we’ll have to do it again, but it’s a disgrace for them to be over there celebrating like that,” he added while pointing toward the Baylor side of the field where players, coaches, parents and other fans were enjoying themselves.
Riemer was the winner as he went the distance, allowing two hits and one earned run. He allowed four walks and finished with seven strikeouts.
Christian Brothers’ Steven Thompson was the loser and he too went the distance, allowing 10 hits and three walks while striking out one.
Baylor finished with at least one hit in each of the first six innings.
Stone led the way with three while Stansell had a pair. Shuford only had one, but he was the star with three runs batted in.
Christian Brothers played Brentwood Academy in the losers bracket final Wednesday night and lost, 14-4.
Brentwood Academy will face Baylor on Thursday at Lipscomb University at 1 p.m. eastern with the state championship on the line.
If Baylor wins, it’s all over.
If Baylor loses, a second game would follow later in the afternoon.
The D-II A game will be kicking things off at 11 eastern with Baylor’s game to follow.
Baylor has won two state titles in baseball, the last time in 2006.
OFFICIAL BOXSCORE
Baylor School 6 (33-6) Christian Brothers 3 (35-9)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
Dylan Craig cf............. 4 1 1 0 Drew Martinez lf........... 2 2 1 0
Tyler Massey 1b............ 1 1 1 0 Zac Mitchell 2b............ 4 0 1 1
Andy Shuford c............. 3 1 1 3 Wayne Hawkins rf........... 2 0 0 0
Tyler Baker pr............ 0 0 0 0 Drew Smith rf............. 1 0 0 0
Isaac Edmonds 2b........... 4 1 1 0 Dalton Martinez ss......... 2 0 0 0
Zeth Stone ss.............. 3 2 3 1 Miles Parma dh............. 2 0 0 0
Will Stansell dh........... 3 0 2 2 Caleb Flexsenhar c......... 2 0 0 0
Nic Baker lf............... 2 0 0 0 Nick Tilton ph............ 0 0 0 0
James Feher 3b............. 3 0 1 0 Matt Pinkston pr.......... 0 0 0 0
Chase Riemer p............. 3 0 0 0 Matt Perry 1b.............. 2 0 0 0
Dylan Prater rf............ 0 0 0 0 Fallon Maness ph.......... 1 0 0 0
Troy Mannino 1b........... 0 0 0 0
Blake Allen 3b............. 3 0 0 0
Michael Blanchard cf....... 2 1 0 0
Steven Thompson p.......... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 26 6 10 6 Totals..................... 23 3 2 1
Score by Innings R H E
Baylor School....... 020 031 0 - 6 10 2
Christian Brothers.. 002 010 0 - 3 2 0
E - Massey 2. DP - Purple Wave 3. LOB - Red Raiders 4; Purple Wave 5. 2B - Edmonds;
Stone; Stansell; Dr. Martinez. 3B - Mitchell. HR - An. Shuford. HBP - An. Shuford;
Tilton. SH - N. Baker; Parma. SB - Craig 2; Stone; Blanchard.
Baylor School IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
Chase Riemer W............ 7.0 2 3 1 4 7 0 0 1 0 23 29 4 10
Christian Brothers IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
Steven Thompson L......... 7.0 10 6 6 3 1 2 0 1 0 26 31 4 12
WP - Thompson 2. HBP - by Thompson (An. Shuford); by Riemer (Tilton).
Strikeouts - An. Shuford; Hawkins; Da. Martinez 2; Flexsenhar; Perry 2; Maness.
Walks - Massey 3; Dr. Martinez 2; Da. Martinez; Blanchard.
Umpires -
Start: 1:00 Time: 2:17 Attendance:
(Email John Hunt at tnmoose2002@aol.com)
| Dining Out | Business | Movies | Focus | About Us |
| Church | Living Well | Memories | Outdoors | Real Estate | Student Scene | Travel |