Bradley Cardiac Bears Stun Riverdale, 4-2, And Roar Into State Baseball Title Game

Giovengo Provides Spark In Victory Despite Being Held To One Hit Again

  • Thursday, May 23, 2019
  • Larry Fleming

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – There is something about one-hitters and scoring in the sixth inning when Bradley Central and Riverdale play in the Class 3A state baseball tournament.

Twice the Warriors held the Bears to one hit.

Bradley Central twice scored multiple runs in the sixth.

Almost miraculously, the Bears won both games.

Scoring twice in the sixth on a wild pitch and a throwing error, Bradley knocked off the Warriors, 4-3, Thursday at Jack Jolly Stadium on the Oakland High School campus and Ryan Giovengo, a seldom-used reliever, was able to close the door as the Bears advanced to their first state championship game in 25 years.

Riverdale was left scratching their heads.

“That’s tough on Riverdale and I know it hurts when you lose two ballgames like that,” Bears coach Travis Adams, who was the starting shortstop on the Bears’ last – and only – title team in 1994 and his father, Joe, was a coach on that squad. “That’s baseball, it’s a crazy game.”

In the tourney opener on Tuesday, the Bears scored two runs in the sixth on a Jake Thompson double – their lone hit – and a Warrior error to win 2-1. Catcher Riley Black collected a first-inning single in Thursday’s game and that was it.

Amazingly, Bradley broke a 3-all tie with three runs in the sixth and beat Independence, 6-3, in its other state tourney game.

“It’s about good coaching and making the right calls, having good base running and just playing smart baseball all around,” said the jubilant Giovengo.

Adams added, “If you look back, we were in an elimination game in the district tournament and came out of there. It’s how crazy this game really is. Momentum is a big thing and the kids believe in the and everything that goes into it can become a big thing.”

The Bears (25-14) will take on powerful Farragut (41-3) in Friday’s state championship game at 5 p.m. CDT at Reese Smith Jr. Field on the Middle Tennessee State University campus.

The Bears have won six straight games and seven of their last eight. The Admirals, who routed Independence, 17-2, Thursday, have won 35 of their last 36 with the only blemish a 5-2 Region 2-3A title game loss to Hardin Valley.

Riverdale took a quick 2-0 lead in the first and Bradley tied the game in the fourth. Both teams stranded a pair of runners in the fifth.

Adams brought closer Jake Prock in to start the fifth and he promptly walked Joey Mitchell and Jay Shirala. Bears pitching coach Matt Day walked to the mound, carrying a scuffed ball.

Approaching the mound, Day tossed the ball to Giovengo, who had been playing third base. He played catch with shortstop Ashton Simmons.

Day walked back to the dugout.

Adams then went to the mound and called for Giovengo to make just his third relief appearance of the season – he made six starts and thrown 18 1/3 innings and given up 17 runs, 12 of which were earned, and his ERA was 5.89.

“Ryan probably hadn’t pitched in six weeks,” said Tanner Thompson, another assistant and team statistician.

What options did Adams have?

“We were going over strategy and thinking about all the situations of a game: are we down? If we fall behind here, we would have another game to go,” the coach said. “It’s a tough call but the cupboard wasn’t totally bare. We were warming up some guys knowing we might have to save somebody for the next game.”

So, Adams went with Giovengo.

Brett Dingess greeted him with a sacrifice bunt, moving runners to second and third, and Paxton Hughes walked to load the bases.

Six-foot-11 first baseman Brayden Siren hit a grounder to Dylan Standifer at third (he had been the designated hitter up to that point), he looked toward home, quickly changed his mind and tagged out Hughes and fired a throw to first to complete a double play and end the threat.

“It wasn’t my first game pitching, but it was the fist time I used the sidearm motion,” Giovengo said. “I did that for more movement on my pitches and really felt good.”

In Bradley’s sixth, fans probably knew to expect some fireworks because of the previous two games.

Giovengo was involved right away, drawing a walk to start the inning. Riverdale pitcher Benjamin Wilson struck out Tucker Still and Freddy Johnson. Logan Weeks walked and Simmons was hit by a pitch.

Riverdale coach Barry Messer called for reliever Tanner Cunningham and Wilson returned to his normal position behind the plate.

Cunningham uncorked a wild pitch and Giovengo went across home plate with a head-first slide. Wilson retrieved the ball and threw it into left field, allowing Weeks scored an insurance run on the error. Standifer flied out to end the inning.

“That’s the way you draw it up, huh,” Adams said. “We couldn’t get a big two-out hit with runners on but were able to do just enough to create something.”

That paved the way for the Riverdale seventh.

Johnny Powers started things off with a single to left. Brantley Bamberg’s grounder forced Powers at second. Blake Merwin followed with a towering shot to left that hit just feel from the outfield fence and Bamberg stopped at third.

“I wasn’t scared,” Giovengo said.

Wilson’s sacrifice fly to left pulled the Warriors to within 4-3.

Needing one more out, the Bears’ hurler induced Mitchell to ground a ball toward second baseman Johnson. Drifting slightly to his left, Johnson gloved the ball and threw to Thompson at first for the final out.

“When I saw the ball going to Freddy I knew the game was over,” Giovengo said. “Nobody thought we’d make it this far.”

Did Giovengo believe the Bears could make it?

“No,” he said, a smile popping up on his face.

After pausing a few seconds, he said, “Yeah I knew we’d get here.”

Thompson, the Bears’ No. 3 pitcher behind Black and Standifer, had a rough start. He hit Shiarla and Dingess smacked a run-scoring double to left. Thompson fanned Hughes and Siren and Powers singled to left to drive in the second run. Bamberg’s high blooper in shallow right-center went off the glove of Caden Sherlin and Thompson hit Merwin.

Wilson struck out to end the inning.

“I couldn’t find my curve in the first,” Thompson said. “The curve is one of my best pitches. A lot of hitters go up there expecting the fastball and I like to show them the curve and catch them off-guard.”

In short order, the Bears’ attention will shift to Farragut, a nine-time champion making it’s 19th appearance at state. They last won it all in 2014.

“I’m proud of this team and their fight,” Adams said. “Tomorrow is tomorrow and we’ll take care of it. It resets to one game and we want to control what we did. It’s an exciting time, we’re there and have to get it done.”

Linescore

Bradley Central     000 202 0 – 4 1 0

Riverdale               200 000 0 – 2 7 4

Thompson, Prock (6), Giovengo (6) and Black; Wilson, Cunningham (6) and Baker, Wilson (6).

(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)

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