Everyone should have known better. The Spartans struggled through the middle part of the season, and weren't even in the regional picture in the first regional rankings released. But everyone should have known better. Tampa went on the run that Tampa is known for going on, all the way to an undefeated national finals tournament and their second national title in three years.
Saturday, May 30th (Elimination Game for Catawba)
Tampa - 3
Catawba - 1
Box Score
The story all week of the national finals tournament was the Tampa pitching staff. The Spartans' staff entered the tournament with a team ERA north of 4.20, no pitcher putting up "ace"-type numbers, and one of their top starting pitchers lost towards the end of the season due to injury.
Admittedly, the team ERA can be explained by just mentioning that Tampa plays in what has proved yet again to be the top Division II baseball conference in the country, the Sunshine State Conference. Coming in to Cary, there were a lot of potent offenses heading to the USA Baseball National Training Complex, and out of all the absurd pitching numbers that each team had, Tampa was the least likely to do what needed to be done, but here they are raising the trophy again. Experience is the great equalizer, and it proved to be once again at this year's tournament.
Catawba, appearing in their first national championship series in school history, actually got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the third after a Dylan Richardson RBI double that scored Luke Setzer.
Unfortunately for the Indians, Michael Calkins on the mound wasn't going to allow much more than that.
As Calkins began rolling, the Tampa offense woke up. In the bottom of the fourth, Stephen Dezzi hit a one-out single and moved to second as Cody deNoyelles walked. The winning run was then delivered off the bat of Nick Tindall, who tripled in to the right field corner with two outs to put the Spartans up 2-1.
That would be all Calkins needed, as he retired 19 of the final 20 Catawba batters he faced following the Richardson double. Tampa would add an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh on a Casey Scoggins RBI single to score Brett Jones and make it 3-1.
Calkins (6-4), who would be named the national finals tournament MOP, threw a Maddux, needing only 97 pitches to throw a four-hit complete game, with only that one run and one walk with four strikeouts.
Tindall's big hit capped a 1-for-3, two-RBI game, while Dezzi was the only Tampa hitter with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. For Catawba, Richardson's 2-for-4, one-RBI game was the highlight of the offense.
Tampa's title caps their 43-13 season, while Catawba ends the year at 47-15 overall.
As noted earlier, the story of the tournament was Tampa's starting pitching staff. Overall, the entire staff in the tournament went 4-0, with an ERA of 2.00 and only 22 hits allowed in 37 innings with 26 strikeouts and 9 walks. An unreal performance.
A few of my own personal thoughts on the last few days of the tournament: I was a little surprised that Catawba didn't press Craig Brooks in to duty as a starting pitcher at least for this game. It was said over the telecast that they didn't want to stress his arm with the MLB Draft upcoming. I admire the thoughtfulness, but it seems like an interesting decision. Sean Grant is a worthy pitcher, but Brooks is arguably the best pitcher in the country. Who knows what would have happened in a second game if Brooks was able to lead Catawba to victory in the first game, but getting to that winner-take-all game, anything can happen. Additionally, with all due respect to Catawba, it would have been quite a sight to see if Pomona's Ponce and Olson could have contained the Tampa offense for two straight games on championship day.
After the game, the official all-tournament team was released as follows:
Michael Calkins (SP) - Tampa (Most Outstanding Player)
Giovanny Alfonzo (SS) - Tampa
Craig Brooks (3B/P) - Catawba
Stephen Dezzi (OF) - Tampa
Kyle Garlick (OF) - Cal Poly Pomona
Hunter Mayall (1B) - Henderson State
Mike Philp (1B) - Cal Poly Pomona
Dylan Richardson (SS) - Catawba
Casey Scoggins (OF) - Tampa
Chase Sparkman (SP) - Tampa
Nick Tindall (C) - Tampa
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