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Eichberger masterful in relief
May 29, 2008
Starting pitcher Mitch Wiley was able to keep the aggressive St. X batters off stride throwing a knuckle ball and an Eephus pitch (resembles a high arching softball style pitch) along with a 65 MPH fastball. CAL scored all the runs they needed in the 2nd inning.
Merritt Mowery
led off with a walk; Neal Straton laid down a sacrifice bunt advancing Mowery to 2nd. Tim Anderson had an RBI single driving in Mowery. Addison Hobbs doubled in Anderson. Davis Rhodes singled; Chris Kinney had an RBI single; Travis Shutt followed with a single; Nick Jackson delivered a 2-run double and Andy Wood finished the 2nd inning off with an RBI single to give CAL a huge 6-0 lead. Wiley now pitching with a big lead was able to settle down and continued to keep the Tigers off stride until the 4th inning when St. X cut into the CAL lead scoring 2 runs.In the 5th inning two consecutive singles by St. X chased Wiley and Mike Eichberger came in from the bullpen in relief. St. X scored twice in the 5th but both runs were charged to Wiley. Eichberger was on striking out two Tigers to prevent ST. X from a big inning. Reminiscent of the Trinity game, pitching now dominated the balance of the game. In the 6th inning with a huge crowd cheering CAL on Eichberger got three consecutive ground ball outs. In the 7th inning St. X’s leadoff batter walked. He was thrown out at 2nd base by Andy Wood on a fielder’s choice play to record the first out in the inning. With the fan base cheering on every pitch CAL concluded its miracle run on a Shutt to Rhodes to Hobbs double play. Final score CAL 6 St. X 4. The CAL fans were exuberant. They were there to witness a first in CAL baseball. CAL won Region Seven!
