(Game 1 Stats) (Game 2 Stats) Goshen, IN — It was the kind of rarity in sport that left literally everyone at the Goshen College Baseball Complex — fans, players, coaches and umpires alike — standing around, unsure of what had just happened.
In the end, it was a play that literally sucked the life out of what otherwise was a tremendous effort from Leafs’ head coach Josh Keister’s squad.
Facing Taylor University in a Mid-Central Conference double-header on a gorgeous Thursday afternoon, Goshen (9-29, 4-12) had battled back to force a 2-2 tie in the day’s second contest after falling by a 1-4 score in the first. With no outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, it appeared all but certain that the Leafs would — somehow — bring home the winning run to capture a needed conference decision.
And that was when it happened.
Junior Ian Swartz hit a fluttering ball directly at Taylor first baseman Ricky Pease.
Appropriately, Goshen’s base runners took two steps off their respective bags, and then retreated to safety.
But Pease then dropped the ball.
Thinking on his feet, Pease threw to home plate, causing a force out. Upon the instruction of Taylor head coach Kyle Gould, a relay throw was made to third. After Trojan third baseman Michael Kraynak glanced around and received further instruction from Gould, a throw was made to second base.
Confused, the Goshen base runners remained on their original bases.
The umpires made no call.
After lengthy deliberation — at one point both a Taylor batter and a Goshen player stood near home plate waiting to hit — a triple play was ruled, ending the inning in the most stunning of fashions.
That call from the officials did not sit well with Keister or the Leafs’ faithful, however, as questions surfaced immediately as to why the infield fly rule was ignored.
“Ian hit a soft, looping line drive that (Taylor’s) first baseman caught and dropped,” Keister said afterward. “With no clear signal from the umpire and inexplicably no infield fly (rule) called, the result was a triple play getting Taylor out of the inning. A ball that is hit that softly needs to be called an infield fly to prevent what happened from happening. I was extremely disappointed that the call was not made.”
Goshen fans — irate with the umpires’ decision — attempted to spur on the Leafs in later innings, as Taylor and Goshen traded scoreless stanzas until the top of the 11th, where Taylor took a lead-off walk and assembled a powerful five-run push. Deflated, Keister’s squad went three up, three down in the bottom half of the inning, dropping a 2-7, 11 inning contest in the most heartbreaking of ways.
“It seems like we have been in a lot of situations similar to today where something ends up costing us when we have played well enough to win,” Keister said. “It’s frustrating to have this happen and not get the results we want but we are playing good baseball with an extremely young team. We will continue to keep working with the hope that sooner rather than later, these close calls will go in our favor.”
The Game 2, triple-play debacle capped a stellar defensive afternoon from the visitors, as Taylor turned a remarkable six double plays to take the day’s first contest in a 4-1 score. Ian Swartz (0-2) went the distance on the mound with a solid pitching effort (six hits allowed, three earned runs, one strikeout and two walks) but Taylor’s defense was simply too much. The squads fought to a 0-0 tie through four complete innings before the Trojans scored one run in the fifth and sixth and added two in the seventh.
Goshen scored its run in the bottom of the sixth inning, cutting the Taylor lead to 2-1 after an RBI single from Ian Swartz. With just one out and runners on first and second, senior Nate Colclasure grounded into the Leafs’ fifth double play of the contest, preventing Goshen from tying or possibly taking the lead in the game.
“We got a great pitching performance from Ian Swartz in the first game, taking us into the seventh inning with a 2-1 game at hand,” Keister said. “We hit into six double plays which really cost us. Several of them were ground balls that were hit hard but right at people. If a couple of those get through it’s a whole different ball game. You do have to give Taylor credit for turning them though.”
Ian Swartz helped his pitching cause with a 2-3 effort at the plate, driving in Goshen’s only run of the game. Freshman Sean Sears finished 2-3, while classmate Aaron Coy knocked the game’s only extra-base hit — a double — in a 1-3 effort. Junior Mike Malott and freshman Zach Miller each went 1-3.
Senior Dann Hunt started on the mound for Keister’s team in the day’s second game, allowing four hits and striking out three in five complete innings of work. Taylor tacked on solo runs in both the first and second innings, but Goshen responded with a two-run third to tie the game at 2-2. In that inning it was again Ian Swartz — this time playing the rightfield position — driving home Malott on a double. A follow-up single from Colclasure drove in Ian Swartz, and again the MCC rivals were in a heated contest.
Things remained the same through the next three and a half innings, until the aforementioned triple play in the bottom half of the seventh.
Junior Darren Tronovich opened the inning with a single, which was followed by a full-count, double from sophomore Kyle Koch. With runners on second and third, Taylor elected to intentionally walk Malott, setting up what would become one of the more controversial plays at the Goshen College Baseball Complex in recent history.
Following the triple play, Keister was heard citing to umpires that the infield fly rule is “there to protect us,” an obvious referral to what appeared to be an unfair advantage gained by Taylor on Swartz’s hit directly to Pease.
Despite the momentum-killing nature of that play, Goshen still had its chances. After a single from Tronovich with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Koch nearly ended things with a blast to the warning track in deep left field. Taylor leftfielder Litwiller made an incredible, over the shoulder catch, however, keeping the game alive.
Keister’s squad again put two runners on in the bottom of the 10th inning with just one out, but could not generate the hits to push scores across.
Ian Swartz again had a nice game offensively, going 1-3 with a run scored and an RBI off his third-inning double. Koch finished 3-4 at the plate with a double as well, while Colclasure went 2-5 with an RBI. Tronovich finished 2-5 at the plate, while Sears put up a 1-5 performance.
The losses were especially detrimental to Goshen’s post-season chances, as the Leafs now sit two games behind the University of St. Francis for the final position in the six-team, MCC Playoffs that begin in exactly two weeks.
“We need some help and we’ve also got to win some of our remaining MCC games to have a chance at the tournament now,” Keister said. “I wouldn’t rule us out just yet as we have been playing good baseball. Regardless, the future is very bright as our young players are just beginning to scrape the surface of what they can accomplish.”
Goshen will next take a brief break from MCC play, as the team will travel to perennial power Indiana Tech on Saturday for a double-header. Game time for the first contest is slated for 1 p.m.
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Junior Ian Swartz