GRAND JUNCTION, CO – Wesley Scott knew the agenda when he took the mound for No. 1 Walters State in the NJCAA DI JUCO World Series quarterfinal matchup against No. 2 Wabash Valley.
That agenda was to eat up as many innings as he possibly could in order to rest the bullpen and get them ready for the rest of the way.
With that in mind, Scott delivered.
On Wednesday, Scott pitched seven innings, allowing three runs on four hits while striking out seven, and Corbin Shaw homered as the Senators defeated Wabash Valley, 8-3.
With the win, Walters State improved to 60-5 and advanced to play Cowley on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. MT with a chance to go to the National Championship.
It's the second-straight season the Senators have won 60 games.
"What a performance by Wesley and Corbin and the whole team," Walters State coach Dave Shelton said. "Hats off to Wabash. That's a heck of a program. I can't say enough about how our kids responded and just got it done."
Scott's outing didn't start the way he wanted on the mound as the first three batters reached. However, Scott got a double play and strikeout to limit the damage to just one run.
In the second, Wabash once again put two on with one out before Scott struck out the last two batters to leave them stranded.
Scott threw a 1-2-3 third inning before allowing a run but stranding two in the fourth. From there, he was lights out as he allowed just one more run in the final three innings of work.
"Going in, I knew my job was to get the team as many innings as I could and try and keep the rest of our pitching staff well rested," Scott said. "I just tried to eat up innings. They're a great lineup, they know how to play baseball. We just came out on top."
Landon Crumbley replaced Scott in the eighth and threw the final two innings, striking out two in the process, to secure the victory.
At the plate, Walters State broke their homerless drought as Shaw hit an opposite field two-run home run in the fifth inning to make it 8-2.
"At first, I thought it was just a line drive," Shaw said. "It was just exciting. It felt great."
However, despite the home run, it was once again just a consistent approach at the plate for the Senators as they found ways on and drove runners in when they got on base.
The Senators had 10 hits in the game and drew two walks. They left just four on base as opposed to Wabash's 12 left on base.
"We've faced a lot of good arms out here, but they've done a great job of staying with a good approach," Shelton said. "A lot of times, we've hit a lot of home runs. But if you just go up there and try and hit home runs, especially on off-speed pitches, you can pull off the ball. Our guys have done a really good job of adjusting out here and taking what is given to us."
Specifically for the Senators, it's the bottom half of the lineup that has been really effective. Wednesday night was no different as Andrew Ott had two hits and scored twice while Dalton McLain had a hit, drove in a run and scored twice.
"They've been great," Shelton said. "That's all we ask of them is just find ways to get on base whether it's walks, hit by pitches, fighting with two strikes and just putting it in play. We just try and put pressure on the defense and try and make things happen."
With those two getting on base, Caleb McNeely and Nick Block had monster games at the plate behind them at the top of the lineup. McNeely had two hits and two RBIs while Block had three hits and two RBIs.
For the third straight game, Walters State fell behind early with a Wabash run in the first. However, the Senators responded quickly in the bottom of the second with three runs to take a 3-1 lead. Shaw led things off with a single and Ott moved him to second on a single. McLain was next up and tied the game at one with an RBI single before McNeely singled McLain and Ott home.
Wabash cut it to a one-run game in the top of the fourth with a solo home run, but the Senators had their pitchers back as they answered with three more runs in the bottom half. Ott started things off with a single before McLain was hit by a pitch. McNeely then singled to load the bases with two outs before Block singled, scoring two in the process to make it 6-2.
The Senators gave themselves some cushion in the fifth as Gent walked to start the inning and Shaw came up and took a breaking ball low the opposite way and over the fence in right.
From there, Scott did his work as Walters State held Wabash to one more run and locked things down for the victory.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics