*24* hours of Diplomat Baseball

Previously on *24* Diplomat baseball

We learn that F and M will journey to Baltimore to play Johns Hopkins in the first round of the Centennial Conference Playoffs.
We learn that Hopkins has won five straight against the Diplomats including a convincing sweep of a doubleheader 3 weeks earlier.
We learn Coach Taylor has engaged the Diplomats “Hearts and Minds” as they prepare to invade Baltimore.
We learn Nick Markel, has been terrific the past month beating Haverford, McDaniel and Gettysburg over his last three starts, will start for the Fighting Diplomats


The following takes place
Between 3:00PM and 5:00 PM

After creating a run in the first, Johns Hopkins extends its lead to 2-0 with a home run just over the short porch in right field. The Diplomats get on the board in the 4th inning when Eric Bornstein drives in Shea Moriarty who led off the inning with a double. Jason Anderson blasts a bomb to left to tie it at 2-2 in the top the 6th. But two solo home runs by Hopkins and their bloop single over first gives the Blue Jays a 3 run lead entering the ninth.

The following takes place
Between 5:00PM and 6:00 PM

Senior catcher John Dutton leads off with a walk and freshman JT Triandos adds a single Matt Will; the Jack Bauer of the Diplomats because he does so many things to help the team win, singles in a run bringing the Diplomats within 2. (See that hit here: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-i2S9KAQds&feature=channel_page) Andrew Hanson singles in another and we are within a run with no outs. But Shea Moriarty hits it hard right at the Conference Player of the Year, third baseman Todd Emr who starts a 6-4-3 double play. Down to our last out, Jason Anderson comes to the plate. With a home run earlier Jason thinks to himself “I am gonna hit this ball hard”. Hit it he does, but off the end of his bat. The ball floats gently to a safe oasis beyond first base where it drops in scoring Matt Will on a bloop just like the earlier Hopkins bloop single and we are tied at 5. The baseball gods seemingly with a make up call.

Brendan McCleary comes in to work the bottom of the ninth and quickly strikes out 2 ( see him at work here( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoCtrVCfAiU ) and induces Todd to fly to left for the third out and we go to extra innings .

In the top of the 10th the Jays bring in a new pitcher and Bill Murray, who has hit well all year long , promptly blasts a missile over the left field fence to give the Diplomats their first lead over Hopkins since May of 2007 with the score now 6-5.

The following takes place
Between 6:00PM and 7:00 PM

Brendan takes the mound to close out the Jays. But the Jays did not get to the D 3 championship last year by not being battlers. They may take the form of arrogant bullies when they play but they can back it up and compete .Leading off, Ryan Biner singles up the middle followed by another single from All American Brian Youchak. The Jays show bunt and to combat that the Diplomats go into the wheel play where the first and third baseman charge while the shortstop covers third and the second baseman goes to first. After ball one , the Diplomats try to fake the wheel play and pick off the pinch runner at second but the throw goes into centerfield and the runners advance to second and third. Coach Taylor opts to load the bases and we bring the infield in. McCreary breaks off a curve to get ahead of the Blue Jays hitter, all of whom have spent the day looking for a first pitch fastball. A fast ball away is driven right to first base on a line and JT grabs it and we have one out. McCreary then starts off Zach Small with a curve for swinging strike, and then fires a fastball for strike 2. Brendan tries a curve away to temp Small but it is just wide for a ball. He tries again but it is ball 2. He tries a 3rd time and again just away so now it is 3-2. McCreary, who grew up in Maryland and has been itching to pitch against the Hopkins team for two years takes a deep breath. Brendan’s style is one of hustle and work. This kid sprints to the mound to start the inning and pitches aggressively and quickly. Inside sources report he is a very hard worker and you can’t help but root for him .Now ,Everyone in the park knows what is coming with the count at 3-2 .One thousand eyes are on him and watch him inhale while they hold their breathe. He is going to throw his best pitch a fastball regards that we all know it . This is man on man at its best. Man this is exciting .He fires in an overhand fastball and Small swings and misses for strike three. The Diplomat crowd roars its approval and delight. We have two down now. Everyone is on their feet with apprehension in the air. The game is down to the last hitter. We need one more out.

Everyone is taking in the moment which is alive with tension. There are so many things that can happen and the game will be decided right here. Brendan goes with his fastball, Hopkins catcher John Swarr sends a line drive to right field. A seemingly routine play for Shea and in the split second the ball is on its’ the way Diplomats fans think the game is over. But the ball is not caught as it brushes Shea’s glove and rolls behind him. A stunned Diplomat crowd watches in horror as the ball is on the ground rolling behind Shea. Two runs score and Hopkins players end up in a dog pile celebrating like they just the won the NBA title Diplomat parents and players stare out at the field with the game over and the players trudging in. Shea begins the longest walk of his short life back to the dugout. Diplomat parents and players are now in a daze as they go from exhilaration to despair in a split second and now the game is over. We are like plane crash survivors astonished at the reality around them wondering what to do. The game everyone worked so hard to win our “Hearts and Minds” were in this beating Hopkins ….and it was there for us. Shea makes that catch 999 times out of 1000 but today is the day the Black Swan flies into our world

No one is saying a word. Everyone is numb. When Andrew Hanson walks over to Shea, he taps him gently with his glove as he says “Hey we have 4 more to win and we need you”. John Dutton hugs Shea and tells him “we would not be here without you –and we need you tomorrow”. John Dutton’s Mom ,Sue , perilously close to triggering a violation of the famous rule “there’s no crying in baseball” hugs Shea and affirms her belief in him and the team “ You will win tomorrow ,I know it, I know it ” she offers between “near” tears “I have faith in you” she continues as she consoles Shea.

There are a lot of feelings witnesses to an event like this can have especially those who have an emotional stake in the outcome. But the dominant feeling in the moment was one of compassion not anger. All of the parents had only seen Shea catch everything in right field for as long as they had been there. No errors in four years, three of which were as a starter but now they were as shocked as I am sure Shea was but they were on his side and shared his disappointment.

Everyone there will remember this game and that moment. It is one of those moments that if you were there you were stunned with the unexpected split second reversal of fortune.

Eventually ritual takes over and the players began to gather their belongings and the parents and fans started to leave.

Coach Taylor seizes the moment and tells his players—“If you don’t think we can win four in a row …. Don’t get on the bus with us.”

Taylor realizes they have done just about everything they wanted to do down here. They proved they can play with Hopkins and more …they proved they could compete and rise up when the competition was stiffest and the prognosis the grimmest. They came from three down in the 9th against the Hopkins ace. It is a realization that makes him believe they can run off 4 straight.
We took the fight right to them he thinks and –he feels proud of his guys and realize they have taken their game up a notch at the toughest time. The players have come a long way from losing badly in Virginia on the way down to Florida and the journey still has more to go. He knows the team is better now than they were before this game. He has started to look ahead to tomorrow already.

He tells Shea “tomorrow we get it back” indicating that he had confidence in Shea and indeed is a believer in his player and his team .He and Shea have come a long way together. Shea started well with a home run on his first swing at the season opener way back in March at Kean College and then tore his ACL in practice the day before the team left for Florida. Somehow with a brace that would stop a T Rex from moving, Shea was able to come back and play. Taylor is a Shea guy and he is not going to abandon him now
Shea nods and boards the bus for what will seem like a very long ride.

Matt Will boards the bus and looks at his Dad and said confidently “We are all right... we’ll be fine” The parents know our Diplomat version of Jack Bauer will find a way.

The healing has started.

The following takes place
Between 7:00PM and 8:00 PM

Players rode back on the bus. They are headed to Collegeville. Pa, the home of Ursinus the host team in the playoffs, where a 9 AM start against Haverford awaited. Parents walked slowly to cars and feel no appetite for dinner as they absorbed the “near win” experience.

The following takes place
Between 8:00PM and 9:00 AM

No one ate anything. No one slept a wink. Everyone tossed and turned and grew angry with the baseball gods. Why Him? Why Us? We all asked. What beef can the baseball gods have with a kid playing on one leg? Resigned we figured, let’s see what tomorrow brings as fortunately there is a tomorrow-maybe we will get some answers then.

The following takes place
Between 9:00AM and 12:00 PM


After falling behind at the outset, F&M built a 5-1 lead through five innings. On the back of senior Brad Andres’ overpowering pitching but teams making conference playoffs are not just playing out the innings. Haverford came back to tie in the 6th. In the eighth, the Fords took the lead and added an insurance run in the top of the ninth taking a 7-5 lead to the bottom of the ninth. Matt Will, who is never going to quit battling, led off with a single. After an out, Shea came to the plate The Hopkins game was clearly in view if he were looking at his rear view mirror but Shea was looking ahead. Your faithful correspondent pondered this could be his last college at bat but Shea was thinking about hitting .One for two on the day with a walk, Haverford had started him off with a change up every at bat . As he was looking fast ball each time he had taken the first pitch for a strike. “I am gonna look change this time and rip it” he thought as he advanced to the plate.

The Haverford pitcher Stefan Pappius-Lefe assumed he would stay with what worked and threw in his change up again.

Shea read it and rip it he did. You can see it here: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdadPSma6fM)

As the ball sailed far beyond the fence everyone shouted in joy and exhilaration. Even the baseball gods stood and cheered. The stunned disbelief of yesterday was overcome with equally stunning turn of events of today. Sue Dutton just blatantly ignored “there is no crying in baseball” law and hugged everyone around her. Trotting around the bases, Shea felt a bit of exhilaration himself.

I must offer that your faithful correspondent enjoyed the moment as well.

Tied after 9 the game sailed to the bottom of the 11th. With Nick Rolnick at bat and Andrew Hanson on third and Shea on first, Haverford uncorked a wild pitch allowing Andrew to score. The Diplomat Nation shouted in exhilaration yet again and we move on to play the losers of the Ursinus–Hopkins game in an elimination game. The winners would play for the championship.

The following takes place
Between 1:00PM and 4:00PM

Hopkins and Ursinus are scoreless after 5 innings but Hopkins puts up 3 runs in the 6th and 6 runs in the seventh to win easily

The following takes place
Between 4:00PM and 5:00PM


Sophomore Mike Duranti has the ball and a brings with him the determination of the Tenzing Norgay & Sir Edmund Percival Hillary of New Zealand who were the first to climb the summit at Mount Everest. Duranti has his best stuff and facing the top seed we are tied at 2 after 3innings. In the bottom of the 4th, Andrew bunts his way on. Shea up next sees the third baseman playing way back and drops a drag bunt to third for a single moving Andrew to second. It is his first bunt in two years and will be his last. Andrew and Shea each steal and with Nick Rolnick singling to center Shea rounds third but is held up. Playing with a torn ACL offers little room for pivoting and none for stopping short even wearing the brace from the Jurassic era. Shea tries to stop but his knee goes and down he goes like he was shot. He makes an effort to crawl back but it is too much and he lies in pain. Ursinus gently tags him out while he is writhing there while classmate and likely lifetime friend John Dutton sprints out to help him Dutton picks Shea up and carries him to the bench as Sue Dutton caves in again to the urge to cry . Shea pauses at the dugout to acknowledge the crowd concerns and shrugs figuring this were a risk he took on when he started the effort to play with a torn ACL and now he had to pay up.

Duranti dominates the rest of the way offering Ursinus nothing but nasty stuff and the Diplomats cruise to a 7-2 win and head for a Sunday showdown with Hopkins


The Championship Game Cancelled

Rain cancelled the next day’s battle and more rain on Monday cancelled the championship. By rules of the conference Hopkins as the highest remaining seed was awarded the championship. Nothing anybody can do but accept the decree.




Reflections

Shea seems to be able to walk but will need surgery to replace his torn ACL. It seems the rainouts and the intensity of this weekend has created a time for reflection. The four years at F and M has been a remarkably delightful run for Shea and for your faithful correspondent. As a freshman he was on the team with terrific players named Gary Kruger, Ted Serro, Jeremy Knox, Eric Milovsky and Corey Carruthers each of then All conference players. Shea saw very little playing time that season but was determined to be a player of that caliber and dedicated himself to being one. He had speed and an arm but needed to be stronger to drive the ball and play well at this level so weights became part of his daily regimen .As soon the strength came the ball was jumping off his bat as well. As a sophomore he earned the right field job and I was thrilled to see him work this hard and enjoy competing But his junior year saw him exploding to a new level of performance. He was named All Conference after hitting over 400 with power and playing great defense . He worked hard over the off season to have his best season ever as a senior. His first swing as a senior was a home run and it seemed this season would be a magical mystery tour. But tearing the ACL the day before the Florida trip seemed to foreclose the season and shut him down. But he found a way to continue to play and gave his best this season. It was always a thrill for me to watch him. A parent’s job is to get his child ready to be an adult. And being an adult often means dealing with adversity. But an adult often acts to insulate his child from adversity and tries to protect the child. But fate or destiny interferes and things happen like a torn ACL to a senior athlete. But Shea dealt with at and found a way to overcome it -a lesson he had to learn himself as parents can’t teach a child to bounce off the mat and get up and give it your best .The child has to learn how to jump up after being knocked down and go in for more. Kipling offered one requirement to becoming a man was to “meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same”.

That freshman year seems like last week to me and only this years seniors are even aware of the guys I mentioned above. There is no institutional memory of that team after these seniors graduate. And in no time at all this years freshman will be graduating and no one will be there who remembers Shea except for Coach Taylor.

And when Coach Taylor gets another player who has a rough moment he can tell him a story about a player he had his first year as coach. The player who got up off the mat to play with a torn ACL and then when he got knocked down again he answered with a home run in the bottom of the ninth...

Yes Sue Dutton is right there is crying in baseball