GGC Athletics
Dale Long
LEWISTON, Idaho – Senior Kaleb Hill went the distance on the mound to lead the Georgia Gwinnett College baseball team to a 5-2 victory against Indiana University Southeast Saturday night in the Grizzlies’ opening game of the Avista NAIA World Series at Lewis-Clark State College’s Harris Field.
Hill tossed his second consecutive complete game of this year’s NAIA postseason play. The left hander limited the No. 10-seeded Grenadiers to four hits and had nine strikeouts.
“I spotted my fastball and challenged the hitters. Then, I was able to command the cutter and other pitches to keep them off balance,” Hill said.
GGC (52-7), the tournament’s No. 2 seed, used a three-run fourth inning to take the lead that it maintained throughout the game.
Junior Jackson Cobb laid down a safety squeeze bunt to the team’s first run after senior Ajay Sczepkowski dislodged the ball from Grenadier catcher Logan Murphy at the plate. Junior Paul Winland Jr. followed with an RBI ground out before classmate Joe Quelch lined a run-scoring single to left field for the big offensive inning.
One inning later, junior Braxton Meguiar hit a 3-2 pitch through the right side of the infield to plate junior pinch runner Peyton Peoples with another run, putting the Grizzlies on top 4-0.
IU Southeast plated two runs in the top of the seventh inning to cut the deficit in half.
However, the momentum shifted back to GGC in the bottom half of the frame as Cobb lined a two-out RBI single to left field to give the team an insurance run and a 5-2 advantage.
“The best way to win this tournament is capturing the first game. We wanted that 1-0 feeling,” said Head Coach Jeremy Sheetinger.
Junior Matthew Lee paced the team’s 11-hit offensive attack by going 3-for-4 at the plate, with a double in the fifth inning. Cobb and senior Blaze O’Saben each had two hits in the victory.
“This was a good team win. Kaleb is special and I’m glad he is at GGC,” said Lee after catching Hill during Saturday’s victory.
Georgia Gwinnett College advances to the winner’s bracket against No. 6 seed Tennessee Wesleyan University on Monday, May 27, at 6:35 p.m. pacific time.
“Kaleb did what he has done all season,” Sheetinger said. “There was nobody else we wanted on the mound than him. I knew that he was going to set a tone for how we wanted to attack this tournament. We started to settle in offensively in the middle innings as they (IU Southeast) had a game under them (winning a first-round game on Friday).”
After allowing two runs in the top of the seventh inning and seeing its lead cut in half, at 4-2, the Grizzlies regained momentum with a two-out RBI single by junior Jackson Cobb in the bottom half of the frame. That was plenty of cushion for senior left-handed pitcher Kaleb Hill, who retired the final eight batters, including striking out the side in the top of the ninth inning.
Georgia Gwinnett College advances to the winner’s bracket to play No. 6 seed Tennessee Wesleyan University on Monday, May 27, in Lewiston, Idaho, starting at 6:35 p.m. pacific time.