By PAUL GOTHAM
ENID, OK — Imagine a finger painting hanging in the Louvre.
There on the wall, among the finest masterpieces the world has ever known, is a piece of paper covered in multi-colored smears.
On Saturday afternoon, Monroe Community College Baseball took the field at David Allen Memorial Ballpark, the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II museum of champions since 2009, and came away with a win that was part brilliant and part uneven smudges of paint spread across a canvas.
In a game that saw nine errors committed and 21 walks issued, it was the No. 10 Tribunes (38-8) who pulled out a 16-9 win in extra innings over No. 7 Iowa Central Community College (50-11).
“When you make it to something like a national tournament, you hope that you’re battle-tested enough to persevere through some mistakes,” said MCC head coach Dave Brust.
The Tribunes blew leads of 6-4 and 8-6 before unloading for eight runs in a dramatic 10th inning.
Six days after scoring three runs in the ninth inning to claim the East District Championship, the Tribunes sent 13 to the plate to end a decade-plus drought on the national stage.
Braedon Reina (Rochester, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) etched his name in Monroe Baseball lore with a towering home run that put the game out of reach.
“That was a big-time at-bat by a player who is capable of big-time moments,” said Brust.
With two outs, one run in, runners on second and third, Reina cleared the bleachers in right field for his fifth home run of the season.
“That’s probably one of the better swings I’ve ever taken in my life,” said the sophomore left fielder. “I put good swings on the first two pitches and got another one. It ended up over the fence.”
Down 1-2 in the count, the left-hander turned on a 93 MPH fastball from Iowa Central’s Maddox Sullivan.
“He went away with the first two,” Reina said. “I kind of figured he’d come back with another one. He just got a little too much plate and I put a swing on it.”
The blast left no doubt off the crack of the bat.
Brust, standing in the third base coach’s box, raised both arms in triumph.
“The swing before, as aggressive as it was, still was a good swing,” said the 13th-year coach. “He was hunting fastballs.
“I said to Tommy (runner at third base, Woodridge) ‘I think he’s gonna hit this next one. You know, it’s gonna go over the bleachers if he hits it.’”
Sullivan had set down eight straight heading into the 10th and retired the first batter he saw in the frame before Aidan Gallagher (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay East Fishkill) drew a walk. Woodridge (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) put runners on the corners with a base hit.
“We put the ball in play, Brust said. “Forcing them to play more defense, forcing their pitchers to throw more pitches, forcing them to pay attention to our run game, just forcing them to pay attention to us added to the pressure of postseason. Then of course, they made mistakes.”
MCC had stranded runners in scoring position in five separate innings including the fifth and seventh when the Tribunes left the bases loaded and runners on second and third.
In the 10th, aided by two hit batsmen, a wild pitch along with an error, six straight reached following Reina as MCC tacked on four more runs.
“We had missed opportunities with bunts,” Brust said. “We had at least 10 ball fours (11 to be exact). Those usually blow up in your face. We just overcame those challenges.”
The win was the seventh World Series victory in program history, but first since 2008. Brust had taken teams to Enid in 2016, ‘18 and ‘19.
“Coming into this game, we had been made aware that Coach Brust hadn’t won a World Series game,” Reina said. “It was super important to us to be able to accomplish that for him and as well for ourselves.”
Parker Holden (Webster, N.Y/Webster Schroeder) struck out two over two innings of relief work to pick up the win. Holden (5-2) is 2-0 in the postseason. The sophomore right-hander threw four scoreless against UConn-Avery Point in the sub-district series and did not get a decision. He has allowed two runs (both earned) in 10 innings of work during the playoffs.
Aaron Reina (Rochester, N.Y/Churchville-Chili) drove in two with a double as part of a five-run fifth when MCC took a 6-4 lead.
Miguel Matos (Rochester, N.Y./East High) went 2-for-5 including a two-run single in the fifth. Matos also doubled, walked and scored twice.
Tyler Cannon (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) was 2-3 with a double, two walks and two runs scored.
Zane Barron (Ormond Beach, FL/Seabreeze) drove in a run with a single and also scored. Michael Sardou (Rochester, N.Y/Churchville-Chili) walked twice and scored twice.
Tanner Holmes (Allenford, ON/Owen Sound District) drew a walk, scored twice and also had an RBI.
The combination of Sardou, Aaron Reina and Matos turned a pair of double plays including an inning-ending 6-4-3 in the bottom of the ninth when Iowa Central had two runners on base. MCC’s infield has been a part of 18 double plays on the season while the Tribunes have hit into 12 twin killings.
For the fourth straight game, MCC faced a top five hitter in the country. Last weekend it was Westchester CC’s Freddy Heymach (.520 AVG) and Jordan Raba (.497) of Mercer County (that MCC beat twice).
On Saturday, George McIntyre of Iowa Central entered play with a batting average of .495 (fifth in the country). The Tritons’ shortstop leads the nation with 30 home runs and is second with 97 RBI. He went 1-4 with two walks and an RBI in Saturday’s contest.
Iowa Central also came into the game averaging better than three home runs per outing. MCC pitchers limited their opponents to three extra-base hits (all doubles).
By the final tally, Iowa committed eight errors and issued 10 walks. ICCC pitchers accounted for four hit batters and four wild pitches.
MCC committed one error. On two separate occasions Tribune pitchers loaded the bases on free passes (combination of walks and hit batters) and proceeded to walk in a run.
The victory represented the first time in which MCC has won its WS opening game. The win also was the second time MCC has taken a postseason decision against a team from Region 11. In 1980, under then-head coach Dave Chamberlain, the Tribunes defeated Iowa Western Community College, 6-4. The 16 runs is the most scored by an MCC team in a World Series game.
It’s a quick turnaround for the Tribunes who will face reigning national finalist No. 2 Pearl River (46-11) of Region 23 (Mississippi) on Sunday. The Wildcats earned one of two at-large bids to the tournament. Pearl River is seventh in the nation with 102 home runs and also its pitching staff has combined for six shutouts (also seventh in the country). A 1 PM first pitch is scheduled.
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