LAKELAND, Fla. – It will take an almost unthinkable effort for the ABAC Stallions to secure a berth in the NAIA World Series today. But overcoming steep odds seems to be the exact nature of this resilient team.
The Stallions, seeded fourth in the Lakeland bracket of the NAIA National Baseball Tournament Opening Round, will face top-seeded Southeastern University today at 11 a.m. for the right to advance to the World Series in Lewiston, Idaho. If the Stallions win their fourth game in three days, they will then be tasked with doing it all over again at 2:30 p.m. as the Fire must lose twice for ABAC to advance.
Offensively, ABAC has not suffered from fatigue. In Wednesday's elimination game against Arizona Christian, the Stallions put together five runs in the first two innings only to watch the Firestorm tie the game at 5-5 in the seventh inning. In the bottom of the eighth, redshirt freshman
Dylan Davis singled, got to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a single from sophomore second baseman
Harrison Childers. That proved to be the game-winner as freshman
Lalan Ellis earned his seventh save but shutting ASU down in the top of the ninth.
The biggest hurdle ABAC must overcome against the Fire is pitching, although the Stallions could be in worse shape for a team playing its fifth and possibly sixth game in four days. In the first four games of the tournament, ABAC's starters have eaten up a lot of innings, leaving the rest of the pitching staff as fresh as could be hoped for. Southeastern used its top two starters in their first two games of the tournament and will likely start either Bryce McDonald (6-4) or Angel Medina (5-1) in today's 11 a.m. game. But with the season on the line, Coach
Blake Williams probably won't be shy about using anyone available. Among the likely suspects are
Dawson Harrelson, who has not pitched in the tournament, as well as
Owen Lamb,
Trace Hodges,
Nicholas Milbrant,
Lalan Ellis, and
Chris Cooper. Each have worked in relief in the past three days but none piling up a lot of innings.
Offensively, shortstop Quentin Rawls leads ABAC in the tournament with six hits while
Joe Fisher and
Brayden Fordham have five each.
Cameron Campbell has driven in six runs followed by Rawls with five RBIs. But each game has featured a different player to deliver the big hit when needed.
Ten regionals are being or have been played this week with four entries to the World Series already earned. LSU Shreveport, Webber International, Hope International, and British Columbia have all advanced with six other regional championships to be decided today.
