To get through the game, Southeastern used six separate arms, with three throwing more than 30 pitches in the win.
With every team off today and an extra off day Monday, Grinder said his philosophy coming in was to get the win regardless of who he had to use on the mound, as the first game is an important determinant for how the tournament will go.
“We knew if we can get that win, that we got two days off and have an extra life and I don’t think we really extended anyone, per se. A loss doesn’t mean you can’t fight back, but your road is just exponentially tougher at that point in time,” Grinder said.
Mirroring the late-inning push of Georgia Gwinnett in its 14-13 loss, Johnson had life in the ninth inning.
With two outs, Christian Altamirano blasted a three-run home run down the left-field line to cut the deficit to one. A double down the right-field line put the tying run in scoring position, but Grinder said his trust in Blake Albritton on the mound to get the final out never wavered.
“Blake’s been a cold-hearted killer all year,” Grinder said. “If you watch him, there’s just no emotion, for better or for worse. Just trust the guy that he’s just got to get one stinking out.”
Southeastern and Johnson await the result of Monday’s game between IU Southeast and Tennessee Wesleyan, as the winner of that matchup will take on Southeastern at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and the loser takes on Johnson at 11 a.m. in an elimination game.
Johnson 111 016 003—13 13 3
Southeastern 002 605 01x—14 15 0
Reynolds, Yates (4), Townsend (6), Fiene (6), Newton (7), Jacome (8) and Fernandez; Reither, Lambeth (3), McMullen (6), Czekalewski (6), Givens-Craig (7), Albritton (9) and McMullen.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.lmtribune.com ’
