CWS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: No. 9/11 Endicott Battles From Behind To Defeat No. 1/1 Denison, 11-10; Forces If-Necessary Winner-Take-All

EASTLAKE, Ohio — The No. 9/11 nationally ranked Endicott baseball team defeated No. 1/1 nationally ranked Denison, 11-10 (10 inn.), in game two of the Division III College World Series (CWS) National Championship.

WP (2-2): Kyan Bagshaw (Amherst, N.H.) — 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
LP (12-2): Will Rettig (Perrysburg, Ohio) — 2.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Facing elimination, head coach Bryan Haley turned to his ace, Brady Stuart (Hudson, Mass.), in the must-win scenario.

With the Gulls playing as the home team, the Big Red came up to bat first. Despite some early traffic on the base paths, Stuart found a way out of a mess without giving up a run.

In the bottom half, the Gulls' offense wasted little time. Adam Regan (Braintree, Mass.) ripped one past the Denison shortstop to reach base right away. 

He later came in to score on a Grabowski RBI double, which stayed just fair in the right field corner.

The Gulls loaded up the bases with just one out, but an unfortunate line drive double play ended the threat after just one run came across.

However, after a two-out walk, the Big Red doubled home the game-tying run in the top of the second.

Then, in the top of the third, the Big Red took its first lead of the game after an RBI walk pushed home a run.

The Gulls did not leave the Big Red in front for long, as John Fusco (Naples, Fla.) hustled out an RBI infield single to tie up the game at two apiece.

After wiggling into a tough jam, Stuart exited in the fifth with the bases loaded. Jake Harmony (Fairfield, Conn.) was called on from the bullpen, and after an unfortunate misplay in the infield, the Big Red smoked one just fair inside the left field foul pole for a go-ahead grand slam.

Although deflating, the Blue and Green did not waver.

Their resilience showed in the bottom of the sixth, as they willed across four runs to even up the score once more at 6-6.

Fusco led off the rally with another infield single, and moved over to third base on a perfectly executed hit-and-run from AJ Hamm (Shrewsbury, Mass.).

After a clutch pinch-hit walk from Brady Rickenbach (Manchester, N.H.), the bases were loaded up for Regan at the top of the order. 

The Gulls DH blasted one into the left center field gap, but a leaping catch at the wall just kept the ball inside the stadium. However, the flyout was plenty deep enough to score Fusco from third.

Then, a hit-by-pitch of TJ Liponis (Scarborough, Maine) and a walk of Kyle Grabowski (Westfield, Mass.) loaded up the bases once more for Cade Bernardo (Glenmont, N.Y.).

Bernardo ripped a game-tying two-run double into the right center field gap, giving the Gulls new life in the contest.

The Big Red reclaimed a two-run lead after two solo shots in the top of the seventh.

Now in an 8-6 hole, the Gulls lineup came back with a purpose in the bottom of the eighth. 

The whole order nearly batted around, and eventually, a Grabowski RBI single, a Walsh RBI hit-by-pitch, and a wacky Fusco RBI groundout sequence plated two, giving the Gulls a 10-8 lead through eight full.

However, the Big Red refused to pack it in, and forced across another pair to tie the marathon game, 10-10.

A quiet bottom of the ninth brought Bagshaw back to the mound in the top of the 10th, and he put up a quick zero to get his team back to the plate.

An unbelievable rally off of Denison's ace brought Fusco back to the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out.

On the first pitch of the at-bat, Fusco flew one out to the two-man outfield in right, and although it was caught, the flyball was plenty deep enough to score Grabowski from third for the wild walkoff game two win.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Fusco, Regan, Liponis, Walsh, Grabowski, and Bernardo all logged two-hit performance from the batter's box.
• Just the third loss for Denison this season.
• The Gulls look to become the first team since Cal Lutheran in 2017 to drop the first game of the CWS Championship and rattle off two straight to win the championship.
• Denison's Cade Nowik (Lake Forest, Ill.) belted three homers in the contest.
• The Blue and Green used 17 different student-athletes in the win.

WHAT'S NEXT

The two teams play game three at 3:35 PM for a winner-take-all championship.

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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)