Mancelona rallies to win quarterfinal

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Record-Eagle/Keith KingMancelona's Damian Decker slides into home plate for the game winning run as Newaygo's Larry Bulson III reaches to control the ball Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at Traverse City West High School. Record-Eagle/Keith King/Keith King

June 13, 2012

Mancelona rallies to win quarterfinal

Ironmen play in semis on Friday

BY MIKE ECKERT meckert@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Wed Jun 13, 2012, 07:14 AM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY — Strike three was called and Mancelona was about to be down to its final three outs in the Division 3 quarterfinal at Traverse City West.

But, the ball got past the Newaygo catcher and Ironmen freshman Cole VanWagoner reached first base before the throw.

Mancelona would use the extra life to tie the game in bottom of the sixth inning and later won it in the eighth for a 2-1 victory over the Tigers.

"We've been a comeback team this whole year, and we seem to show up when we need to," Mancelona junior Damian Decker said. "Today, we did a great job of coming back and winning."

With the win, the Ironmen (29-5) advance to Battle Creek for the first time in school history. They'll play Lansing Catholic in a 4 p.m. semifinal Friday in Battle Creek.

"We've talked about it for five years," Mancelona coach Jim VanWagoner said. "If you'd have told me this group was going to do it. ... they're the cardiac kids. They just keep fighting and fighting. It's a young group of guys and we'll have a good nucleus coming back next year. But we're excited to go down to the semifinals and be one of the top four teams in the state."

With Cole VanWagoner on first base in the sixth inning and two outs, Wyatt Derrer stepped to the plate and tagged a double to right field to score the run and tie the game at 1-1.

"We had good wheels there," Jim VanWagoner said. "Wyatt hit a backside line drive and they were playing it shallow. You reiterate that all you've got to do is put the bat on the ball. You put the bat on the ball and good things happen. Wyatt hit that one down the line and I didn't think my little freshman was going to get into home, but he was laboring."

In the eighth inning, Newaygo threatened to break the tie when Damien Longoria singled and was moved to second base, but Mancelona pitcher Craig Conway got Robert Mendham to ground out to second base to end the threat.

Decker led off the bottom of the inning with a grounder to the Tigers' shortstop, but the play was bobbled and he beat the throw to first.

"I always run everything out," Decker said. "You've got to try. Never give up."

Logan Borst came up next and bunted down the third base line. With Decker already on second after a passed ball, the throw to first base got away and Decker came home for the winning run.

"All I had in my head was 'I'm going to score,'" Decker said. "That's all I could think about. Logan laid down a perfect bunt that allowed me to go to third. They screwed up on the play to first and I took the opportunity to jump and get home."

"Damian's a very quick kid," VanWagoner said. "When he gets going, he can glide like that. We knew the first baseman from scouting didn't have a great arm. We knew in cutoffs, we were going to try to go home."

Derrer finished with two hits and an RBI. Conway got the win with seven strikeouts.

"Craig's pitch count was up, so we were going to pull him and bring in our freshman, Brandon Dingman," VanWagoner said. "I'm glad we got Damian on."

Newaygo's Andrew Middleton took the loss after coming in for the eighth inning. Brandon Phillips had nine strikeouts in seven innings of work.

A year ago, Mancelona lost to Muskegon Oakridge 5-4 in the state quarterfinal. This year, they've had several close games, including a 3-2 win in eight innings over Harbor Springs in the district final.

"These kids have been running through the tournament and they've had some tight spots," VanWagoner said. "Our district was as tough as I've seen it in a few years. With what they've done being here last year in the quarterfinals, I knew if they kept plugging away, they could do it. All year, they've never quit. They might have gotten embarrassed once or twice, but they've always come back and shown what they're made of."

And now, they're heading to Battle Creek.

"Baseball's a funny game," VanWagoner said. "Sometimes the best team doesn't always win. Newaygo was a very good, senior-laden team. But that's the way the ball bounces. Going to Battle Creek, I expect these guys to be a little overwhelmed at first, but maybe not. It's hard to say with this group of kids."