Centerville, IA—The Marshalltown Community College Baseball team put up a valiant effort in the 2016 Region XI Championship round, but came up just short against top-seeded Iowa Western Community College. The Tigers won Sunday's opener on a walk-off hit to force a winner-take-all championship game, but the Reivers outlasted MCC for a 9-4 win.
With a shot at its first-ever Region XI Championship, the Tigers willed their way to victory behind sophomore Bennett Lopez (Dorado, Puerto Rico/PRBA) who connected on an RBI base hit to score Christian Jaworski (Bloomfield Hills, MI/Bloomfield Hills) in the bottom of the ninth for the walk-off win.
The victory set up one final game between the two conference rivals for the opportunity to move on to the NJCAA Northern District Tournament. Freshman Noel Diaz (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/CENAPEC) tossed one of his best performances of the season, going 7.1 innings, but the nation's top-ranked offense got to the Tigers in the eighth to pull away for the victory and the team's 12th consecutive region championship.
Despite the loss, the Tigers reached new heights in 2016, setting multiple school and individual records, including most wins in program history at 34. The championship appearance was the fourth for the Tigers since 2011, all coming against Iowa Western.
After winning two of the first three games of the Region XI Tournament this weekend, the Tigers opened up play against the Reivers on a sunny afternoon at Pat Daugherty Field. The Reivers struck first in game one with two runs in the second inning, but MCC starting pitcher Elijah Wood (Washington, IA/Washington Community) settled down and controlled the Reiver offense.
The Tigers got on the board in the fourth inning after Diogen Ceballos (La Vega, Dominican Republic/Liceo la Romana) singled and later scored on a groundout to cut the deficit in half. Wood allowed just four base runners after the third inning to keep the Tigers in the ballgame.
Playing as the home team, MCC evened the game at two after Tony Salato (Knoxville, IA/Knoxville) walked to start the seventh. Salato was lifted for pinch runner Kaleb Hanks (Sioux City, IA/Sioux City East) who came around to score on a fielder's choice.
Freshman JJ Stephens (Sioux City, IA/Sioux City East) took over on the mound with two outs in the eighth and ended the inning with a strikeout. The freshman followed up with a perfect 1-2-3 inning in the ninth to set the stage for Lopez's heroics.
The Tigers put a pair of runners on the corners in the bottom of the ninth after Brok Hopwood (Ottumwa, IA/Ottumwa) singled in his first at bat of the game. Lopez drove a pitch to the outfield to score the pinch runner Jaworski for the walk-off win, the Tigers' fourth win over the Reivers this season.
The Tigers pounded out 10 hits in the win, including a pair of hits from Logan Holtz (Urbana, IA/Center Point-Urbana). Wood went 7.2 innings, allowing just the two earned runs while Stephens improved to 2-1 with the victory.
Sunday's finale proved to be just as intense as the opener for both sides. The Tigers', the visiting team, took the game's first run in the fourth inning after Enmanuel Lopez (Santiago, Dominican Republic/Prepara) singled and scored on a groundout for the 1-0 lead. Iowa Western took the lead in the fifth on a pair of runs, but Holtz tied the game up at two after singling and scoring on a passed ball in the sixth.
Iowa Western jumped ahead with a run in the seventh to take a 3-2 lead and eventually pulled away in the eighth, scoring six runs off of the Tigers. MCC provided some excitement in the ninth inning, scoring a pair of runs after three straight singles, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
Bennett Lopez, Enmanuel Lopez, and Holtz all had two hits in the loss for the Tigers. Diaz was sharp on the mound, allowing just two hits in 7.1 innings, but was tagged with the loss.
Holtz finished the weekend 10-22 at the plate, with eight of his hits coming in three games against the Reivers. Both Holtz and Bennett Lopez finished their careers with 121 career hits, tied for fourth-most in program history.
The 2016 Division All-Region XI team will be announced on Monday afternoon.
