ANALYSIS: Series’ final four led by the soaring Eagles

ANALYSIS

Four days after it all began, the field at the Avista NAIA World Series cut down to four teams Tuesday at Harris Field in Lewiston.

Of the 10 teams that started, two of the remaining four hail from Georgia, one is on a monster run through the losers’ bracket and one is trying to replicate its championship run from five years ago.

The NAIA may not have a snazzy name for its final four baseball teams like March Madness’ “Final Four” in basketball, or NCAA hockey’s “Frozen Four,” but here’s a look at the quartet still in the hunt for the hardware:

Fifth-seeded Eagles still unbeaten

Before the World Series began, fans may have been unfamiliar with a Reinhardt (Ga.) team that had never won a game in the event and made only one previous trip to Lewiston in 2018.

Now, fans and foes have no choice but to take notice.

The fifth-seeded Eagles (44-16) are the last unbeaten Series team and officially have the best chance to win the trophy, needing just two more wins to be crowned champs while everyone else needs three.

One day after setting countless records in a 30-13 victory against Arizona Christian, Reinhardt knocked off the Series’ biggest remaining juggernaut, No. 2 Georgia Gwinnett, 6-4 to become the last team still undefeated.

Eagles slugger Tucker Zdunich already has four home runs, a triple, a double and 13 RBI in three games and is on the fast track to be tournament MVP if he can keep up his torrid hitting.

Second-seeded Georgia Gwinnett the most-experience squad left

Georgia Gwinnett coach Jeremy Sheetinger has multiple times called his group “the toughest team (he’s) ever coached,” and that’s high praise for a program that owns seven Series appearances and one national championship.

The Grizzlies (53-8) are not only the last team from last year’s Series still alive, they might have the freshest pitching staff after getting two complete-game performances from Kaleb Hill and Ben Harris in victories against Indiana Southeast and Tennessee Wesleyan. Fresh arms are the biggest strength a team could have as the tournament enters its latter stages.

But Tuesday’s 6-4 loss to Reinhardt showed that Georgia Gwinnett is not invincible.

The Grizzlies need more big offensive outings from guys like senior outfielder Ajay Sczepkowski, who already has nearly as many hits (six) and runs (four) as letters in his last name.

No. 6 seed Tennessee Wesleyan showing individual stars unneeded for a deep run

Sixth-seeded Tennessee Wesleyan is the lowest-seeded squad still alive and the Bulldogs haven’t had a superstar showing on their way to a 2-1 record in the Series.

But the Bulldogs (42-17) — champions back in 2019 — are just fine with that.

TWU has arguably had the toughest road to get to the final four, going through the top-three seeds to get here. They defeated No. 3 Cumberlands 7-4 on Day 1, fell to the second-seeded Grizzlies 12-6 on Monday and eliminated top-seeded Southeastern 8-6 on Tuesday.

And they’ve done it with different guys showing up big on different days.

One thing is for sure: The Bulldogs won’t fear anyone the rest of the way.

No. 4 seed Hope International keeping the hope alive

The only team still remaining in the tournament that lost on the first day is Hope International. And the fourth-seeded Royals (43-16) have every intention of keeping their run through the losers’ bracket going for as long as they can.

The crazy part is Hope International (Fullerton, Calif.) just seems to keep getting better.

After falling Day 1 to Reinhardt, 7-5, the Royals rattled off victories of 11-5 against Kansas Wesleyan, 12-1 over Indiana Southeast and 8-1 against Arizona Christian.

No other team in this tournament has allowed one run or fewer in a game and the Royals have done it twice, showing that pitching and defense is still a solid recipe for a championship contender in a Series full of offensive powerhouses.

The biggest question for Hope International: Can it keep up its defensive dominance with a quickly diminishing pitching staff?

The Royals are the only team that’s had to play four games and their pitching strength could quickly turn into a weakness if they run out of viable arms.

Wednesday’s matchups at Harris Field:

No. 4 Hope International (3-1 in World Series) vs. No. 2 Georgia Gwinnett (2-1), 3:05 p.m.

No. 6 Tennessee Wesleyan (2-1) vs. Reinhardt (3-0), 6:35 p.m.

Wiebe may be contacted at (208) 848-2260, swiebe@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @StephanSports.