Warriors 3-peat as NAIA titlists

Candy’s dandy, but it certainly doesn’t compare to the sweetness the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team felt Friday night.

The Warriors won their third straight NAIA World Series title with a 5-2 win over the College of St. Francis at Lewiston’s Harris Field, marking the end of dominating decade by the Warriors.

LCSC, which played in eight straight Series title games, captured its fifth title in the decade by again playing superbly. That, in itself, is what makes this one so sweet for LCSC Coach Ed Cheff.

Unlike the teams of the past, this was a Warrior team that struggled through the season, posting its worst record in 10 years at 35-24. Inconsistent play was the only thing it could count on.

When it counted, however, the Warriors played their best, posting a 6-0 record in the Series it dominated.

“When you work your butt off all year, the most gratifying thing is to have it pay off,” LCSC assistant coach Gary Picone said. “Not just for one or two' but for everyone. Everyone performed for us.”

“I think back to where we were six weeks ago and we didn’t show too many signs (of being a good ballclub),” Chen said. “To me, they're all special (Series titles), but this one may be a little more. I’ve never seen a bunch of young guys come together. They showed character.”

LCSC’s pitching again set it apart from the field and that was true again Friday. Lefthander Darrell Wagner came up with his second victory of the Series, allowing 10 hits and two earned runs while striking out nine. However, he was left off the all-star team, mainly because aU-star ballots were collected in the sixth inning when the game was still somewhat up in the air.

“He’s been good all year,” said Cheff, who even let his hair down after the game and gave Wagner a bear hug in front of the TV cameras. “He did a great jobHe’s just a tough pitcher to

“He pitched a good ballgame,” said St. Francis Coach Gordie Gillespie, whose club finishes at 52-21 and with its best-ever postseason finish. “But our players didn’t play bad.”

Rob Castaneda provided the spark at the plate with a two-run single in the third and another in the fifth, both with two outs, to give him four RBI in the contest.

Wagner and Castaneda were enough to stop St. Francis, but the credit list goes on throughout the roster. The Warriors made some key defensive plays, completing two double plays and throwing a runner out at the plate in the sixth inning to stop a crucial St. Francis rally.

“I don’t think you can focus on just one thing,” Picone said. “We played well, scored the runs and our pitchers threw well.”

The Warriors didn’t have their usual big inning like in the previous Series games, but a three-run third inning put them ahead for good.

Greg Vaughns started the inning with a single and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Chip Damato. After Karey Redditt flew out, Reggie Brown singled to right, scoring Vaughns.

Glen Baxley then drew a walk and a wild pitch by St. Francis starter Scott Kjellesvik moved the runners up to set up a two-run single by Castaneda to left.

St. Francis got a run back in the top of the fourth when Ken Simonich hit a line shot over the left-field fence for his third home run of the season.

LCSC made it 5-1 in the fifth. After getting the first two batters, Kjellesvik walked Reggie Brown and Baxley followed with a single that third-baseman Simonich threw away after Baxley reached first, allowing the runners to move up a base. Again Castaneda made St. Francis pay for allowing the extra bases, this time with a two-run single to right.

“We didn’t do the things we had to do,” Gillespie said. “We wanted to beat LC in front of their own fans in their own park. Losing is losing. No matter who you lose to, it’s tough.”

St. Francis, which left 11 runners on base in the game, picked up a run in the sixth. With two outs and runners on first and second; Nick Weis lined a double to deep center, scoring the first run, Alex Fernandez, who was on first base, was waved home on the play, but was gunned down at the plate on a pretty relay from center fielder Vaughns to second baseman Chip Damato to catcher John NesSmith for the third out.

“We had to send him,” Gillespie said. “If he makes it, it’s a 5-3 ballgame and a lot closer contest.

Every run’s a big run in a game like that,”

St. Francis also had a rally going in the seventh, again with runners on first and second, but with one out. Simonich then hit a grounder to Brown, the shortstop, who threw Les Norman out at third base. Umpire C.J. Mitchell ruled Simonich tried to slide into LCSC third baseman Baxley and called interference on the play, meaning the hitter was out as well, thus ending the inning.

The Fighting Saints put a baserunner on in the last two innings, but didn’t score as Wagner recorded a strikeout to end the game and give LCSC its usual mass celebration near the pitcher’s mound.

“After struggling through the season, we finally pulled together as a team,” said Brown, who won the Golden Glove award for being the top defensive player in the Series. “This one is sweeter for me because it’s my senior year.”

“It’s impossible for me to compare because every one is different,” Picone said of the titles. “But this was sweet.”

And LCSC certainly proved to have the sweet tooth of the Series.