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June 6, 2009

Hammond Noll ends Fairfield tourney run

By Gary Kauffman

The elusive third out proved to be Fairfield’s undoing in the Class 2A regional semifinal at Jimtown on Saturday afternoon.

The Falcons fell to Hammond Bishop Noll, 6-1. All of Noll’s runs scored with two outs.

“We got two outs, then a couple of walks, then they string a couple of hits together and that's all it takes,” Falcon coach Brodie Garber said.

Fairfield, meanwhile, couldn’t string any hits until the seventh, when the Falcons had three of their five safeties and their lone run.

“It was a nice effort that we didn't give up in that seventh inning,” Garber said. “But it was too late against a team of this caliber.”

The Warriors' Tony Balcazar recorded only three strikeouts but he mixed speeds and had just enough movement on his pitches to keep the Falcon hitters out of sync all game.

“It was just enough of a change that we didn't really know what was happening,” Garber said. “We knew coming in that he would come at us and he did. We attacked a lot of balls pretty well.”

Errors also hurt Fairfield. Only two of the six runs pitcher Justin Scott allowed were earned.

Noll scored in three innings, and in all three Fairfield got the first two batters out.

In the top of the first, Ryan Eger and Tommy Merkelis drew two-out walks. Eger then scored on a single to left by John Mullaney.

In the fourth, Kevin Mullaney drew the two-out walk, then stole second. He scored on a single by Andrew Ramker, who advanced to second on an error in leftfield. He scored when Eger's hard shot to third wasn't handled.

Eger then moved to second on a balk and scored on a double by Merkelis to make it 4-0.

The Warriors brought home two more in the fifth when, with two outs, Mike Palomo and Mike Perez hit back-to-back singles. They both scored when Scott fielded a bunt by Kevin Mullaney but threw it down the rightfield line.

Scott struggled with his control in the game, walking five and working several other three-ball counts.

“Justin has bouts of wildness and a lot of times he works through them,” Garber said. “But when you get to this level, you can't give up that many walks.”

After the sixth run scored, Trent Kauffman relieved Scott. He quickly induced the final out of the inning, then worked two perfect innings to close out the game.

“He stayed away with the ball and kept it down,” Garber said. “And the difference in speeds between him and Scott helps out.”

Fairfield's only hits for the first six innings were a line drive single by Jordan Bontrager and a squibber down the first base line by Josh Brown.

Brad Newcomer opened the bottom of the seventh with a line drive single to right center. With one out, Zach Newcomer singled to left. Kyle Cross then beat out an infield single to load the bases.

Balcazar tried a pickoff at second, but his throw skipped into centerfield, allowing Brad Newcomer to score. A ground out put runners at second and third but Balcazar ended the game with a strikeout.

The Falcons finished the season at 20-8 and Garber credited his three seniors - Cross, Caleb Yoder and Colin Holmes - as major reasons for the success.

“When you get to the 20-win plateau in high school that means you're pretty good, so the three seniors have got to feel really good,” he said. “Colin, Caleb and Kyle gave us what we needed this season.”

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