Smith's Steal of Home Gives GreyWolves Walk-Off Win
June 18, 2016 - West Coast League (WCL)
Gresham GreyWolves News Release
GRESHAM, Ore. - The clock had struck 10:30 and the Gresham GreyWolves and Kelowna Rockets were still all square in the bottom of the 12th inning at Oslund Field on Friday night.
With two outs and Ryan Smith standing on third base, head coach Justin Barchus knew the time had come to roll the dice. The moment was now, and Barchus decided to force the issue by giving Smith the option of stealing home.
The speedy Southern Illinois product jumped at the chance, sprinting down the line as reliever Blake Rendazzo delivered his fifth pitch to Gresham's Jack Johnson. Smith was able to narrowly beat the tag applied by Kelowna's catcher, handing Gresham (4-6) a 3-2 win to snap its three-game losing streak.
"That was risky," said shortstop Michael Breen (San Jose State) after the shock and celebration had died down on Friday. "But we'll take the win."
Breen was the catalyst for the GreyWolves' success early on, driving in a run with a productive groundout in the first, then tying the game at 2-2 with an RBI single in the fourth. He seemed to respond well to batting in the two-hole, where he was placed for just the second time this season by Barchus.
"Making contact and keeping the ball up the middle is important to me," Breen said when asked about his performance. "That first at-bat I got down 0-2 (in the count) pretty quickly, but the middle of the infield was back so I knew I just had to touch it. Luckily, it worked out."
The game remained even at 2-2 as the innings wore on and the pitching staffs only seemed to grow stronger. Gresham's Brett Gannaway (Columbia) twirled a gem for his club, going 10 innings while allowing just one earned run on six scattered hits.
"Even though out offense didn't produce runs like maybe it should, our pitchers kept us in it," said Breen. "They've done it that way all year thus far."
While the GreyWolves relied on Gannaway and reliever Jake Boyd, the Rockets (6-6) used four pitchers to take them through the game. Rendazzo (Edmonds CC) was the one who ended up taking the loss for the visitors from British Columbia after his roller coaster of a 12th inning.
Smith got the frame started by reaching via a hit by pitch, and he was sacrificed into scoring position by pinch-hitter Jordan Barchus. Two batters (and an intentional walk) later it was Marc Mumper, whose groundout to second ended up being bigger than it appeared at the time.
The productive out got Smith over to third, where he would come in to score the fateful run by his own accord. Smith's thievery of home plate gave the GreyWolves their first walk-off win of the season, giving them a much-needed win after suffering a sweep in Victoria earlier in the week.
"I think this gives us a little confidence," Breen says. "Scratching out this win let's us know we can do it. Once our bats really come around, I think we're going to be a good team."
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West Coast League Stories from June 18, 2016
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