LEWISTON, Idaho — Six full seasons had come and gone since the Lewis-Clark State Warriors won the last of their 16 national championships, the longest stretch since they claimed their first crown in 1984. And for much of Friday's title tilt, that drought seemed destined to stretch to a seventh season.
But then Mother Nature, as she has done so often during the 2015 edition of the Avista-NAIA World Series, produced yet another lightning delay. The break must have given the Warriors time to refocus because they furnished a significant jolt of their own when action resumed.
The Warriors generated a six-run salvo in the eighth inning to rally for a 10-7 triumph over St. Thomas of Florida in Game 19 of the World Series. The comeback, occurring in front of 4,975 fans at Harris Field, gave the Warriors their long-awaited 17th national championship.
"I'm so proud of my guys," LCSC coach Jeremiah Robbins said. "They deserve to end the season on their field, dogpiling on the field they built. You couldn't ask for anything better."
The Warriors, who finished the year with a 46-12 record, were playing in the championship game for the third consecutive year and the 24th time in program history. They finished second at the Series each of the last two seasons.
The Warriors' 17th title is "an assurance to everybody that the program is still moving forward," Robbins said. "We've knocked on the door a couple of times, but we kicked it through tonight."
Early on, it was St. Thomas doing most of the kicking. The Bobcats, who were playing in the title game for the first time in school history, roughed up LCSC starter Nick Sagendorf for five runs in the first inning.
Even after the Warriors scored a run in the third on a Seth Brown double, cutting the margin to four, the Bobcats answered with two more scores in the fifth. When the Bobcats chased Sagendorf in the fifth, they held a 7-1 advantage.
The Warriors had ample opportunities to slice into the St. Thomas lead, but they left 11 runners stranded on base. LCSC did eventually scratch out two scores in the top of the sixth on doubles by Michael Sexton and Cabe Reiten, making the score 7-3.
Lightning then delayed the game for 44 minutes. The contest didn't restart until 9:33 p.m. local time, a break that seemed to help the Warriors more than the Bobcats.
Brown, who went 2-for-5 with two RBIs, led off the seventh inning with a double and eventually scored on a groundout by Max Whitt. That made the score 7-4 heading into the eighth.
Robert Smith Jr. started that inning with a double to right center. Two batters later, Reiten singled to center to slice the Bobcats' lead to 7-5. Reiten finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Brown then reached base on a fielding error by St. Thomas, which allowed another Warrior run to score. All of a sudden, the Warriors, who at one time trailed by six runs, now found themselves in a bases-loaded situation with a chance to seize the lead for the first time.
And Whitt delivered. The junior infielder lashed a two-run single up the middle to put LCSC on top 8-7. Julian Ramon followed with an RBI double and Smith capped the outburst with a RBI sac fly. All told, the Warriors scored six runs on four hits and a St. Thomas error during their eighth-inning detonation.
LCSC hurler Cameron Pongs then retired the final six St. Thomas batters to secure the Warriors' championship. The senior lefty picked up the win after holding the Bobcats scoreless in his 4.2 innings of relief. Pongs allowed just one hit and one walk to go with six strikeouts.
"Pongs has had an off-and-on year and for him to come in and seal the deal, it was just gutty," Robbins said. "That's just guys buying in and staying with it."
Eric Santamaria suffered the loss for St. Thomas after allowing four runs, all earned, while failing to retire any of the four batters he faced during that pivotal eighth inning. The junior was one of seven pitchers utilized by the Bobcats on the evening.
St. Thomas starter Ben Ancheff, a 300-pound righty, actually stifled the Warriors in his 4.1 innings of work. The junior held LCSC to just two hits while tallying five strikeouts. But he left the game in the fifth with tightness in his shoulder.
The Warriors finished with just nine hits, but they reached double-figure runs for the 20th time this season and the third time in the Series. But at the end of this night, there was only one number that truly mattered: No. 17.
"What a reward for a lot of hard work this year, not only on the field but in the cages and in the community," Robbins said. "It's proof that when you really buy into something and invest the time, good things are going to happen."
Photo Album: Warriors celebrate No. 17!
2015 Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series All-Tournament Team
1B — Hunter Bruehl, Embry-Riddle
2B — Max Whitt, Lewis-Clark State
3B — Enderson Velasquez, Embry-Riddle
SS — Cesar Ramirez, St. Thomas
INF — Eric Santamaria, St. Thomas
C — Matt Molbury, Tabor
C — Steven Fischer, St. Thomas
OF — Chris Madera, Faulkner
OF — Jerry Downs, St. Thomas
OF — Seth Brown, Lewis-Clark State
OF — John Doering, Concordia
DH — Randy Joung, Faulkner
P — Beau Kerns, Lewis-Clark State
P — Stetson Nelson, Embry-Riddle
P — Chris Rodriguez, St. Thomas
P — Russell Longworth, Tabor
Charles Berry Hustle Award — David Stone, Vanguard
Gold Glove Award — Chris Madera, Faulkner
Most Valuable Player — Beau Kerns, Lewis-Clark State
