ENID, OKLA. - Monday's second round matchup between #6 Madison College and #3 East Central Community College at the NJCAA Division II Baseball World Series at David Allen Memorial Ballpark provided more storylines than a typical baseball game should. The Warriors, ranked #1 in the final NJCAA Division II Poll, built a 10-1 lead and nearly ended the game via run-rule in the fifth inning, only to have the WolfPack battle back and steal a 12-10 victory with 11 unanswered runs. In the process, head coach Mike Davenport earned his 1,100th career victory in junior college baseball. The comeback effort also tops that of the 2018 WolfPack, who battled back from a 9-1 differential after three innings to upset third-seeded Kirkwood Community College by an 18-9 final in the tournament opener.

The game did not start the way Madison College hoped. East Central connected on a two-run homer in the bottom of the first off starter Eli Hoyt, added two more runs on a wild pitch and run-scoring single in the second, and stretche the lead to 9-1 in the third with two more homers sandwiched around another wild pitch. 

The lone bright spot during those first three innings was a lead-off solo home run by sophomore Payton Frehner in the second. It was the first baseman's third homer of the season and career, and his first since April 9 against Bryant & Stratton College.

The Warriors nearly put the game away in the fifth inning via run rule. East Central plated a run on a double steal to take a 10-1 lead; however, the Pack caught what could have been the game-winning runner in a rundown between first and second to end the inning. 



Madison College found some momentum from that play and began their rally in the top of the sixth. Charlie Marion walked and Will Johannes doubled to right, setting up sophomore Grant Ross for a run-scoring single through the left side. Marcelino Alonso then drove in a run to make it 10-3 with a sacrifice fly to right. A walk and a hit by pitch loaded the bases, and sophomore Jalen Gellings came through with another sac fly to right to cut the differential to 10-4. The free bases and the runs kept coming a Charlie Schau was hit by a pitch to put a runner on every base, and a wild pitch scored Howie Rickett. After a walk was issued to Frehner and re-loaded the bases, another wild pitch allowed Dayton Rozinski-Hicks to race in and score for a 10-7 score. The Pack nearly added more in the inning, but Johannes' ground ball to third allowed for a force out with the bases loaded to end the threat.

A walk and a single to open the seventh again put runners on and a successful sacrifice bunt from Rickett was enough for Ross to touch home and trim the gap to two runs. Still trailing 10-8 in the top of the ninth, the WolfPack batters continued to work the ECCC arms, using a Ross single and consecutive walks to load the bases with no outs. Freshman James Duncan drove in a run with a ground out to second to make it 10-9. A wild pitch during the next at bat scored Alonso and the game was tied. With the comeback complete, Gellings came through with a clutch line drive to to right to score Rickett and give Madison College its first lead of the game. Two batters later, Frehner roped a two-out double to right-center field, and Gellings raced all the way from first to score the game's final run.

Sophomore righthander Eamonn Mulhern (4-0) worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to finish off the game-winning effort out of the bullpen. The Madison, Wisconsin, native, took over in the third inning, and held ECCC to one run on one hit and two walks over the next 6.2 innings. He struck out three in the longest outing of his career. Hoyt was tagged for eight earned runs on six hits and five walks. He fanned two in two-plus innings on the hill.

The Madison College bats finished with eight hits, but took full advantage of 13 walks and three hit batters. Ross, a native of Pewaukee, Wisconsin, finished 2 for 2 with three walks. He scored a team-high three runs and drove in another. Alonso, a freshman from Reedsburg, Wisconsin, followed Ross in the lineup and went 2 for 3 with a walk, a run scored, and one batted in.

Frehner ended the game 2 for 4 with a home run and a walk. He drove in a team-leading two runs and scored another. Gellings also had two RBI and a run scored as part of a 1 for 3 game with one walk. Rickett joined Ross as the only other player with multiple runs scored, touching home twice after drawing a pair of walks. Marion led the team with four bases on balls, leading to one run scored.

The career win for Davenport comes 757 days after he surpassed the 1,000 mark. He becomes the tenth player in the history of the NJCAA to reach the 1,100 win plateau.



Up Next:

Madison College (39-12) moves on to the quarterfinal round and will take on #2-seed Brunswick Community College (49-8). The Dolphins ended the regular season ranked #4 in the final NJCAA Division II Poll, and opened the World Series with a 10-2 win in eight innings of #10-seed South Arkansas Community College in the second round. First pitch on Tuesday, May 28 is set for 4:00 p.m. at David Allen Memorial Ballpark.

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