Austin Wings Black’s 1-2 punch KOs Premier foes
By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
After two ties on Friday, the Austin Wings Black baseball team was concerned it would not earn a
quarterfinal berth in the Premier Baseball Junior World Series.
“There was concern on our part that we could go 4-0-2, not lose a game in Joplin and then not
advance,” coach Marcus Hendry said. “That was a definite concern of ours. Fortunately it worked out
that we pitched well enough and only gave up a certain amount of runs and we were able to get a
wild card and go from there.”
Once the Wings secured the No. 7 seed in the quarterfinals, their offense took over.
After an 11-6 quarterfinal victory Saturday over the Indiana Bulls Black, the Wings pounded a total of
31 hits while beating the Midwest Nationals 15-4 and the Bayside Yankees 16-5 to claim their second
straight Junior World Series title and third in the last four years.
“It’s the first time all year that we were clicking on all cylinders,” Hendry said. “Offensively it was fun to
watch. The other teams, the Yankees and the Midwest Nationals, competed really hard. We just
swung the bats real well and made it tough on everybody.”
Center fielder Todd Ritchie and left fielder Collin Radack, the first two hitters in the lineup, certainly
set the table for the Wings’ offense. In the two five-inning games, they combined for 11 hits in 15
official at-bats — 6-of-9 for Ritchie and 5-of-6 for Radack.
Both went 3-for-3 in the first three innings in the semifinal victory over the Nationals, and in the first
two innings against the Yankees, Ritchie was 3-for-3, Radack 2-for-2 with a sacrifice fly.
“I don’t even know the numbers,” Hendry said. “I just know that when those two are getting on
constantly, and the guys behind them can swing the bat, we’re going to score some runs..”
Leading 5-4, the Wings erupted for 11 runs in the bottom of the second inning against the Yankees.
Five of the nine hits in the inning went for extra bases — a leadoff triple by Ritchie, two-run doubles
by Zack Taylor and Ty Marlow and RBI doubles by Radack and Christian Summers, who commited to
Texas.
Radack and Marlow also had sacrifice flies in the inning, Taylor drove in another run with a single
and Dustin Babola had a two-run single.
“It was amazing,” Radack said. “It was the most fun that I’ve definitely had in a long time. We put up
seven or eight runs without giving up an out. It was insane. There is so much energy. That’s what
won us the game, how pumped up we were.”
Marlow, who’s committed to Texas A&M, had only one official at bat but drove in four runs. Taylor
also had four RBI, and Rush Plumlee’s bases-loaded double capped the Wings’ five-run first.
Elvin Soto had two hits and two RBI for the Yankees, and John Capuano and Carlos Guzman also
had two hits. Soto’s two-run double in the first inning was the difference in the 3-1 semifinal win over
Building Champions.
In the semifinal game against the Nationals, Andre Wheeler’s grand slam spiced an eight-run third
inning that ballooned a 5-4 lead to 13-4, and he drove in the final two runs with a single in the fourth.
Cameron O’Brien had two hits and an RBI for the Springfield-based Nationals.
This story is from the Joplin Globe
Joplin, Missouri