Rockets' red flair
SLIPPERY ROCK — Nathan McCollough raised his arms into the chilly Slippery Rock air and sprinted out toward second base to greet Cody Stephenson.
It was an outburst of raw emotion for the Slippery Rock baseball coach. Stephenson, the hero on this day both as a pitcher and a hitter, welcomed his coach with a smile and pump of his fist.
Just like that, with one swing of the bat, the Rockets were District 10 Class AAA champions.
“Words can't even describe what I am feeling right now,” Stephenson said.
It was by no means easy for Slippery Rock or Stephenson.
The Rockets fell behind 6-2 against Warren after a disastrous top of the third inning, but regrouped, chipped away at the lead and eventually won on Stephenson's sharply hit double, 7-6, in nine innings at Jack Critchfield Park Monday afternoon.
Warren was making its fourth straight trip to the district title game. Meanwhile, Slippery Rock was coming off its first two playoff wins — ever.
McCollough spent six innings telling his team that they would come back and win the game. His team proved the second-year coach and Karns City High School graduate a prophet.
“In the third inning, I told them, 'We will win this game 7-6,'” McCollough said. “I said it the whole game. Chip away. Chip away. Chip away. They battled. I can't say enough about this group of kids.”
Slippery Rock (14-7) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, but the wheels came off in the top of the third against a laboring Stephenson.
An error and a walk put the first two Warren batters of the inning on base.
“Nothing good ever happens when you do that,” McCollough said.
Three singles, a double, a sacrifice fly and a triple later and the Rockets were staring at a 6-2 deficit.
There was no panic in the Slippery Rock dugout, however.
“That was the worst inning I've had all year,” Stephenson said. “My mentality was to just come out and have our offense chip away at it. We just needed to keep our heads up, and I needed to put up some zeros.”
That's just what Stephenson did. Warren managed just three singles after the third inning. Two double plays helped Stephenson escape two minor jams.
“You can tell (Stephenson) believed we were going to come back and win,” McCollough said. “The way we've been playing lately, everyone believed.”
Everyone was a believer when Stephenson took the first pitch he saw from Warren relief pitcher Tanner Teconchuk in the bottom of the ninth inning and sent it into the left-center gap.
The table was set for Stephenson by a pair of Lausters. Travis Lauster singled with one out and then Ryan Lauster followed with a line drive that was misplayed by Warren shortstop Rick Eaton, in part because the second-base umpire had to duck to get out of the way of the sharply hit ball.“It distracted him, no doubt,” said Warren coach Rick Eaton. “But the umpire has to stand somewhere.“The key to the game was all of those zeros on the scoreboard after that No. 6,” coach Eaton added. “I told them we have to keep scoring, but we didn't. You have to give their pitcher a lot of credit for that.”Stephenson gave up six runs, only three earned, and struck out six in nine innings. Had the game gone to the 10th inning, Mitch Robinson would have taken the mound for the Rockets.Stephenson made that a moot point.“I wanted to get it done right there,” Stephenson said of his last at-bat. “Might as well, right?”Stephenson was in position for the game-winner because the Rockets were able to scratch back into the game with a run in the bottom of the third inning and three more in the bottom of the fifth frame.The key hit in the fifth was a two-run triple by Ryan Lauster. Freshman Josh Bowser drove home the tying run with a single.It all helped Slippery Rock rally for an improbable district title.“These guys just worked so hard since we were in the gym in the winter time,” Stephenson added. “That hard work just paid off. Since we were freshmen, I never thought we would get this far. But we did it.”Warren 006 000 000 — 6 8 2Slippery Rock 021 030 001 — 7 8 3One out when winning run scoredW: Cody Stephenson 9IP (6K, 2BB). L: Tanner Teconchuk 3.1IP (2K, 1BB).Warren (14-6): Rick Eaton 1B RBI, Austin Schwanke 1B, Tanner Stanz 2-1B 2-RBI, Matt Hultquist 2B 1B RBI, Jason Stanton RBI, Carter Cerra 3B RBI, Ed ORd 1BSlippery Rock (14-7): Travis Lauster 1B, Ryan Lauster 3B 2-RBI, Stephenson 2B RBI, Mitch Robinson 1B RBI, Josh Bowser 1B RBI, Joe Barnhart 2B, Jackson Kerchis 2B 2-RBI, Taylor Buhler 1BMonday: Slippery Rock vs. West Allegheny-Keystone Oaks winner, first round of PIAA Class AAA playoffs, site and time TBD
