Strafford’s Class 3 state semifinal on Tuesday was a brisk 93-minute affair featuring one combined error.
Wednesday afternoon’s state championship game with Malden was the exact opposite.
The two-hour and 15-minute championship game featured eight combined errors and 17 total runs.
Malden came out on top with a 9-8 victory to win the Class 3 State Championship.
“They (Malden) did a really good job of putting the ball in play. There were several times we just didn’t make the play and threw the ball around a little bit,” Strafford head coach Shane Pierce said.
Both teams were crisp through the first three innings with each having their No. 2 starters on the mound in Strafford’s Dillon Turner and Malden’s Tye Miller.
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Malden scraped across one run in the bottom of the first before the teams went scoreless for the next two innings.
In the fourth, the scoring floodgates began to open.
Strafford’s Nick Oliver got the scoring going with a two-run single in the bottom of the fourth to give Strafford a 3-2 lead.
Malden responded with three runs of its own in the bottom of the inning. Turner worked through the first two batters on just five pitches before a single, walk, double and throwing error would allow the Green Wave to score all three runs with two outs.
The Indians didn’t back down trailing 4-2 going to the fifth, as they scored four runs on three hits and an error to take a 6-4 lead.
Once again, Malden had an answer scoring five runs on six hits and two errors in the bottom of the inning to take a commanding 9-6 lead.
Yet Strafford continued to battle.
In the top of the sixth, Hunter Langston brought Drew Stoll home with a blast to left field for his first home run of the season to get Strafford within one run trailing 9-8.
That would be all Strafford would get as Mason Brown slammed the door for Malden to give the Green Wave a championship.
“I think both teams just competed and I think that is why both teams are playing for a state championship,” Pierce said. “We didn’t give up. I am just proud of the way they competed. It was a great year and I am proud of the kids.”
Strafford says goodbye to three seniors in Drew Stoll, Bryce Boswell and Michael Wollweber. Seven starters and a host of reserves will return for the Indians next season as they will continue their quest for the program’s first state championship.
“I am excited for the kids. There are three seniors, two that play most of the time, and I love those kids,” Pierce said. “I hope that these kids (underclassmen) will build on this. I hope we get back here next year.”
