The Anoka-Ramsey Community College Baseball team opened the spring trip portion of its 2016 season with a doubleheader loss Sunday afternoon, March 13 in Harrison, Arkansas to host North Arkansas College.
In what has become an annual theme since Anoka-Ramsey has visited Harrison and played the local team, games got away in the late innings. Indeed, it was the same old story played out in a different season — March of 2016.
The first game was a tight 4-3 affair going into the last of the sixth on the strength of a solo home run by Michael Zimbeck in the fourth and run-scoring singles by both Mylo Hommes and Brennan Beese in the top of the sixth. In the last of the sixth, however, North Arkansas put together six hits to score four runs and pull away.
The second game was even tougher to swallow. A run-scoring double by Hommes in the top of the seventh gave Anoka-Ramsey a 3-2 lead, but as it had done countless times over past years, North Arkansas came back in its last at-bat to wrest the lead and walk away with a win. A walk, a hit, an Anoka-Ramsey error and a sacrifice fly enabled North Arkansas to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 win.
For the doubleheader, Anoka-Ramsey was led by its sophomore center fielder Hommes, who had four hits and a couple of RBI.
March 14, 2016
Once again it was down to the wire for the Anoka-Ramsey baseball.
On its second day of play in Harrison, Arkansas, the team won a walk-off game over Lake Region of Devils Lake, ND 6-5, then lost a walk-off game to host North Arkansas College 7-6. It as the third time in four early season outings that Anoka-Ramsey's fate was decided in the final at-bat.
In game one against Lake Region, the team had a poor collective performance through the first six innings — both in the field and at the plate — and found itself down 5-2 going into the bottom of the seventh inning. A third straight season-opening defeat loomed like a dark cloud settling in over the Ozarks.
That appearance, however, changed dramatically.
A walk to lead off the inning issued by Lake Region pitching to Brennan Beese and singles by Joe Lewis, Haven Williams, Jared Vance and Brent Tholen complemented by a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jordan Langness, enabled Anoka-Ramsey to tie the game 5-5.
And after catcher Justin Reeves, who had been stellar defensively in this contest, drew a walk to load the bases, the game came to a sudden end when the Lake Region relief hurler uncorked a wild pitch with Mylo Hommes at the plate to score Vance from third.
And so it was: a walk-off win. A few hours later, though, it was a walk-off loss — another familiar defeat administered by North Arkansas College.
Since Anoka-Ramsey has been traveling each March to Harrison for a series of spring training games, it had lost a series of walk-off games to the host North Arkansas team. On day one of the 2016 trip, Anoka-Ramsey was defeated for the 10th time in the last inning by North Arkansas, and with the 6-5 Monday afternoon loss in the last inning, it became moment-to-forget No. 11.
"Some times you wonder why things don't start to average out — at least a little bit," said coach Tom Yelle. "But against this team, this program, such things just have not favored us over the years. Ouch, ouch and ouch over and over and over again."
Anoka-Ramsey took a 6-4 lead into the last of the sixth inning behind the pitching of freshman lefty Levi Burke. North Arkansas, however, parlayed a couple of walks, a sacrifice bunt and a pair of singles to tie the game.
Parker Janske, who had won the first game of the day by pitching three innings of scoreless relief against Lake Region, was back on the mound in this second game when North Arkansas rallied to tie the score. He came back out in the last of the seventh, too, but things began to unravel quickly when North Arkansas put runners on first and second and one out.
To his credit, the big right-hander actually made the pitch to get out of the jam — one that produced a double-play ground ball to Langness at second — but this inducement did not have the story-book ending that was desired by Anoka-Ramsey.
Langness fielded the ball cleanly and tossed it over to Williams covering the base from shortstop to get one out. But when inimitable Williams was clipped and upended by the sliding North Arkansas baserunner — as he unleashed the double-play relay throw toward first — the ball went awry and the game-ending run crossed the plate.
Janske subsequently and unfortunately suffered the pitching loss to go along with his pitching victory earlier in the day. Other highlights from this afternoon of baseball included a three-for-three performance at the plate during the first game against Lake Region by Lewis as well as a home run off the bat of Hommes. In the second game,Tholen had three hits and both Williams and Joe Daher added a pair.