CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR MAY 8, 2015
Baseball Falls to Adrian in MIAA Tournament Final;
BASEBALL
Adrian 11, Calvin 4
ADRIAN - Calvin's run through the MIAA Tournament came to a close Friday afternoon as the Knights dropped an 11-4 decision to Adrian in the MIAA Tournament Championship game at Adrian's Nicolay Field.
With the win, Adrian (33-10) captures the MIAA Tournament title for the fourth consecutive year and also gains the MIAA's automatic bid to the NCAA III Tournament which is set to begin next week.
Calvin entered the day needing two wins against the Bulldogs to win the MIAA Tournament title and through nearly five innings, it looked like the Knights might force a second and deciding game Friday. Calvin took a 4-2 lead into the fifth inning but Adrian exploded for a six-run fifth to take an 8-4 lead and control of the game.
Adrian took an early lead with two runs in the bottom of the first but Calvin (22-21) came up with a four-run second inning, using a two-out error to bring home one run and then adding to the tally with a two-run RBI triple by senior Grant VanPutten (Holland/Holland Christian HS) and a run-scoring single by junior Jordan VanderWall (Wyoming/South Christian HS).
Calvin freshman pitcher Mike Wierenga (Lombard, IL/Timothy Christian HS) then tossed scoreless innings over the next three frames but Adrian broke loose in the fifth, scoring six runs on seven hits.
Adrian tacked on three insurance runs in the eighth to help seal the win.
Wierenga (1-3) took the loss for Calvin while Tommy Parson (8-1) picked up the win for Adrian. Seniors Austin Juza (St. Joseph/Lake Michigan Catholic HS) and Nate Schepers (Holland/Holland Christian HS) also saw action in relief for the Knights.
The two teams combined for 27 hits with Calvin collecting 10 and Adrian 17.
Senior Peter Cupery (Holland/Holland Christian HS) closed out his Calvin career by going 3-for-4 to finish the season with a .407 batting average. VanPutten went 2-for-4 to finish the year with a .439 average. VanPutten's batting average is the third-highest single-season average in Calvin baseball history while Cupery's average ties him for seventh on the Calvin single-season list.
VanderWall had a pair of hits as did senior Ben Wohl (Canton/Plymouth HS).
VanPutten finished the year with 72 hits, breaking his own Calvin single-season record. His previous record was 63 hits set in 2013. VanPutten also finishes as the Calvin career record holder in hits (234) and stolen bases (98). Heading into Friday, he was ranked sixth nationally in base hits for the 2015 season.
Along with Juza, Schepers, Cupery, Wohl, Brian Exner (Niles/Brandywine HS) and Ben Guilfoyle (Romeoville, IL/Plainfield East HS), VanPutten is one of seven seniors who played in their final collegiate baseball game Friday.
"We will miss our seniors tremendously," said Calvin baseball coach John Rypel who finished up his first year as the head coach of the Knights. "They were outstanding leaders - particularly this weekend. They were a big reason why my first year at Calvin has been a special one. I've said it before and I'll say it again but I love these guys and I love this team. They battled to the very end."
At 22-21, Calvin completes its second straight 20-win season and its second consecutive winning season. Calvin finished the year with a .320 batting average marking the second highest single-season batting average in school history, surpassed only by Calvin's 2008 team that hit .322.
Received on Fri May 8 22:26:17 2015
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