By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
 
HATTIESBURG – In the end, it was just too much William Carey.
 
The Crusaders completed a dominant run through the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round at Milton Wheeler Field with an 11-4 triumph over Milligan (Tenn.) Wednesday evening in the championship round.
 
As a result, Carey (37-14), ranked No. 15 in the final NAIA regular season poll, is headed back to Lewiston, Idaho, to play in the NAIA World Series for the second consecutive season.
 
"It feels great," said Carey senior Preston Ratliff. "We're hungry for it. We want it, and we're going out there to compete."
 
Milligan (35-22) advanced to the championship round with a dramatic 8-7 victory over Mid-America Christian in Wednesday's earlier elimination game, getting two solo home runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk off the regional top-seed.
 
But the fourth-seeded Buffaloes ran out of magic against the second-seeded Crusaders, who had too much of everything going for them. And it was the senior Ratliff who had most of it going.
 
Ratliff came out of the bullpen in a critical spot, earning the victory in relief, and as the designated hitter, drove in four runs, three coming on a game-breaking home run in the bottom of the seventh.
 
"Preston's played the whole year with a broken bone in his left hand," said Carey head coach Bobby Halford. "Now he's starting to swing the bat a little bit."
 
Senior right-hander Connor Adams got the start, and his defense took care of him right from the start.
 
Junior Angel Lobo drew a walk to lead off, then Adams got a flyball out. On the next pitch, to senior Jose Paula, the Buffs gambled, sending Lobo on a hit-and-run, and that decision backfired in a double play.
 
Rightfielder Billy Garrity caught up to Paula's sharply-hit line drive and threw back to first base to easily double-up Lobo.
 
Adams gave Carey exactly what he was asked to give, pitch at least five innings, and keep the Crusaders in the game. He went 5 1-3 innings, allowed two runs on six hits, struck out two and walked just one.
 
"Connor's pitched in some big ball games since he's been with us," said Halford. "Today, he didn't have his good fastball and had to rely a lot on his off-speed pitches.
 
"We knew if we could get him five or six innings we'd be in good shape with the back end of our bullpen being so good. That was our plan, and he got us where we wanted to go. He just competes."
 
WCU took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, when senior R.J. Stinson reached second on a bloop hit just inside the leftfield line behind third base. It was initially scored a double, but was later changed to an error.
 
Junior Bridley Thomas sacrificed Stinson to third and scored on a double to the wall in centerfield off the bat of Ratliff.
 
Thomas made it 2-0 when he smacked the first pitch of the third inning over the leftfield wall for a home run, the first of three longballs by the Crusaders.
 
"We just needed a big spark there," said Thomas. "But honestly, that just shows how we've been doing it since the conference tournament began. Any time we get smacked in the face, we just reply and keep replying, and find a way to come out with a big win."
 
Milligan freshman Canyon Geren kept the Buffaloes in the game, however, limiting the damage in the first and third innings to just one run in each inning.
 
And that seemed to loom large as Milligan mounted a comeback, getting a run back in the fourth when senior Vasili Kaloudis – who hit the game-winning homer in the earlier game –  pulled a 2-2 pitch over the rightfield wall.
 
A defensive gem by Thomas at shortstop saved a run for Carey in the top of the third after the Buffs got the first two batters on base with a double by senior Ryan Molinari and an infield single by junior Cade Kalehuawehe.
 
Adams induced a ground ball to Thomas, who alertly threw to the plate to catch Molinari trying to score from third, with junior catcher Brady Logan applying the needed tag.
 
"I had a good at-bat against their first guy, and you see on his face that he was a scrapper," said Thomas.
 
"In fact, that whole really scrapped. They had a bunch of older guys on their roster, and that's kind of the same thing for us. We've got guys who've been around who can go deep in counts and deep in games and have the confidence to know they're going to have success."
 
Milligan tied it up in the sixth, when Paula drilled the first pitch of the inning to the fence in left-centerfield for a double, then went to third on a flyout to right. That brought Halford out for Ratliff.
 
"We've been prepared for those situations, and worked hard in practice doing a lot of mental preparation for dealing with that," said Ratliff. "Coach always has me coming into those spots. I like those situations, the intensity of it."
 
Ratliff couldn't prevent the run from coming home on a sacrifice fly by Kaloudis and was in further trouble when the Buffs subsequently loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a hit batter.
 
But the lanky right-hander got a strikeout to end the inning and keep the game tied. And it quickly became untied in the bottom of the inning when senior Bailee Hendon smacked a 3-1 pitch into the trees behind the scoreboard in right to give Carey the lead for good.
 
"It's different people every time," said Halford. "Ratliff today was really good. Of course, R.J.'s always giving us a spark. It's a different way of winning, and we take it one game at a time."
 
Geren (0-4) probably deserved a better fate, as he allowed just three runs, two earned, on five hits. He struck out six and walked three.
 
But the Buffaloes had a chance to get their starter off the hook in the seventh after opening the inning with a double by Lobo.
 
However, Ratliff (2-2) got two groundouts and a flyout in rightfield foul territory to retain the lead, and when he went back out for the eighth, it was all but over.
 
"I wanted to stay in the game, because then we'd lose the DH and I wouldn't be able to hit," said Ratliff. "I was trying to stay in there as long as possible and get the job done."
 
Carey broke the game open in the bottom of the seventh with eight runs on seven hits, an error and two hit batters.
 
Stinson led it off with a single up the middle, and in short order he was home with a run, reaching second on a hit batter and he scored on a throwing error after senior Jake Lycette reached on an infield single down the first base line.
 
Ratliff powered the next pitch over the leftfield wall for a three-run homer and a commanding 7-0 lead.
 
"I had been sitting slider and they'd been giving me sliders all night," said Ratliff. "Coach Halford told me to sit slider. I sat slider and took it for a ride."
 
The Crusaders weren't done. Hendon singled to left, went to second on a groundout to first and came around when senior Caleb Laird cued an opposite-field double down the rightfield line.
 
Junior Jerod Williams before Stinson returned to the plate to drive in both runners with a double to left-center, and Stinson came home on a single to left by Thomas, who was thrown out at second trying to stretch it into a double for the final out of the inning.
 
Milligan got two runs back in the top of the eighth, scoring one when a walk with one out came home on a double into the left-centerfield gap off the bat of Molinari, who scored the other run on Carey's only error of the game.
 
Senior John Snyder came on to pitch the ninth, and retired the Buffs in order on 10 pitches.
 
Now in his 39th season, Halford has taken Carey to the World Series now three times, finishing third a year ago, and he thinks this team is tough enough and experienced enough to win it all behind the momentum of an 11-game winning streak.
 
The NAIA World Series gets underway May 24 on the campus of Lewis-Clark State College, and continues through May 31.
 
"We're just taking it one game at a time," said Halford.
 
"The experience these guys had last year went a long way for us down the stretch. That's one of the things we've talked about. Let's not get too uptight. We've been there before and we know what it takes. That's what's won out for us."