Eau Claire, Wisconsin’s Cameron Buchman celebrates his game-winning hit with teammates Austin McGraw, Ethan Prell (35) and Aaron Gust (27) at the end of Game 22 of the Babe Ruth 13-15 World Series against Beekman, New York on Thursday at Diethrick Park in Jamestown.
OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman
JAMESTOWN — Things looked bleak for Eau Claire, Wisconsin entering the bottom of the seventh inning trailing by four runs Thursday evening.
Eight batters later, the Ohio Valley Region champions were celebrating and Beekman, New York was heading home.
Cameron Buchman hit a walk-off RBI single to the wall in right field as Eau Claire paired three walks with three hits in its final at-bat to beat the Middle Atlantic Region champions 6-5 in a Babe Ruth 13-15 World Series quarterfinal at Diethrick Park.
“Our bats were sleeping for six innings,” Eau Claire manager John Bugher said. “I know we are a good hitting team, but we weren’t barreling anything up. … They got it done in that inning, I’ll tell you that.”
Next up for Eau Claire, the American Division No. 2 seed, is a semifinal showdown with National Division No. 1 seed Norwalk, Connecticut at 7 tonight on the city’s east side.
Eau Claire’s Aiden Pankratz dives safely into third with a two-run triple during the seventh inning as Beekman’s Casey Lowndes chases a bad throw in Game 22 of the Babe Ruth 13-15 World Series at Diethrick Park on Thursday.
OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman
“They’re a good team. We’ll have our challenges and they’ll have their challenges,” Bugher said of Norwalk. “We have to hit early in the game and put pressure on them.”
Peyton Veith led off the seventh inning with a walk before Ethan Prell hit a double to right field. Aiden Pankratz then roped a two-run triple to center field and Beekman pulled reliever Rich Brown in favor of Casey Lowndes.
“I can put him down in the bottom because he’s kind of a sleeper. He’s going to get good fastballs because he is the No. 8 or 9 hitter,” Bugher said of Pankratz. “When he gets one grooved, he takes advantage of it.”
The pitching change did not slow the Wisconsin bats.
Lowndes walked pinch-hitter Cashton Kainz and leadoff batter Tyler Barrows followed with an RBI double to left field.
Beekman’s Casey Lowndes reacts after hitting a triple.
OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman
“Getting those few guys on in the bottom, scoring a couple of runs and getting closer … the top of our order is tough,” Bugher said. “They got it done.”
Following an intentional walk to load the bases, Blake Bugher hit a hard grounder to Beekman’s pulled-in infield. The throw to home plate was high and when the New York catcher came down, he was not on the plate, which allowed Kainz to score the tying run.
Buchman — his team’s Ron Tellefsen Player of the Game — then swung and missed at a high pitch out of the zone from Lowndes and took a breaking ball for a strike before sending a towering drive over the Beekman right fielder’s head for the game-winning hit.
“I wouldn’t have thrown him that pitch,” Bugher said. “He took advantage of it.”
It was quite a different ending for Eau Claire than two years ago when pretty much the same group was here as 13-year-olds. That team was 3-1 and earned a No. 1 seed after pool play then, but lost its semifinal matchup.
“I was in the dugout for the first six innings thinking, ‘What in the heck is going on? Is this going to happen to us again?’” Bugher said. “They pulled through.”
The five-run final inning for Beekman spoiled a great start from left-hander Gianni Servidio — his team’s Ron Tellefsen Player of the Game — after he threw five-plus innings of one-run, two-hit ball while walking five and hitting a batter.
“No. 99 pitched a hell of a game,” Bugher said. “He kept us off-balance. … I give him credit.”
Lowndes also had a strong day at the plate for Beekman. He tripled and scored his team’s first run in the second inning before tripling to drive in Tristan Rivera with New York’s final run in the fifth inning. Eau Claire walked Lowndes to load the bases in the seventh inning before a strikeout by reliever Aaron Gust ended the threat.
The three runners left on proved costly in the end for Beekman.
“You have to get through this game. Aaron (Gust) is still going to be available if we make it to Saturday,” Bugher said. “We’re good to go.”
NOTES: Sean Kelly walked and scored on an error in the third for Beekman. In the fourth, Christian Anderson walked and scored on a Tim Mahoney RBI single, and Servidio singled and scored on a Sean Mangano RBI single.
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Eau Claire, Wisconsin’s Cameron Buchman celebrates his game-winning hit with teammates Austin McGraw, Ethan Prell (35) and Aaron Gust (27) at the end of Game 22 of the Babe Ruth 13-15 World Series against Beekman, New York on Thursday at Diethrick Park in Jamestown.
OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman
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Beekman’s Casey Lowndes reacts after hitting a triple.
OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman
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Eau Claire’s Aiden Pankratz dives safely into third with a two-run triple during the seventh inning as Beekman’s Casey Lowndes chases a bad throw in Game 22 of the Babe Ruth 13-15 World Series at Diethrick Park on Thursday.
OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman