“It was unbelievable,” Fruhwirth said after recording a double and a triple in the sixth inning, driving in five runs. “The way we rallied off each other was incredible. To come back and run-rule one of the best teams in the league … what a memorable game. Probably one I will never forget.”
And one that Carlisle baseball coach Chris Hawkins probably won’t soon forget.
The Indians, needing a sweep against the Spartans to wrest the division title from their grasp, had led from the first inning and had just missed adding to the lead in the top of the sixth after a blown call by the field umpire.
“When they made that call, we were looking at our two, three and four coming up and were looking at putting up a crooked number and really breaking it open,” Hawkins said after the Indians fell to 14-6 overall and 9-2 in the SWBL. “But we still had a 6-1 lead and had to put the ball over the plate and make plays, and we didn’t do that.”
With one out in the top of the sixth, Adam Goodpaster hit a sinking line drive into center field that was short-hopped by James Kelly. The field umpire, however, ruled it a catch, and the end result was a double play at second when Jake Branson couldn’t get back to the bag.
“After that, it just felt like anything happened that could happen,” Hawkins said. “We always tell the guys to stay in it and give the game a chance, and Waynesville did that. They beat the ball around and the wheels fell off.”
The Spartans (18-2, 11-0) sent 19 hitters to the plate in the sixth inning, sending seven before the Indians could record an out. Fruhwirth had a double that cut the lead to 6-4 and scored to get Waynesville within one, but it looked like Carlisle might get out of it.
WHS pinch-hitter Gavin Linkous hit a one-bouncer back to the mound, but the throw home to begin a double play sailed to the backstop. It would be another six hitters before the second out would be recorded.
“We got to 6-5 and luckily we got that error or we were going into the seventh down one,” Spartans coach Ryan Hill said. “Sometimes you have to have good breaks. We ran ourselves out of some innings and had some adversity, but it is a credit to our guys that they came back. You don’t win this league four times in a row on accident.”
The Indians were in command for most of the game.
Reece Human lined a two-run double to center as part of a four-run first and silenced the Spartan bats through five innings of three-hit ball on the mound.
Jake Glover added a solo home run in the third and Human drove in his third run of the night in the fifth for a 6-1 lead.
Then the sixth inning hit.
“Our coaches tell us hitting is contagious,” Fruhwirth said. “That is very true. This is one of the things I will never forget because it will never happen again.”
Carlisle will travel to Oakwood on Tuesday and host Waynesville on Wednesday.
Carlisle 401-010—6-7-1
Waynesville 100-00(15)—16-16-2
WP — Jake Oakes (2-0); LP — Reece Human (3-1); HR — C: Jake Glover. Records: C 14-6, 9-2 SWBL Buckeye; W 18-2, 11-0 SWBL Buckeye
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