But those hopes came up short in a 2-0 loss on May 14 against one of the premier pitchers in the league—Marcus Failing.
The Toppers southpaw ace is 7-0 with a 0.91 ERA this season. In his seven games started, he has thrown four complete games, giving up just six earned runs in 46.1 innings to go along with 86 strikeouts.
On Tuesday, Failing had the Saints bats baffled, often getting ahead in the count and then getting Spa Catholic off-balance and chasing pitches outside of the strike zone.
“(Failing) was tough,” Saints head coach Phonsey Lambert said. “He’s got us two times in a row (this season). I thought Jake (Moline) matched him pitch for pitch. He pitched a great game. The thing about Failing that makes him tough is he’s wild just enough and he works all parts of the plate.”
Failing had 13 strikeouts against Spa Catholic, who managed four hits in the game – one more than the Toppers got off Moline.
Moline had seven strikeouts through six strong, but a couple tough plays in the field made the difference. One of those was in the second inning. After a leadoff double by the Toppers’ Dakota Nemecek, Moline responded by striking out Failing on a high fastball and getting Jesse Heroth to ground out.
But Trent Douglas’ blooper to center field couldn’t be handled by a charging Chris Larson and what would end up being the winning run crossed home after running with two outs.
“We had a couple lapses defensively and that cost us,” Lambert said. “And we had a couple situations when we had runners in scoring position and we just couldn’t get the big hit.”
The Saints had opportunities in the fourth and sixth innings, but both ended with Cameron Coons stranded on third base. Coons reached base safely in all three at-bats, going 2-for-3 with a walk and two singles. In the sixth inning, he was moved to third after Jesse Winters laced a line drive double down the right field line, but Failing struck out back-to-back batters to end the frame.
The 2-0 loss to Fort Plain at the Ballpark at Phillips Field was an improvement, said Lambert, upon the loss back on May 3 at Joe Bruno Stadium. Technically a home game for the Saints, they fell 5-2, as Winters gave up five earned runs over 4.1 innings of work.
Following the early May loss, the Saints went on a four game tear, outscoring opponents 38-15, to have the shot at another WAC championship.
After dropping Wednesday’s final regular season game to Canajoharie, 6-5, the Saints fell to 13-3 in the WAC and 14-4 overall, three games behind undefeated Fort Plain.
With the regular season over, the Saints are hosting the 25th Annual Phil Waring Tournament Championship, which was postponed last weekend. Starting at 9 a.m. Saturday at Veterans Memorial Park, the Saints will have one more weekend of games before the Section II Class B sectionals begin.
As one season comes to an end, a new one will begin for the Saints, who are looking to capture their fifth Section II Class B title in seven years. The Section II baseball seeding meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 20.
