Alec Williams made Creighton Prep pay for the defensive shift it used for him.
RYLY JANE HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Friday, May 22, 2009 12:00 am
Alec Williams made Creighton Prep pay for the defensive shift it used for him.
Omaha Westside's speedy left fielder hit a three-run, inside-the-park home run in the top of the eighth inning to lift the Warriors to a 6-5 win and the Class A state championship.
"They play so shallow on me," he said of the three Prep outfielders. "We'd been talking about it all day, if I just hit one out there, I'm going all the way around and that's exactly what I did. They do it every time and this time I was ready to go.
"I rounded third and I couldn't believe he (coach Bob Greco) was going to send me, but I went. I knew I was going to get there."
Prep, which scored a run in the bottom of the seventh on an error to send the game to extra innings, got a pair of runs in the eighth when Charlie Krueger hit a two-run single to right. He advanced to third on a single and an error, but was stranded there when future Husker pitcher Chris Williams got a strikeout, his eighth, to end the game.
"Giving up that run in the bottom of the seventh was tough. If this had been last year's team, we would have folded," Greco said. "But we spent a lot of time talking about that and these kinds of situations. It's easier to give up two runs (in the eighth) when you have a three-run lead."
Westside (34-4) overcame four errors and had just five hits to earn the title.
The game wasn't without controversy. In the eighth, Prep's Ryan Briggs was twice hit by a pitched ball, but umpire Frank McEntarffer ruled he leaned into the pitch. After a heated discussion, Briggs struck out.
"We caught a break in the seventh to tie. There were some interesting calls in the last inning that we came out on the wrong end," said Prep coach Pat Mooney. "I don't think any of them was right. I think the game got too big for the home plate umpire. He stole the game from us."