Lancers Celebrates Senior Day Win
April 24, 2017 at 2:54 p.m.
Lancers Celebrates Senior Day Win
By Josh Neuhart-
In a near-replica from last year’s Senior Day, the Lancers won again in walkoff fashion, this time at the expense of Goshen College on Saturday.
After dropping the opening game 4-0 to the Maple Leafs, Grace ended the day on a euphoric note with a 7-6 win in the 11th inning.
Senior Shay Hepler, a Warsaw Community High School product, scored the winning run in extra innings. He started the 11th inning with a triple off the outfield fence.
Goshen seemed poised to escape after striking out the next two batters, but Austin Baker laced a two-out double over the centerfielder’s head to win the game and send the Lancers’ bench spilling out onto the field in celebration.
The win also marks Grace’s first series win during Crossroads League play since taking 3 of 4 from Goshen in March 2015.
In the opening game, Grace was unable to string together any offensive threats in a 4-0 shutout. The Lancers (15-26-1, 7-17 CL) did manage to produce eight hits, including two doubles, but Grace could not generate any runs.
In the third inning, Gabe Douglass led off with a double but was stranded there with three straight putouts. Grace also put a runner on second base in the fourth and sixth innings without plating a run.
The final at-bats for the Lancers saw Jason Stevens and Cameron Maxwell single on consecutive at-bats. But a double play and a fly out quickly eliminated that threat and ended the game.
Xavier Harris was a perfect 3-for-3. Joe Dougherty pitched five innings on his Senior Day, allowing three runs to score with five strikeouts.
Grace’s offense found its stride to start game two. Goshen plated twice in the top of the first inning, but the Lancers countered with two of their own.
Gavin Bussard walked, and Harris parked a two-out, two-run home run to left field. Harris’s homer was his 11th of the season, setting a single-season record for Grace.
The first batter of the second inning was Stevens. The senior first baseman belted a 3-2 pitch to left field for his first career home run.
The Lancers’ assault continued in the second with three more runs. Bussard, Hunter Ackerman and Harris all had RBI singles in the inning to put Grace ahead 6-2.
But the Maple Leafs (22-25-1, 10-14 CL) fought back as Grace’s bats went cold over the middle innings. Goshen tacked on one run in the third and three more in the fifth to tie the game at 6-6.
The game remained at 6-6 for the next five innings. Aaron Voirol and Scottie Clark pitched impressive stints in relief to keep the Maple Leafs off the scoreboard.
Voirol tossed two innings without allowing a hit, and Clark allowed just one hit over the final four innings to get the win.
Grace nearly won the game in regulation at the bottom of the ninth. Ackerman singled and was bunted to second. But a double play snuffed out Grace’s threat.
Clark blanked Goshen in the 10th and 11th innings, setting the stage for Austin Baker’s memorable game-winning swing.
Harris batted 3 for4 with three RBIs, and Bussard was 2 for 4 with two runs. Logan Grigsby struck out seven in five innings as the starter, and Ackerman and Stevens each had two hits.
Grace’s graduating class of Chase Baker, Blake Converset, Dougherty, Grigsby, Hepler, Stevens and Matthew Warren were honored after the doubleheader for Senior Day.
The Lancers take a short break from league play on Monday, hosting Judson for a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Miller Athletic Complex. The regular season will end over the weekend at Taylor with a three-game series.
TRACK & FIELD
UPLAND – Grace’s track and field team had a memorable weekend at the Little State Championships, held at Taylor University.
The Lancers had three individual champions at the meet, set two school records and had two qualify for NAIA Nationals.
Both the men’s and women’s teams finished eighth out of 15 teams; the 48 points amassed by the men’s squad are the highest point total in recorded team history at Little State.
Raven Arellano finished first in the 10,000-meter run, setting a school record and qualifying for the NAIA Outdoor National Championships in a time of 37:13.13. Arellano also finished second in the 5,000 at 18:18.60.
Jacob Brown set a school record in the hammer throw, hitting 171-feet-7 to make the NAIA standard.
Bennett Parker was the high jump champion, clearing 6-foot-6 in a personal-best performance, and Hannah Treadway won the javelin throw at 121-5.
The men’s 4x800 relay team of Hunter Reed, Tyler Houvener, Sam Hall and Nathan Lane ended in second place with a time of 7:55.03, and the women’s 4x800 squad of McCalah Mast, Brooke Smith, Morgan Mower and Liz Fox was fourth.
Macallister Seitz was third in the discus at 163-1 and eighth in the javelin, and Isaac Stuckey was also third in the javelin at 153-6.
Walker Hobbs put in a PR in the shot put to finish sixth, Austin Keisling (triple jump) and Brandon Smith (steeplechase) placed seventh, and Ben Rankin ended in eighth place in the 5,000.
The men’s 4x100 relay foursome of Martin Schiele, Cameron Johnson, Joel Zook and Keisling produced a sixth-place showing in 43.73.
On Saturday, the Lancers will enjoy an historic meet. Grace will officially kick off the Bernard and Linnie Key Track and Field Complex with the Lancer Invitational. The meet, held at Grace’s Miller Athletic Complex, will start at 12 p.m.
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In a near-replica from last year’s Senior Day, the Lancers won again in walkoff fashion, this time at the expense of Goshen College on Saturday.
After dropping the opening game 4-0 to the Maple Leafs, Grace ended the day on a euphoric note with a 7-6 win in the 11th inning.
Senior Shay Hepler, a Warsaw Community High School product, scored the winning run in extra innings. He started the 11th inning with a triple off the outfield fence.
Goshen seemed poised to escape after striking out the next two batters, but Austin Baker laced a two-out double over the centerfielder’s head to win the game and send the Lancers’ bench spilling out onto the field in celebration.
The win also marks Grace’s first series win during Crossroads League play since taking 3 of 4 from Goshen in March 2015.
In the opening game, Grace was unable to string together any offensive threats in a 4-0 shutout. The Lancers (15-26-1, 7-17 CL) did manage to produce eight hits, including two doubles, but Grace could not generate any runs.
In the third inning, Gabe Douglass led off with a double but was stranded there with three straight putouts. Grace also put a runner on second base in the fourth and sixth innings without plating a run.
The final at-bats for the Lancers saw Jason Stevens and Cameron Maxwell single on consecutive at-bats. But a double play and a fly out quickly eliminated that threat and ended the game.
Xavier Harris was a perfect 3-for-3. Joe Dougherty pitched five innings on his Senior Day, allowing three runs to score with five strikeouts.
Grace’s offense found its stride to start game two. Goshen plated twice in the top of the first inning, but the Lancers countered with two of their own.
Gavin Bussard walked, and Harris parked a two-out, two-run home run to left field. Harris’s homer was his 11th of the season, setting a single-season record for Grace.
The first batter of the second inning was Stevens. The senior first baseman belted a 3-2 pitch to left field for his first career home run.
The Lancers’ assault continued in the second with three more runs. Bussard, Hunter Ackerman and Harris all had RBI singles in the inning to put Grace ahead 6-2.
But the Maple Leafs (22-25-1, 10-14 CL) fought back as Grace’s bats went cold over the middle innings. Goshen tacked on one run in the third and three more in the fifth to tie the game at 6-6.
The game remained at 6-6 for the next five innings. Aaron Voirol and Scottie Clark pitched impressive stints in relief to keep the Maple Leafs off the scoreboard.
Voirol tossed two innings without allowing a hit, and Clark allowed just one hit over the final four innings to get the win.
Grace nearly won the game in regulation at the bottom of the ninth. Ackerman singled and was bunted to second. But a double play snuffed out Grace’s threat.
Clark blanked Goshen in the 10th and 11th innings, setting the stage for Austin Baker’s memorable game-winning swing.
Harris batted 3 for4 with three RBIs, and Bussard was 2 for 4 with two runs. Logan Grigsby struck out seven in five innings as the starter, and Ackerman and Stevens each had two hits.
Grace’s graduating class of Chase Baker, Blake Converset, Dougherty, Grigsby, Hepler, Stevens and Matthew Warren were honored after the doubleheader for Senior Day.
The Lancers take a short break from league play on Monday, hosting Judson for a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Miller Athletic Complex. The regular season will end over the weekend at Taylor with a three-game series.
TRACK & FIELD
UPLAND – Grace’s track and field team had a memorable weekend at the Little State Championships, held at Taylor University.
The Lancers had three individual champions at the meet, set two school records and had two qualify for NAIA Nationals.
Both the men’s and women’s teams finished eighth out of 15 teams; the 48 points amassed by the men’s squad are the highest point total in recorded team history at Little State.
Raven Arellano finished first in the 10,000-meter run, setting a school record and qualifying for the NAIA Outdoor National Championships in a time of 37:13.13. Arellano also finished second in the 5,000 at 18:18.60.
Jacob Brown set a school record in the hammer throw, hitting 171-feet-7 to make the NAIA standard.
Bennett Parker was the high jump champion, clearing 6-foot-6 in a personal-best performance, and Hannah Treadway won the javelin throw at 121-5.
The men’s 4x800 relay team of Hunter Reed, Tyler Houvener, Sam Hall and Nathan Lane ended in second place with a time of 7:55.03, and the women’s 4x800 squad of McCalah Mast, Brooke Smith, Morgan Mower and Liz Fox was fourth.
Macallister Seitz was third in the discus at 163-1 and eighth in the javelin, and Isaac Stuckey was also third in the javelin at 153-6.
Walker Hobbs put in a PR in the shot put to finish sixth, Austin Keisling (triple jump) and Brandon Smith (steeplechase) placed seventh, and Ben Rankin ended in eighth place in the 5,000.
The men’s 4x100 relay foursome of Martin Schiele, Cameron Johnson, Joel Zook and Keisling produced a sixth-place showing in 43.73.
On Saturday, the Lancers will enjoy an historic meet. Grace will officially kick off the Bernard and Linnie Key Track and Field Complex with the Lancer Invitational. The meet, held at Grace’s Miller Athletic Complex, will start at 12 p.m.
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