By Ron Smith
April 29, 2019
 
(IRVINE, Calif.) Some games fade from memory rather quickly, melting into the collective recollection of one of many games during the college baseball season. The first game of the Golden State Athletic Conference Baseball Championship was not one of those games.
 
The numbers alone declared this was not an ordinary game:

• 31 runs were scored.
• 35 hits were produced.
• 33 runners were left of base.
• 29 batters were walked (nine of them intentionally).
• 530 pitches were thrown.
• 12 innings were played.

 
The most significant of all the numbers was the final score: Westmont 16, The Master's 15.
 
"It was a heavy weight fight and at times they had us on the mat," said Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz. "I have a lot of respect for The Master's program and their team. They are well coached and played the game the right way."
 
Perhaps the most telling tell number was the game duration of five hours and 45 minutes. As far as anyone knows, it was the longest game in Westmont history. The game was so long, it forced a rescheduling of the remainder of the tournament. Westmont's next game, which was originally scheduled to be played tonight at 6:00, has been rescheduled for tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. and the rest of the tournament schedule has been pushed back to accommodate the change.
 
"I have to give credit to our guys for their perseverance, tenacity and fortitude," said Ruiz. "Our guys kept playing for each other and did it the right way. Every single one of them in that dugout refused to stop playing baseball. They were rewarded by the game today."
 
Also memorable, the starting left fielders for both teams were called upon to pitch. One of them, Westmont's Nicky Sablock, pitched two and one-third scoreless innings, give up just one hit, strike out three and received credit for the win.
 
"Nicky has been a huge part of our program this year," noted Ruiz. "He has picked us up on so many occasions whether it was with the bat, in left field or on the mound. Today, he did everything including a huge home run when we were starting to fall behind."
 
The Master's took an early lead when Aaron Shackelford knocked a three-run home run over the left field fence in the top of the first. The Mustangs would hold onto the lead until the sixth inning. Trailing 7-4 in the bottom of the sixth, Westmont scored five times to produce a 9-7 advantage – its first lead of the game.
 
With runners at second and third, Tyler Roper singled to right to drive in Alex Stufft. Luke Coffey followed with a sacrifice fly that allowed Taylor Garcia to score. Bryce Morison then pounded a two-RBI double to left field to give Westmont an 8-7 lead. Chad Jones would later drive in Morison with a single through the right side.
 
The Warriors' lead would not last long, however. The Mustangs responded with three runs in the seventh, one in the eighth and two in the top of the ninth to go on top 13-9 headed into the bottom of the ninth.
                                                                                                                                           
With two outs and Garcia standing on first, Roper reached on a throwing error and Garcia advanced to second on the play. Another error allowed Coffey to reach first, Mezurashi, who was running for Roper to take third and Garcia to score.
 
After Morison was walked to load the bases, a wild pitched brought home Mezurashi, moved Coffey to third and advance Morison to second. With first base open, the Mustangs intentionally walked Sablock.
 
The game nearly ended on a shot to right center by Isaiah Leach. The ball cleared the outfield fence, but not until after it bounced on the warning track. Had the ball hit the fence and bounced back into play, Sablock would have scored the winning run. Instead, the Warriors settled for two runs on the ground rule double tying the score at 13 and sending the game into extra innings.
 
In the top of the 10th, The Master's scored twice to go up 15-13. The Warriors responded, however, when Coffey drove in two runs with a single to left. It was enough to keep the game alive.
 
After a scoreless 11th, Sablock retired the side in order in the top of the 12th.
 
Morison led off the bottom of the 12th with a double to center field before Sablock was intentionally walked. After both runners moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch, Leach was also intentionally walked to load the bases with no outs.
 
With Taylor Bush coming up to bat with the bases loaded and no outs, the Mustangs repositioned their left fielder in order to have a fifth infielder. It was a move that the Warriors had seen before when the two teams met at Westmont in mid-April.
 
With no one playing defense in right field, Bush hit a tapper back to the mound. Pitcher Nick Brooks fielded the ball and threw out Morison at the plate. The relay, however, was too late to get Bush whose speed allowed him to reach first safely and keep the bases loaded.
 
That brought up Ander Muller who had entered the game in left field when Sablock took over on the mound. Muller worked the count to 3-2 before a pitch in the dirt resulted in walk-off, bases-loaded walk, ending the game.
 
The jubilant Warriors emptied the dugout and chased Muller around the field in celebration.
 
"We joked before this game that in tournament baseball, everything goes out the window and things look totally different," said Ruiz. "None of us have seen a game like that. At the end of the day, we did enough to win. It wasn't our best baseball, but we were tough and kept fighting."