NEW BLOOMFIELD - Just about every story line played out for the diamond Pintos in the Calvary Lutheran/New Bloomfield Invitational last Friday and Saturday. California went on the lose the championship game 5-4 against New Bloomfield in extra innings.
"You know what, it's not that disappointing," said California coach Jason Gatlin. "It was a good baseball game and we got beat by a good team. You look around this wall, seven state championships. Nobody expected us to be in this championship game, in this tournament and really proud of my boys today."
The Pintos had a walk-off win in their first round game, and built an early 12-0 lead in its second round game, only to see Vienna score 10-unanswered runs before the two-hour time limit came into affect. That caused the coaches to use strategy in hopes to end the game early - for California's sake - or extend the game.
California went on to win that matchup with the No. 1 seed 12-10 in six innings.
"They held the lead, but we had to work a lot harder than we wanted to, and I think that took a little bit of something out of us," Gatlin said.
Then, the ultimate test came in the championship Saturday, a battled with New Bloomfield on their home field. The game would be the Pintos' fourth game in three days, and second that day.
The Wildcats fought back from an early 3-0 deficit to tie the game at 4 in the seventh, and eventually win it in the eighth to claim the championship.
The Thursday before the tournament, California traveled to the School of the Osage and earned a 16-6 win over the Indians, in a game where they used three pitchers.
The next day, Hunter Heimericks got his first start of the season, only pitching in limited relief, and he threw a gem. He worked six solid innings against Green Ridge, allowing four runs - three earned - on seven hits while striking out seven.
"I was proud of the boy," Gatlin said. "That's the most pitches he's thrown all season. He wasn't really throwing hard, but he kept throwing strikes and I had no choice but to keep him in. There in the end, I could tell he was getting tired."
Alex Dalbey earned the win in relief, pitching the top of seventh inning before the Pintos ended it with a walk-off in the bottom half of the frame.
Green Ridge took the lead in the seventh, and had two outs on California and nobody on base before Landon Mouse got things rolling.
Mouse reached base on a single to second, then advanced to second on a passed ball. Jaden Barr took the next pitch to right field to score the game-tying run.
"We've been working on one inning at a time, one at-bat at a time and one pitch at a time," said Gatlin. "Any time you get Jaden Barr on base, you stand a chance in making something happen. He's fast and he's smart."
The Green Ridge pitcher tried to pick Barr off at first, but the ball slipped past the first baseman, and Barr hesitated on taking second. The hesitation allowed the first baseman to try and make a play at second base, but the ball sailed into the outfield to allowed bar to advance to third.
Dalbey's singled just past the second baseman scored Barr to put the Pintos in the winners bracket.
"With one ball, one strike, I knew I had a pretty good chance to get a fastball," said Dalbey. "I took my chance and hit my best one. I thought, "please let that get past second base,' and then it did. I did a little happy dance at first base."
The win setup a matchup with the No. 1 seed in the tournament, Vienna the next morning, and the offense carried over.
Again, California had two quick outs to open the game, but they went on to score two runs in the first inning and they added seven runs in the second to take the 9-0 lead. All nine runs were scored with two outs.
"They were excited and fresh this morning, Gatlin said. "We had good quality at-bats. It sure did carry over, but we just got tired from all that baseball."
After Barr hit a three-run home run in the third, the Eagles reeled off 10-straight runs to cut the lead to 12-10. But the two-hour time limit was coming into play and Gatlin wanted to use that as an asset.
"We tried, but that umpire wasn't going to help us out any," Gatlin said. "I tried my best and missed it by 30 seconds."
With the bottom of the fifth finishing just shy of the time limit, the Pintos were forced to hold Vienna one more inning. At that point, the Eagles scored three in the third, four in the fourth and three in the fifth, while holding California scoreless.
"They were the number one seed for a reason," Gatlin said. "We got out ahead early, and they fought their way back like a good baseball team does."
Mouse started on the hill for California, and he held the Eagles down the first couple of innings. He pitched four innings, allowing seven runs - three earned - on four hits. He walked six and struck out four. Eventually, Vienna was able to get to him.
"He threw a lot of strikes, and I think I kept him in just one batter too long," said Gatlin. "But when you play this many games, in his short amount of time span, you have to try and manage your pitchers as best as you can, and get as much out of them."
For the last 1 1/3 innings, Gatlin put in Jackson Trachsel and he held a hot Eagles team down. He didn't allowed a run or a hit.
"He's good at that," Gatlin said. "He's not a long pitcher, but it was a change of speed, change of pace, and that made all the difference in the world."
In the championship, the Pintos again scored some runs in the first, this time three runs. After the Wildcats tied the game with two runs in the second and one in the third, California retook the lead with a run in the fourth, but New Bloomfield's pitcher was just settling in.
"He did unbelievable," said New Bloomfield coach Justin Forsythe said. "He started off slow, I think he was too loose as he should of been. Clay Jenson is a guy that when the game goes on, he finds it."
Jenson allowed four runs - all earned - on 10 hits in eight innings of work
New Bloomfield ended up tying the game in the seventh, extending it to extra innings, and they scored the game-winning run in the eighth to claim the championship.
"My team was tired," Gatlin said. "My starting catcher was spent, Landon Mouse hurt his foot in the first inning, I didn't have any arms left to pitch and it was a long weekend. Four games in three days will do that to you."
Including their win on Thursday, the Pintos played four games in three days, going 3-1 in that stretch.
The Pintos travel to Versailles Friday at 5 p.m. and host Southern Boone next Tuesday, April 28, at the same time.