On Sunday afternoon, the Alma College baseball team traveled to Albion to take on the Britons in the final doubleheader of the 2014 season for both teams. The Scots dropped game one to the home team by a score of 10-2, but came back to take the nightcap, 16-14, in a wild and crazy slugfest.

The Scots ended their season with a final mark of 18-20 (12-16 MIAA), while the Britons concluded their 2014 campaign with an overall record of 18-22 and 13-15 in the league.

Game 1

In the first game of the final twinbill of the year, both teams were scoreless heading into the bottom of the fourth inning. At that point, the Britons scored one run on a bunt single, a stolen base, a throwing error and a single.

After Alma failed to score again in the fifth, Albion broke the game loose with six tallies in the bottom of the frame off of three Scots pitchers, including starting So. P Philip Jock (Wales/Memphis), increasing Albion's lead to 7-0.

In the top of the sixth, Fr. RF Patt Finn (Alllentown/Almont) led off with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. He advanced to third on a single by Sr. LF Alex Kravat (Auburn/Bay City Western). At that point, Jr. 1B Blake Leddy (Saginaw/Swan Valley) singled and drove in Finn to make it a 7-1 ballgame.

The Britons answered with three more in the bottom of the sixth frame and took a commanding 10-1 lead into the top of the final frame. So. C A.J. Acton (Temecula, CA/Linfield Christian) led off the seventh with a single and eventually moved to third. Leddy then knocked him in with his second RBI of the game, but Alma would not score again, losing by a final score of 10-2.

Jock took the loss on the mound to fall to 6-8 on the season, pitching 4.1 innings and allowing six hits, an earned run with three walks and five strikeouts. So. P Matt Launstein (Flushing/Flushing) gave up two earned runs with no recorded outs, while So. P Blake Ordiway (Holly/Holly) allowed four hits and three runs (two earned) in 0.2 innings pitched. Jr. P Roderick MacNeil (Brethren/Brethren) pitched the final frame and gave three earned runs on three hits.

At the plate, Leddy was two for four with the two RBI's and Kravat finished two for three in Alma's loss.

Game 2

In the nightcap, there were runs in every inning and it all got started in the bottom of the first off of Alma starting Jr. P Eric Strickler (Lapeer/East Lapeer), who like most of the Scots hurlers on this day, had a tough outing.

Albion had three hits and were helped by one Alma error to take a 2-0 lead, but Strickler was able to get out of a bases loaded jam without further damage. The Scots then struck back with two runs of their own in the top of the second.

Jr. DH Mostafa Ghonim (E. Elmhurst, NY/W.C. Bryant) singled with one out and So. C Doug Walters (Brighton/Brighton) reached on an error. That was followed by a double by Sr. 3B Bryan Goostrey (Jackson/East Jackson) that scored Ghonim and Walters crossed the plate after him on an error.

Albion would score five runs in the third, one in the fourth and four in the fifth off of Strickler and relief So. P Colin Nash (Brighton/Brighton), but Alma tallied seven of their own and it was 12-9 Albion after five full innings.

Offensively, the Scots were led by Ghonim, who had a homerun and an RBI double, while Jr. 2B Juan Dominguez (New York/NY/Blue Ridge) had an RBI double of his own. In addition, Walters contribute a two-RBI double and MacNeil had an RBI on a bunt single.

In the top of the sixth, Alma struck for six runs on four hits and five different players had RBI's in the frame. Walters had one on a single, Jr. Bobby Beauchamp (Escanaba/Escanaba) had one on a single, Dominguez added two on a double, while Fr. SS Alex Peczynski (Farmington Hills/Detroit Catholic Central) and MacNeil each had one on a bunt single and a walk respectively.

The Britons made it a 15-14 affair with two runs in the bottom of the sixth off of Nash before Sr. P Kevin Thompson (Petoskey/Petoskey) came in to snuff out any further comeback. That took the two teams to the seventh with the contest still very much in doubt.

The Scots' Leddy led of the top of the frame with a walk and advanced to second on a sac bunt and to third on a throwing error. Finn then reached base on a fielder's choice and earned an RBI as Leddy crossed the plate for a 16-14 Alma advantage.

In the bottom of the seventh, Thompson gave up a single with two outs but coaxed the next batter into a line out to preserve the hard fought two-run victory for the Scots.

On the mound, Thompson earned the save with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, as he gave up one hit with one walk and one strikeout. Nash got the win to improve to 4-3, after allowing six hits and four runs (two earned) in 1.1 innings. Strickler ended up throwing four innings, allowing 14 hits, 10 runs (eight earned) with four walks and no strikeouts.

Ghonim and Walters each went three for three at the plate with two and three RBI's respectively, while scoring four and three runs. Beauchamp went two for three with a run and an RBI, while Dominguez (four RBI's) and Peczynski (RBI) each finished two for five. In addition, MacNeil recorded two RBI's in the win.