What unfolded Thursday afternoon in Eastlake, Ohio will be talked about in college baseball circles for years to come.
Endicott and Denison put together 20 of the most intense and entertaining innings imaginable in the final two games of the Division 3 College World Series, playing a pair of extra inning classics.
One 10 inning victory begat another, as the No. 6 seed Gulls prevailed, 11-10, in Thursday’s opener to force a winner-take-all Game 3. The top-ranked Big Red rallied to win that one, 4-3, to claim the program’s first ever national championship.
Endicott (44-14), making its fourth straight College World Series appearance, is the first team in school history to finish as national runners-up.
“What you got to see on the field was some of the best baseball you’ll ever watch at our level,” said Endicott head coach Bryan Haley. “What our guys poured into this was something special. The sting I feel from losing is just a mosquito bite compared to the love and pride and joy I feel for these guys.”
After snatching Game 1, Endicott led for most of Thursday’s second game with a 2-run homer by T.J. Liponis making it 3-0 for the Gulls in the third. Evan Scully pitched tremendously to hold the potent Big Red (51-3) off for the first five innings, allowing only a solo homer.
Denison rallied to tie it in the sixth, though, and the teams remained deadlocked until extra frames.
That was largely due to some gusty pitching from the Gulls. Colby Correia provided some key outs and Kyan Bagshaw, who was the winning pitcher earlier in the day, got back on the mound for two outs. D3 National Pitcher of the Year Brady Stuart, who started the first game, also came back for two innings.
In pursuit of the national title, Endicott’s entire bench was more than willing to empty the bucket.
“I had no hesitation going to my best guys in their last days of college baseball,” said Haley. “Understand that what they did isn’t normal. It takes an insane amount of courage.”
Doubles by Adam Regan and John Fusco were Endicott’s only hits after Denison tied things up, 3-3. The Big Red won it in the 10th by putting together three straight singles, with Jack Lutte’s RBI base knock winning it.
“Our mentality was to put our best foot forward playing on the last day of D3 college baseball,” said Scully. “We definitely did that.”
Cade Bernardo also had two hits for the Gulls in Game 3.
A rare double play helped Endicott win Thursday’s early game and force the finale. Denison scored two to tie the score, 10-10, in the top of the ninth and a runner going home got caught in a run-down. Another runner took third as the first retreated, and both wound up on the bag. The Gulls tagged the second runner for one out, and the first stepped off and was tagged out for a rally-killing double play that was upheld after video review.
Safely out of that jam, Endicott won it on Fusco’s sac fly that plated Kyle Grabowski in the bottom of the 10th.
Still, winning the opening game took a gutsy comeback as Denison led 6-1 in the fifth. Bernardo delivered a 2-run double in the sixth as the Gulls rallied to tie things, 6-6, but the Big Red jumped back ahead, 8-6.
Not to worry as a Grabowski RBI single and an RBI by Fusco plus an error helped Endicott take a 9-8 lead in the seesaw battle.
“You try to take a punch and throw a jab back. If you take a bomb, throw a jab and get back in the game,” said Haley, who celebrated his 20th wedding anniversary on Wednesday.
“To win the first game the way we did was really special. This team has a unique ability to live in the moment and support each other.”
Bagshaw held Denison scoreless for the last four outs to earn the win. Regan and Grabowski finished the first game with three hits each and Brendan Walsh, Liponis, Bernardo and Fusco had two each.
In all five tournaments Endicott played this season, it needed a victory to force a winner-take-all game and got the job done. In the CNE, NCAA regional, Super Regional and World Series bracket play finales, they won one more. Not doing so Thursday didn’t dampen that accomplishment.
“The biggest thing about today was even though we lost, we won because we have brothers for the rest of our lives,” said Liponis, who’s played in all four College World Series for the Gulls. “The way this team had to fight back in all those games this year wasn’t something I’d seen in my four years. To break through and get to that World Series final was special. I’ve never had more fun on a baseball field.”
Each of Endicott’s seniors made up what Haley called an “incredible leadership group.” Years from now, they’ll always remember the hotel trips, not having a plane home from Georgia in March and all the extra time they spent together during an amazing playoff run.
“These past few weeks, we were living like professional baseball players in D3. That was pretty sweet,” said Stuart. “We left it all out there … there’s no regrets.”