DANVILLE — Nearly everything in life is about learning from a mistake and doing better when you get a second chance.
That was the case on Saturday night for Danville Dans outfielder Darryl Dilworth II.
He had a chance in the bottom of the ninth inning to send 2,234 fans at Danville Stadium home with a walkoff basehit. Instead, he struck out against Terre Haute reliever Breylin Suriel.
“My first at-bat to win the game didn’t go too successful,’’ Dilworth admitted. “After that, I asked God to bless me with another opportunity.’’
Two innings later, there was Dilworth at the plate with the bases loaded and one out as the Danville Dans trailed the Terre Haute Rex 2-1.
This time around, Dilworth singled down the first-base line bringing home Colton Coates and Brenden Stressler with the tying and game-winning runs as the Dans snapped the Rex 10-game win streak with a 3-2 triumph in the 11 innings.
“That was a blessing for me,’’ Dilworth said. “I got another opportunity and I was able to come through for my team.’’
It turned out to be a great return to Danville Stadium for Dilworth, who hadn’t played in a home game since Tuesday, June 25. The outfielder from Folsom Lake College had missed seven straight games with a slight hamstring injury.
“I just needed to take a break, but I’m back and a lot better,’’ said Dilworth, who is batting .387 this summer for the Dans.
He admittedly was a little rusty on Saturday night, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts before his game-winning hit.
“I was struggling with my bat path, swinging under everything,’’ he said. “My whole mindset in that last at-bat was to keep everything short. (Suriel) was throwing it hard and I know he likes to use that slider against me. So, I was just reacting to whatever he gave me.
“I knew it was going to take some time to get back into the groove. You just have to stick with your approach.’’
Dilworth believes this is his second walkoff hit of the baseball season. He also had one this past spring at Folsom Lake College.
“I may have also had a few in high school or travel ball, but the one at school and the one tonight are my most recent memories,’’ he said.
Danville Dans manager Eric Coleman admitted his team found a way to “eke out” a win over the Rex, who had won 10 straight before Saturday’s game.
“Their closer (Suriel) has really good stuff,’’ Coleman said. “We were able to put the ball in play and fortunately, it went through. We got the two runs that we needed to win the game.’’
Danville had opportunities in the ninth and 10th innings as well, but Suriel stranded the winning run on third with back-to-back strikeouts to end the ninth and in the 10th, an inning-ending double play squashed the Dans opportunity to win the game.
“You can’t worry about your missed opportunities,’’ Dilworth said. “It’s all about your next opportunity and making the most of that one.’’
Danville appeared to be well on its way to a victory as left-handed starter Abe Chancellor struck out nine in eight shutout innings. Terre Haute managed just two hits against Chancellor, who threw 99 pitches — 63 for strikes — in his eight innings.
“There is no doubt that he should be the pitcher of the week,’’ Coleman said. “Tony (Rosselli) had a good club over there and Abe kept them off-balance all night.
“This was a playoff atmosphere with a big crowd and he threw the ball well. He just changed speeds and kept them off-balance.’’
It looked like an RBI single by catcher Hunder Faldo in the second inning was going to be the game-winning hit, but the Rex tied the game in the ninth on an run-scoring single by Nomar Garcia off of Danville closer Austin Morris.
“That’s just baseball,’’ Coleman said. “Morris has been our guy all summer. He has electric stuff, but it was just one of those nights that they came up with a big hit.’’
Danville’s Jack Armstrong allowed just 1 run — unearned — in the 10th and 11th innings as Terre Haute started both frames with a runner on second in the baseball tiebreaker scenario. The Rex didn’t get a hit in either frame but a sacrifice fly from Garcia in the 11th gave them a 2-1 lead, setting the scene for Dilworth’s game-winning hit in the bottom half of the inning.