Nylund, Lewis-Clark lose in NAIA final
* RHP Carsen Nylund (Surrey, BC) was 6-1 for the Lewis-Clark State Warriors who lost in the final at the 57th Avista NAIA-World Series. .... 2013 Top Canadians eligible for draft 2013 Canadians in the Minors 2013 Canadians in College Letters of Intent
By Robert Broughton and Bob Elliott
Right-hander Carsen Nylund worked in relief as the Lewis-Clark State Warriors fell 11-4 to the Faulkner Eagles in the championship of 57th Avista NAIA-World Series Thursday.
Nylund (Surrey, BC) pitched 1 2/3 innings as top-seeded Faulkner beat the seventh-seeded Lewis-Clark before 4,265 fans at Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho.
Lewis-Clark, the New York Yankees of the NAIA, fell short in searching of its 17th title, this one under athletic director Gary Picone (Trail, BC).
Entering the game in the sixth with Faulkner leading 9-2, Nylund allowed one run on two hits while striking out one.
Lewis-Clark opened the World Series with a 6-1 win over 10th-seeded Rogers State Hillcats before 2,975 fans.
Next, the Warriors lost 14-11 to the second-seeded Lee Flames as Nylund was given the start before 4,790 fans. He pitched 3 2/3 innings allowing nine runs -- eight earned -- on eight hits and three walk. He struck out three leaving trailing 9-8 but was not involved in the decision.
Lewis-Clark beat Northwood Knights 9-3 in front of 4,540 fans.
Then, the Warriors were three outs away from belng eliminated against The Master’s Mustangs trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth. After the lead-off man was hit by a pitch, Will Thorp (Surrey, BC) pinch ran. After a walk and a bunt, next came a two-run single. With two out another man was hit by a pitch and then the game-winning single was delivered for a 3-2 win in front of 1,710.
Then, the Warriors knocked off the third-seeded Embry-Riddle Eagles 13-7 in front of 2,290 fans to reach the final.
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On the season ... Nylund was 6-1 with a 4.33 ERA in 14 games, making 10 starts. He walked 13 and struck out 53 in 72 2/3 innings. Thorp hit .167 with four RBIs in 23 games and Kevin McLeod (Surrey, BC) was hitless in 14 games.
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2B Pier-Olivier Dostaler (Mont Carmel, Que.) was 1-for-2 as the ninth-seeded Missouri Baptist Spartans made their first-ever tournament appearance beating the eighth-seeded Sterling Warriors 8-3 before 1,405 fans. Geoff MacDonald (Regina, Sask.) pinch ran and scored a run.
Dostaler singled in a 2-0 loss to Faulkner.
Dostaler singled as MacDonald pinch ran and scored a run as Missouri Baptist scored in the bottom of the ninth for a 5-4 decision to eliminate Rogers State before 515 fans.
CF Ryan Clarke (Mississauga, Ont.) singled as Missouri Baptist was eliminated with a 12-2 loss to second-seeded Lee Flames. RP Curtis Sawchuk (Langley BC) worked a scoreless sixth inning striking out one, while RP Kyle Turner (Rosser, Man.) pitched a scoreless 2/3, fanning one.
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On the season ... Dostaler hit .315 average with 12 doubles and 35 RBIs in 50 games, while Clarke had a .220 average with four doubles and eight RBIs in 47 games. OF Turner batted .271 with two homers and 11 RBIs in 25 games, MacDonald hit .538 with a double and two RBIs in 29 games.
On the mound ... LHP Sawchuk was 1-0 with a 2.16 in seven games, walking three and striking out five in 8 1/3 innings. Turner was 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in seven games, walking seven and fanning four in six innings.
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3B Tyler Wheeler (Guelph, Ont.) knocked in the only run for Rogers State in the 6-1 opening loss to Lewis-Clark.
Wheeler singled in a 4-1 win over the sixth-seeded York Panthers.
The Missouri Baptist Spartans scored in the bottom of the ninth to eliminate Rogers State.
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On the season ... Wheeler hit .320 with five doubles, one homer and 36 RBIs in 58 games. Johan Ochoa (St. Amable, Que.) hit .167 with three RBIs in 22 games. Jean-Francois Dumais-Fyfe (Boisbriand, Que.) batted .400 in 16 games.
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LF Liam Goodall (Nanaimo, BC) was 2-for-3 as the third-seeded Embry-Riddle Eagles beat York 8-3 and also stole a base.
Embry-Riddle went to 2-0 with a 5-4 win over Lee.
The Eagles then fell 10-3 to Faulker.
Lewis-Clark eliminated Embry-Riddle 13-7.
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On the season ... Goodall hit .253 with three doubles, one homer and 25 RBIs in 63 games.
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LHP Ryan Zimmer (London Ont.) didn’t pitch as the Lee beat Lewis-Clark 14-11, lost 5-4 to Embry-Riddle, beat Missouri Baptist 12-2 and was eliminated 8-4 by Faulkner.
On the season, Zimmer pitched six scoreless innings, walking one and striking out three. He limited opposing hitters to a .182 average.
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A total of 59 Canucks were on the 45 teams competing in the nine NAIA Opening Round double elimination tournaments, 13 Canadians on the rosters of teams who went to Idaho.