July 27, 2008 12:10 am
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By Ryan Atkinson
ratkinson@joplinglobe.com
The Columbia (Texas) Angels did all they could do on Saturday to secure a spot in the semifinals of the Premier Baseball Junior Championship.
They slugged their way to a 9-4 win over the Indiana Bulls Black — who were previously 2-0 in championship pool play — but their fate was still up in the air late Saturday night after a rain storm delayed play at Joe Becker Stadium
“We did a good job of coming out and taking care of what we could control,” Columbia head coach James Mansinger said. “Now we just have to wait and see what happens.”
The Angels’ tournament lives depended on the outcome of the Austin Slam Senators-Rawlings Prospects Margalski matchup, which was delayed in the second inning.
Rawlings led the Senators 7-6 in the fourth inning at press time.
Columbia wasted little time taking control of their game with the Bulls.
The Angels loaded the bases with no outs before Andrew Gross lined a two-run single to center field. Two batters later, Cole Popper increased the lead to 4-0 with a two-run double to left.
The only hiccup by the Angels came in the second, when Brooks Fiala connected on a shoulder-high fastball and drilled it over the left-field fence for a three-run homer that cut the Columbia lead to 4-3.
But the Angles responded with a three-run homer of their own in the bottom of the inning — an opposite-field shot from Cody Robinson — and starting pitcher Kevin Miller settled down, teaming with reliever Jordan Harrison to allow just one run the rest of the way.
“That was very big for (Miller) to settle down and keep us in the game,” Mansinger said. “ We got good pitching from both of our guys. They did a good job and we came out swinging the bats early and put up enough runs to hold them down.”
Robinson’s homer in the second inning was big for the Columbia pitchers, Mansinger said.
“It gave our starting pitcher a little room to breathe,” he said. “We gave up a three-spot in the second inning and it would have been a lot tougher it that would have made it 3-0.”
As of press time, just one team had locked up a spot in today’s semifinals. Houston Kyle Chapman Blue won all three of its games in the Championship C pool, outscoring its opponents 31-6.
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