Everyone who goes to a baseball game knows how great the seventh inning stretch is. It gives one last chance to stand up and stretch your muscles before the game ends. For the Warriors baseball team, the seventh-inning stretch at an April 2 game in Canada didn’t signal the game’s end-or even its halfway point. The game’s end didn’t come until the 18th inning, but it was worth waiting for.
The baseball team’s away-game against No.11 ranked University of British Columbia ended with the Warriors coming away with an upset with score of 4-3. That, however, is not what everyone is talking about. Rather, it’s the fact that the Warriors played the equivalent of two games in one.
Freshman pitcher Justin white took it as a blessing from God to be able to start out on the mound against the highly ranked team: “I didn’t think in my mind it would be a quick game, but I thought it would just be a normal game. I went out there with the pitcher mentality of what I had to do. I had the thought in my mind it would be a nine-inning game, and I would do what I had to for the team.
White pitched for 5.0 innings before turning the ball over to senior Chris Trammell for 2.0 innings, junior Nick Stiltner for 6.0 innings, and Senior Trevor Winsor for the final 5.0 innings of work in the extra-inning game.
I remember sitting in the dugout thinking it was a dogfight,” White said. “We had the mentality that we could win this game, and that we were going toe-to-toe with these guys. As the extra innings began, we had the mentality that we had to score and hold them.
Junior Jonathan Ramirez who plays infield and outfield was in the game for the entire 18 innings.
“Being a part of a game like that was simply amazing,” Ramirez said. “I’ve played in long games none quite as long as that one. To be completely honest, it was more of a mental grind then a physical grind, because I was always wondering what was going to happen next and frequently reminding myself that I have to make plays and I can’t mess up.”
Like White, Ramirez also had faith in Christ that the team could pull through.
“It showed me that life is long and the walk as Christians that we walk every day is a tough one, but if we believe and keep the course we will prosper in Christ Jesus.” He said.
The game had been in a tie at 3-3 as the ninth inning passed by leading into the extra innings. While both teams tried to take the win neither one could do it as the bottom of the 18th inning began. Sophomore Kris Bos was at the plate with the bases loaded for the Warriors. A pitch came toward him, and he let it hit his hip winning the game for the Warriors.
It was crazy how it ended,” Bos said. “Both teams had multiple times to score but couldn’t capitalize. In the end we came up on top, and it was the longest game that I have ever played in.”