Wittenberg Baseball Tiger Cup

Last week, the Wittenberg Tiger baseball program finished up their fall ball season with a 30-inning game that stretched over a three-day span, which is favorably known as the Tiger Cup. 

 The annual tradition of the program separates the team into two sides, red and black. The seniors are split in half and draft the first part of their teams. This year the draft was set for seven rounds and those members started to fill the two squads that were this year known as: The Red Power Rangers and The Black Team. The 2021 Tiger Cup Draft Results were as follows 

The Black Team Senior GMs – Cole Weaver, Gabe Stacy, JC Bricker, Logan Wiggenhorn, Matt Shanor, and Mitchell Davis 

The Red Power Rangers Senior GMs – Beau Foster, Jack Siefert, Jared Burick, Mason Davis, Michael Osmond, and Tyler Defibaugh 

Day 1 of the Tiger Cup brought us to the diamond for 14 innings of play on Tuesday, where The Black Team walked away with a 13-10 lead. The Red Power Rangers got on the board early with a three spot in the first inning, highlighted by a Mason Davis two RBI single after Burick and Thomas led the game off with base hits. They put up two more runs in the second to go up 5-0 after Burick's two-out two-RBI single scored Woods and Seibert. The Black Team finally got on the board in the top of the fourth after Stacy led off with a double and Whisner knocked him in. Whisner would score later in the inning off a fielder's choice, making the score 5-2. The Red Power Rangers responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth after Seibert collected his second hit and scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Thomas. The Black Team tightened the gap with three runs in the top of the sixth. Maxwell Monachino reached base safely to lead off, Stacy followed with a single to right, and Whisner knocked Monachino with his second hit of the night. With the score at 6-5 in the bottom of the sixth. The Red Power Rangers extended their lead with a one out double from Moore. He eventually scored on a Lane Johnson sacrifice fly to left making it 7-5. In the top of the eighth, the combination of Monachino, Stacy, and Whisner struck again for another run closing the gap to 7-6. Preston Dorsey would lead off the bottom of the 10th inning with a double to left field, eventually score on a fielder's choice making it 8-6, The Red Power Rangers. Moving ahead to the 11th-inning where The Black Team would do their most considerable damage of the night putting up six runs. Stacy started the rally with a single and then - all with two outs – THREE straight doubles from Bricker, O'Malley and Gryskevich, add on a triple from Goss. Ian Ash would also find his way on and score by way of a Morrow single. The Black Team would add another run in the top of the thirteenth, after Bricker led off with a single to right and would later be knocked in by Gryskevich's single to right center. The Red Power Rangers offense ended their night with two runs in the bottom half of the inning after another Dorsey double scored Lane Johnson. Dorsey later scored on a wild pitch, closing out day one with The Black Team leading, 13-10. 

DAY 1 PITCHING NOTABLES: 

Mitchell Davis 4 IP, H, R, 5 Ks 

Michael Osmond 3 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 4 Ks 

Nate Floyd 3 IP, 2 H, R, BB, 5 Ks 

Joe Horoszko 3 IP, 2 H, R, 5 Ks 

Logan Wiggenhorn 3 IP, 2 H, R, BB, K 

Charlie Schafer 2 IP, H, K 

Day 2 of the Tiger Cup was a little bit shorter of an evening with 7 innings of play, the 15th- 21st innings. The Black Team extended their lead to 14-10 after Whisner hit a solo home run in the top of the 15th. They would also score a run in the 16th after Gryskevich, Ash, and Morrow all singled. The Red Power Rangers' answer didn't come until the bottom of the 18th when Woods singled and Seibert hit a two-run home run, cutting the Black Team's lead to 15-12. The Black Team would score a run in the top of the 20th after Stacy and Whisner hit back-to-back doubles. In the bottom half of the frame, the Red Power Rangers would add three runs after a Woods single and several walks. With the scoreboard now reading 16-15 in the 22nd inning, The Black Team scored again. Goss doubled, Morrow singled, and Caleb Fogarty brought them both in with a single of his own. 18-15 heading to the final frame of the night. The Red Power Rangers were able to scratch a run after Moore led off with a walk and was brought home by a Dorsey double. After 21 complete innings, The Black Team led by a score of 18-16. 

DAY 2 PITCHING NOTABLES: 

Beau Foster 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 Ks 

Justin Kreller 4 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 Ks 

Day 3 of the Tiger Cup was the final 9 inning stretch of the "World Series", the 22nd - 30th innings. The first score of the night was in the top of the 23rd when Ash drove in Gryskevich with an RBI single to center to make it 19-16 The Black Team. We saw The Red Power Rangers respond to make it a one run game in the bottom of the 25th with a two-RBI single from Moore, scoring Siefert and Bobey. The Black Team plated four runs in the 26th inning when Gryskevich, Morrow, Fogarty, and JJ Dixon all came around to score. The score was then 23-17 until the bottom of the 27th when The Red Power Rangers were able to push across two runs from Thomas and Mason Davis, who both reached via the free base. Heading into the 30th and final inning, the score was 23-19 The Black Team. They would get some insurance after Stacy knocked in Whisner with a double and O'Malley singled home Stacy to make it 25-19. With the hopes of a rally, The Red Power Rangers loaded up the bases in the bottom of the frame with 0 outs. Moore hit a sacrifice fly to right field to bring home Siefert but his team would strand the remaining base runners to fall short of a miracle style comeback that was starting to brew. 

DAY 3 PITCHING NOTABLES: 

Charlie Schafer 3.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 4 Ks 

Nate Floyd 2.2 IP, H, 1 R, 6 Ks 

Tyler Defibaugh 2 IP, 0 H, BB, 2 Ks 

Tarrus Garrett Jr. 2 IP, 0 H, HBP, 2 Ks 

Michael Osmond IP, 0 H, 2 Ks 

Josh Moore IP, 0 H 

Carson Rengel 1.1 IP, 1 K 

The Black Team was able to bring home the Tiger Cup with a 25-20 victory and enshrine themselves in the Wittenberg Baseball team fall ball history books. 

POST-GAME AWARDS: 

Most Valuable Player: Chase Whisner 

Pitcher of The Game: Mitchell Davis - 4 IP, H, R, 5 Ks 

Winning GMs: Cole Weaver, Gabe Stacy, JC Bricker, Logan Wiggenhorn, Matt Shanor, and Mitchell Davis

Pitcher of The Game	Winning GMs	Most Valuable Player