Walsh's Brook Clark hit a three-run home run to right with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Cavaliers a 10-7 win over Hillsdale College on Championship Sunday at the 2016 GLIAC Baseball Tournament.
Hillsdale is 33-22 on the season and awaits its fate at the NCAA Division II Tournament selection show, scheduled for 10 p.m. Sunday.
The heartbreaking loss came on the heels of another dramatic comeback by the Chargers, who tied the game in the top of the ninth with a two-run rally. Senior Joe Gentile, who had an outstanding conference tournament, drove in a run when he grounded out, scoring Ethan Wiskur to make it 7-6. Pinch runner Ryan O'Hearn scored the game-tying run on a soft single up the middle by senior pinch-hitter Nick Sponseller.
Sponseller delivered his second run-scoring pinch hit of the conference tournament at the best possible time for Hillsdale.
Michael O'Sullivan launched a long fly ball that was caught at the right field fence to end the rally in the top of the ninth. Cruelly, O'Sullivan's ball was hit within a couple feet of the ball Clark hit in the bottom of the ninth that ended up being the game-winner.
This back-and-forth game got started with senior Connor Bartlett crushing a solo home run to right in the top of the second inning. That home run set the new GLIAC single-season record for home runs hit by a team in a season with 66.
Another GLIAC record was set by Charger senior Luke Ortel later in the game. His fifth and final at bat of the game set a new GLIAC record for one season at 234. Ortel also picked up a single in the contest, his conference-record 110th of the 2016 season.
The Chargers stranded 11 runners on base in the game. Three of those were in the top of the fifth, when the team took a 4-2 lead. But Walsh responded with five runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 7-4 lead. That lead stood until the eighth, when Chris McDonald brought home Gentile with a groundout to make the score 7-5.
Tad Sobieszczanski and Ethan Wiskur each hit doubles, with Wiskur going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Bartlett and Gentile each went 2-for-4 in the loss.
Gentile wrapped up a great GLIAC Tournament run with eight hits, two in all four games, to lead the team.
PHOTO CREDIT: Brad Monastiere