W 4 - 3
W 18 - 11
Friendship United Methodist and Saint Nicholas have a very long history of playing close games and, most of the time, splitting the doubleheader. In fact, Saint Nicholas's very first doubleheader was against Friendship UMC in 1994. This year's doubleheader between the two teams fit the long established pattern except for one thing. Saint Nicholas pulled out two come-from-behind wins, 4-3 and 18-11.
Saint Nicholas was "on the road" for game one and did not score in the top of the first inning. Friendship scored once in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead. Chad Mooney reached second base on an error to start to top of the second. One out later, Keith Williams singled home Chad to tie the game at 1-1. Friendship did not score in the bottom of the second inning. Neither team scored in the third inning nor in the fourth inning. With one out in the top of the fifth, Jim Walls reached second on an error. Jerry Wood promptly followed with a single to score Jim and put Saint Nicholas in front 2-1. Friendship bounced back immediately with 2 runs in the bottom of the fifth to go back in front, 3-2. Neither team scored in the sixth inning. Josh Smith drew a one out walk in the top of the seventh. After a second out, Andrew Wood reached first on an error and Keith Williams walked to load the bases. Jim Walls ripped a single to score Josh and Andrew and put Saint Nicholas back into the lead, 4-3. Friendship got a runner to third in the bottom of the seventh, but could not score him. Saint Nicholas survived with a hard fought 4-3 win.
Friendship wasted no time getting started in game two. They jumped in front quickly with 4 runs in the top of the first. Austin Owens doubled to lead off the bottom of the first and Dave Hickin singled him to third. Josh Smith followed with a single to score Austin. Unfortunately, that was the only run Saint Nicholas would get and they trailed after one inning, 4-1. Friendship did not score in the top of the second. Jim Walls walked to start the bottom of the second. Singles by Jerry Wood and Austin Wood loaded the bases. Matt Hickin singled in Jim and kept the bases loaded. Nick Demme's ground ball got booted by the third baseman allowing Jerry to score and kept the bases loaded. Dominic Soto's single scored Austin to tie the game. Austin Owens singled home Matt to put Saint Nicholas in front. Dave Hickin's fly ball to left was dropped allowing Nick to score and kept the bases loaded. Josh Smith walked to force home Dominic. Chad Mooney's ground ball forced Dave at third, but scored Austin. Andrew Wood walked to load the bases yet again. Keith Williams walked to score Josh and, yes, the bases were still loaded. Then, Jim Walls singled to score Chad and Andrew. Jerry Wood singled and, would you believe it, the bases were loaded yet again. Austin Wood singled to score Keith and Jim. Jerry scored on Matt Hickin's ground out and Austin scored when Nick Demme again reached base on an error. When the dust settled, Saint Nicholas had scored 14 runs in the bottom of the second and held a 15-4 lead. Neither team scored in the third inning (guess the bottom of the second had tired everybody out!!). Friendship had a big top of the fourth, scoring 6 runs and significantly lowering their deficit to 15-10. Jim Walls and Jerry Wood hit one-out singles in the bottom of the fourth. Austin Wood reached base on a botched fielder's choice to load the bases. Bryan Mullins's ground out scored Josh and pushed Saint Nicholas's lead to 16-10. Friendship did not score in the top of the fifth. Dominic Soto scored on Chad Mooney's single to increase Saint Nicholas's lead to 17-10 after five innings. Friendship scored 1 run in the top of the sixth to make the score 17-11. With storm clouds quickly moving in, Keith Williams doubled to start the bottom of the sixth. Jim Walls followed with a double to score Keith. Austin Wood singled Jim to third. Then, as Bryan Mullins batted and with a downpour on the doorstep, the game was called. The final score was Saint Nicholas 18, Friendship UMC 11.
Eleven of the 13 Saint Nicholas batters scored runs in the doubleheader and twelve of the 13 batters had RBIs. Jim Walls had a very good doubleheader going 4 for 6 with a walk, a double, a team high 3 runs scored, and a team high 5 RBIs, not to mention the clutch two-out, two RBI, game-winning single in the top of the seventh of game one. Jerry Wood also had 4 hits going 4 for 5 with 2 walks, 2 runs scored, and 1 RBI. Dominic Soto, Keith Williams, and Austin Wood each had 3 hits. Saint Nicholas players scoring 2 runs were Chad Mooney, Austin Owens, Josh Smith, Dominic Soto, Keith Williams, Andrew Wood, Austin Wood, and Jerry Wood. Those with 2 RBIs were Matt Hickin, Chad Mooney, Josh Smith, Keith Williams, and Austin Wood.