In the days preceding this week's make-or-break series, head coach
Monte Brooks could've presented The Master's baseball team with a spreadsheet, filling in the names of the six squads contending for five conference tournament berths, calculating any number of scenarios that might spell doom or boon.
Instead, his message was quite simple.
"He told us to play tough and relax," said TMU pitcher
Eric Williams.
The Mustangs displayed ample amounts of both qualities in a series win over Ottawa Arizona, an effort that ultimately earned Master's the right to continue one of the most exciting seasons in program history. Â
Master's beat the Spirit, 13-9, in a stirring comeback effort Thursday morning at TMU before falling, 5-1, in the series finale. Still, the Mustangs took three of four during a week that could've left them on the outside looking in when
the Golden State Athletic Conference commences its tournament Monday morning in Irvine.
Ultimately, Master's (32-15-1, 20-12 GSAC) earned the No. 5 seed and will play No. 4-seed Westmont (33-12, 20-12) at 11 a.m. Monday in OC Great Park in Irvine.
The Warriors swept four games from the Mustangs earlier this month and thus held the head-to-head tiebreaker.Â
Master's recovered in time to save its season.Â
Senior
Aaron Shackelford hit two home runs in Thursday's early game, giving him six in the series and an NAIA-best 32 for the year. And
Cameron Phelps was excellent in relief in both games, earning the first win of his career in the morning when Master's rallied from a 9-4 deficit in the sixth.
It all started with two outs and nobody on.
The mad dash unfolded like this:
Ryan Bricker walked and advanced to second on a passed ball.
Jeremiah Farris laced an RBI single to left before stealing second and wheeling around to score on
Byron Smith's base knock.
Â
Max Maitland's role in the drama was painful. He turned his back into a fastball.
Shackelford then drove a ball the opposite way, the pitch landing beyond the fence in left. Shackelford, normally businesslike during what's become a well-worn path around the bases, seemed to savor this one above the rest. He sprinted around the infield, yelled into the Mustangs' dugout as he neared the plate, then removed his helmet and rapped it against his teammates' helmets with a ferocity reserved for meaningful baseball. Â
The Mustangs were tied, but they weren't finished.
Anthony Lepre and
Will Batz walked. Then
Roy Verdejo walloped a ball over the fence in left center for his eighth home run of the season and second of the series. This one put the Mustangs ahead for good.
"It felt good off the bat. Very good," said Verdejo, anticipating the ensuing question much as he had that game-changing fastball.
"What's it been like seeing Shack on a tear still?" Verdejo said. "It's amazing."
Both of Shackelford's home runs Thursday were opposite-field jobs. He went 7-for-15 in the series with 13 RBIs, and he now has more home runs to his credit than any GSAC player in a single season since at least 2004.
Only two NAIA players have hit more home runs in a season during that span. Oklahoma City's Brent Weaver recorded 37 in 2009. And Lewis-Clark State's Beau Mills set the NAIA record with 38 in 2007.
"Honestly, it's become almost like you expect it nowadays," Phelps said of Shackelford. "But when the ball flies out of here like that, all you can do is watch and your jaw just drops."
Phelps also inspired admiration from teammates Thursday. Â Â
The sophomore righty from Red Bluff, California, pitched four innings of relief in game one, allowing one unearned run and only three hits.
He tossed two scoreless frames in game two and said afterward that he'd recently realized his primary focus in pitching hadn't been on honoring Christ. So, he recalibrated his thinking.
"I've been thinking about it and talking to my dad, thinking about wisdom and the fact that baseball is more than a physical thing. It's a mindset and that's what's changed," he said. "I feel more confident out there now."
The Mustangs managed just four hits in game two, a pair of them coming from Lepre, who finished the series 8-for-16 with five doubles.
Â
