Springfield, MO - Grace Christian Baseball had an eventful week in Missouri for the NCCAA (NDAG) Independent Regional. Entering the tournament as the #6 seed, the team was excited to improve upon last year's showing in the tournament where they got bounced early. First game draw this year came against #3 seed Ecclesia College (AR.).

Game One

Freshman Joe Leavitt got the nod in game one for the Tigers and started off the game well. Grace jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on an RBI single by Royce Frieburger in the 1st, followed by a 2-run double by Sam Sipe in the 3rd. Ecclesia found a way to tie things up at 3-3, but in the top of 5th the Tigers retook the lead and never looked back. Damian Fernandez homered in the inning, and Jared Garnaat and Reagan Mutschler scored shortly after. The dagger came by a 2-run home run by Carter Willis in the 6th to put Grace up 8-4. The Tigers would score 3 more in the 7th on RBI singles from Eric Whiting and Alex Bonnema to add some insurance runs. Iwan Sitalo came in to pitch the final 3 outs, and Grace took the game 11-5 to give them their first playoff win in program history.

Sam Sipe led the way in this one with 3 hits and 3 RBI, while 4 Tigers owned multi-hit games. Joe Leavitt went 6.0 innings giving up just 4 hits with 3 strikeouts.

Game Two

In the winner's bracket the following day, Grace saw Champion Christian (AR.). The Tigers gave up an early 2 runs to Champion before tying the game up in the top of the 4th. The wheels fell off a bit in the bottom of the 4th when the Tigers couldn't get out the inning allowing 5 runs to pass, giving Champion the lead 7-2. Each team would plate one more late in the game, but Grace's offense stalled out as they lost the game 8-3. 

The offense was spread out in this game, as 8 Tigers got a hit in the game. Brendan Bos, Brady Unthank, and Benji Kramer all came in relief for starter John Green in the game. 

Game Three

In the loser's bracket now, Grace was slated to face off against Ecclesia College again in a "win or go home" scenario. Things didn't look good for the Tigers as they gave up 4 runs in the top of the 1st inning. However, the offense came through in the bottom of the first to get 3 runs back, making it just a one run game. Ecclesia scored again in the 2nd, leaving the offense with more work to do. After the bases were loaded by walks, Carter Willis steps up and delivers a grand slam over the right field wall to put the Tigers us 7-5. Grace added another run in the 3rd on an Ecclesia error. Iwan Sitalo came in the game to pitch and was able to shut things down for several innings. Ecclesia wasn't done though, and they tied things up in the 5th with a 3 run inning of their own, bringing the score to 8-8. Grace answered right away in the 6th from a sacrifice fly from Damian Fernandez that scored Jaden Schoeneman, followed by another 2 run home run by Carter Willis, giving the Tigers an 11-8 lead. Brendan Bos was now in the game, and closed the door in the 7th, giving Grace their second win of the tournament and knocking out #3 seed Ecclesia.

Carter Willis owned 3 hits and 6 RBI in the game, and Jaden Schoeneman had the team's sole other hit. Iwan Sitalo went 3.0 solid innings in the outing, and Brendan Bos picked up the win with a scoreless 2.2 innings. 

Game Four

With only four teams remaining, Grace Christian would play Kansas Christian in another elimination game Wednesday afternoon. Jared Garnaat took the mound for Grace and pitched a strong first 2.1 innings, but Kansas was able to scrape two runs across. Carter Willis came on in relief and held down the fort while Grace could answer. The Tigers scored one in the 4th and one more in the 5th off a sacrifice fly from Damian Fernandez and a double by Jared Garnaat to tie things up in the top of the 5th inning. Immediately after the game tying double, a tornado warning hit the area, and the field was evacuated, thus delaying the game. Following a three-hour weather delay, the game picked up where it left off in the 5th inning. Kansas was able to escape the jam, leaving Garnaat stranded on base as the go-ahead run. The game remained tied until the bottom of the 6th inning, when Kansas hit an RBI double to put them on top 3-2. Despite getting a runner in scoring position in the 7th, Grace couldn't bring him home and lost by a final of 3-2. 

Eric Whiting had two hits in the game, and Carter Willis threw 3.0 innings of 1-run baseball. 

Recap

Coach Wolfe had this to say about the tournament and the season as a whole: "We took huge steps forward this year as a program. We had a goal of 20 wins this year and we exceeded that. We had a goal of getting our first playoff win and we exceeded that. We knocked off some quality teams, competed hard against good opponents, and took care of business against the weaker ones. We talk a lot about competing and the guys learned what that feels like. We have a ton of confidence and motivation heading into next year."

The Tigers wrap up the 2024 campaign with a 22-31 record, the best ever in the team's short history. The team graduates just one senior this year in Tyler Thomas, and will return a strong core group of upperclassmen to continue driving the program forward.