Michael Morse stays in the moment as Newman tops Princeton

PRINCETON - Michael Morse didn’t want to let the moment get too big for him Tuesday at Prather Field.

The Newman sophomore drove in the tying run with a base hit in the sixth inning. Then he came in to pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh and struck out the only batter he faced to end the game as the Comets held on for a 3-2 Three Rivers East win at Princeton.

“I don’t think of anything really,” Morse said when he took the mound. “I just throw strikes as much as I can. The big part is, you just can’t let it get in your head whenever you’re on the mound. Stay loose.”

Newman starting pitcher Drake Cole retired the first two batters he faced in the seventh, but Princeton leadoff man Ace Christiansen kept the Tigers alive with a single to left. Nolan Kloepping was hit by a pitch and Jordan Reinhardt drew a walk to load the bases.

Newman coach Kenny Koerner summoned Morse to face Tigers clean-up man Will Lott and got the strikeout to end the game.

“We wanted Drake to extend tonight. He’s been going about four innings. We wanted to push him as we get closer to the playoffs and see how he’d do in a situation like that,” Koerner said. “And we also wanted to see Michael and see what he would do. He’s been starting for us this season. So we thought, let’s see what we got as we get closer to the regionals. He did a nice job there.”

The Comets improved to 17-3-1 overall, 6-0 atop the Three Rivers East.

Joe Oswalt got the Comets on the board with an RBI single in the second inning.

Noah LaPorte got the run back for the Tigers (8-6-1, 4-3) with an RBI hit to left, scoring Lott, who walked, to tie game at 1-1.

Christiansen led off the Tigers’ third with a line drive single to center and scored on a wild pitch to put the Tigers up 2-1.

The Comets used some small ball to score two runs in the sixth to go up 3-2. Garet Wolfe led off with a single to center and Cole laid down a sacrifice bunt on the left side to move Wolf to second. Morse stroked a 1-1 pitch to right for an RBI single to tie the game.

“I thought stay small,” Morse said. “Do nothing big. Don’t have to be a hero. Get on base and get a run home. Stay confident every time you go in that box. You’ll see big things happen.”

Those big things happened because the Comets played small ball.

“We were proud of the small ball. We haven’t been executing it all year,” Koerner said. “Drake put down a perfect bunt for us, moved the runner over and we got the big hit. We need to generate some offense and score some runs. It was nice to see Drake get that bunt down.”

Morse said the Comets try to do whatever it takes to win.

“We play as a team always. That’s when we score runs,” he said.

Newman added another run on a Tiger error to go up 3-2.

Princeton coach Wick Warren said it was good to see the Tigers bounce back from Monday’s 19-1 loss to Kewanee, which he called a nightmare.

“It was a real good ball game. Tough loss,” he said. “Tyler pitched well. We hit the ball some. It was not enough. Got to hit the ball better. Got to be better and make the plays.”

Christiansen went 2 for 4 for the Tigers while Reinhardt doubled.

Oswalt went 3 for 3 to lead the Comets at the plate with Wolfe and Morse adding two each.