Article from NAIA
LEWISTON, Idaho – [Bracket | Schedule] The Warriors of Westmont (Calif.) claimed their first Red Banner in program history, defeating No. 9 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (37-18) by a score of 7-6 on Harris Field. Gabe Arteaga (W, 3-1) recorded the final seven outs for the No. 3 Westmont Warriors (48-9). Liam Critchett and Ryan DeSaegher paced the team offensively with two RBI while Brady Renck and Bryce McFeely tallied a pair of hits and two runs scored each.
The LCSC Warriors were looking for their 20th championship in program history while Westmont was in search of their first. Lewis-Clark State had reached the World Series 41 total times, while Westmont had only reached it in 2022 previous – winning their first game at Harris Field just seven days prior.
During their first trip to the plate, Westmont’s Renck nearly knocked a homerun to right center but Charlie Booth made a leaping grab into the outfield wall to preserve the 0-0 score. Then, leading off the second inning, Isaiah Thomas launched his sixth homerun in six World Series games. The left field blast gave LCSC a 1-0 lead.
Westmont countered back right away, scoring two runs on Critchett singling up the middle to score Parker O’Neil and McFeely. The 2-1 deficit was the first time LCSC trailed in a game since Day Two against No. 1 Southeastern (Fla.), which was their only loss to this point.
With two outs punched, Nick Seamons and Sam Olsson both recorded singles, but Charlie Updegrave grounded out to the first baseman to close out the top of the third. In the bottom of the frame, Renck hit a triple to deep, left center field. Carter Booth nearly came down with the miracle snag, but the ball escaped his glove while he was on a full sprint. The next batter, Ryan DeSaegher, hit an RBI single up the middle to bring the score to 3-1 favoring Westmont.
Threatening to increase their advantage, Westmont had the bases loaded with only one out punched. But a pitching change by Lewis-Clark State did the trick to keep it at a 3-1 margin. Reliever Drake George entered the game and got the final two outs of the frame – a strikeout swinging and a groundout to short stop.
Westmont moved it to a 4-1 edge on a batted ball from DeSaegher and furthered it to a four runs advantage on the single through the left side by McFeely. But, one swing of the bat from Updegrave, reigned the margin back in with a three run blast to left field scoring Isaac Haws and Booth. The LC State Warriors now trailed by a 5-4 count heading into the bottom of the fifth
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