Virden, Eagles Walk Off (RV) Braves

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Avila baseball (10-8, 1-0 KCAC) began the conference portion of the 2023 campaign with a bang on Tuesday afternoon, defeating (RV) Ottawa (12-6, 0-1 KCAC) 7-6 thanks to a walkoff double in the bottom of the ninth by Jack Virden, giving the Eagles their first win over the Braves in almost exactly four years.

The two local rivals' 2023 KCAC opener was about as exciting of a baseball game as could be imagined. The game featured four lead changes and three ties, multiple clutch hits, a little bit of drama, key pitches, a game-tying home run, and it all led up to the walkoff blast to deep center by Virden, Avila's third walkoff win out of their ten total victories to this point in the young season.

This game was truly about as back and forth as possible. Fresh off a brilliant weekend series, Landon Vahle led off the game by getting hit by a pitch from Josh Perez, who was making his fourth straight start against the Eagles in this all-time series. A few batters later, Kurt Trotter singled in Vahle and Virden walked and later scored on a throwing error, putting the Eagles up 2-0 after one.

The lead didn't last long. Ottawa was able to grind out two unearned runs in the second and two earned runs in the third, three of which came off RBI groundouts, to vault in front 4-2 after three. This time, it was the Eagles' turn to rally. With two outs in the fourth Isaiah Alvarez singled and Ricky Dober walked, and a suddenly in-form Austin Reams stepped up to smack an RBI double to bring Alvarez in before Vahle stepped up and hit a double of his own to score Reams and a pinch-running Tristan Garbutt to put Avila back ahead 5-4.

The Braves once again leveled the score on a solo home run from Cole Broughton in the fifth, but the Eagles went back in front in the sixth on a bit of craziness. Travis Curry led off with a single and an error put Alvarez aboard before a wild pitch moved them both into scoring position. Reams chopped a ball towards second baseman Jonah Weisner, but his throw home was offline, allowing Reams to reach and Curry to score the go-ahead run. Ottawa intentionally walked Vahle to load the bases, but the Eagles could not add to their lead.

That proved costly, because Nick Sizemore ultimately tied the game once again at 6-6 with an RBI double in the eighth. Eric Reece set the Eagles down in order in the eighth, sending the game into the ninth inning all tied up. Chase VanSteenburg worked around a walk to issue a scoreless frame, giving Avila a chance to earn the win in the home half.

And that's exactly what the Eagles did. With one out, Jacob Nevels worked a walk, and Trotter punched a single through the right side to give the Eagles first and third. Tanner Yeisley entered to give the Eagles more speed on the bases, and Virden, who was not available to play for the Eagles in their weekend series against Waldorf, battled back from down 0-2 in the count and launched a Reece fastball over the head of center fielder Tyler Farnham, who was playing in. The ball bounced at the base of the center field fence and chopped over, allowing Nevels to parade home as the winning run courtesy of Virden's game-winning double.

VanSteenburg earned the win after three strong innings of relief of starter Keaton Ashby, who did a solid job of limiting the potential damage of the Ottawa lineup over six full innings. Virden had a pair of hits, including the game winner, and Trotter finished with three.

Up next, Avila baseball will begin its first weekend series of KCAC competition this season when the Eagles welcome the Friends Falcons to The Z for a three-game set this weekend. The two teams will play a single game at 2 PM on Friday followed by a doubleheader beginning at noon on Saturday. As always, you can watch all the action on the Avila Sports Network.