GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Walters State Community College threw everything it had at McLennan College Thursday night, and the Highlanders just kept fighting off the Senators.
Facing elimination from the Alpine Bank Junior College World Series, the Highlanders took control early, nearly ending the game in the fifth inning on the 10-run rule, only to have the Senators score the one run needed to keep the game going.
They had another chance to end it in the seventh on the 8-run mercy rule, but that's when the bats got going for Walters State, putting up four runs to send it to the distance in the 4-hour, 1-minute game (only 13 minutes shy of the tournament record for a regulation game).
Still, McLennan held on, with Cade Waibel leaving the bases loaded in the eighth and again in the ninth to stave off elimination and ensure the tournament will go the distance with an 18-13 victory.
The same teams play again Friday night, with the winner advancing to Saturday night's championship game against Salt Lake Community College. Walters State will be the home team in Friday's game.
McLennan got a terrific pitching performance from reliever Logan Harris (1-0), who came on in the second inning and went 5.1 frames, allowing seven runs on eight hits. He struck out seven and walked only two.
All four pitchers the Highlanders (48-17, 3-1 JUCO) called on were solid. Gage Goldman threw one inning, giving up four runs on three hits and walked two, and was pulled in the second inning, throwing only 32 pitches.
Ty Waid got two outs in the seventh, allowing two runs as the Senators (58-7-1, 3-1 JUCO) were making their run, and Waibel fanned five of the 11 batters he faced over the final two innings for the save.
Walters State, which saw its 24-game winning streak snapped, used 10 pitchers trying to control the damage after falling behind 5-0 after one-half inning and 9-4 after two.
In the second inning, once Walters cut the early deficit to 5-3, McLennan's McClane Helton tripled in a pair of runs and ended up scoring himself when the ball kicked away from Walters State catcher Carson Cabbage when he was attempting to tag out Deiten Lachance and rolled up the first-base line. That made it 8-3 and the Highlanders were back in control.
The key inning was the fourth, when McLennan scored six runs, highlighted by a pair of home runs, a three-run shot by Brody Chyr and Sherman Johnson's two-run home run.
The teams combined for 31 runs and 31 hits, but only three of those hits left the yard, the two by McLennan in the fourth and a three-run blast to right in the first inning by the Senators' Tyler Myatt.
Johnson and Chyr drove in three runs each for McLennan — every Highlander got at least one hit, with Marcus Smith, Deiten Lachance and Owen Smith each collecting three.
For as many runs that were scored, both teams had issues getting runners home at times, both stranding 13 on base.
Myatt went 3 for 6 and drove in three runs for Walters State, and Jack Torbett went 3 for 4 with three RBI.
Friday's game will be the third meeting this week of the No. 1 and No. 7 seeds. Walters State won the first game 13-5 on Monday night, with McLennan earning the split on Thursday. At stake Friday is a chance for a third national title for McLennan (1983, 2021) and a second for Walters State (2006). Waiting for one of them is Salt Lake, seeking its first national championship.